Technology Audio/Video - NPR

Internet search giant Google unveiled Chrome, a new piece of Web browser software on Tuesday. Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of SearchEngineLand.com, explains what Google's open-source browser can do, and why a search engine leader wants to get into the Web software market.

Officials in many states are concerned about the reliability of electronic voting and are now moving toward systems that can provide a voter-verified paper trail. Larry Norden, author of The Machinery of Democracy, discusses the latest advances in voting technology.

The creator of The Sims has a new game out. In Spore, players create their own worlds — starting from creatures the size of a cell, and evolving until an entire civilization springs up.

Google's new browser, Chrome, launched Tuesday and aims to offer a faster and more reliable user experience. Analysts say the browser was created in response to the heavier use of applications on the Web. Tabs are the centerpiece of Chrome, which also offers new security measures and privacy options.

Google has launched a beta version of a new Web browser, Google Chrome. It is promising to deliver software that is more suited to the video-intensive Web than the text-based Web that was dominant when Microsoft's Internet Explorer was first released.

Google is introducing its new Web browser Tuesday. Google Chrome is designed to deal with video and sound better than the ubiquitous Microsoft Explorer. The company statement calls its new product "a fresh take on the browser," but is it overkill?

Details leaked out early about Google's first Web browser, which the company is releasing Tuesday in 100 countries. The browser, called Chrome, is expected to challenge the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Web search engines are all clamoring to get kids' attention. Many offer kid-friendly versions of their search engines, designed to help with homework and capture a loyal following from the youngest of Web surfers in the process.

The GeoEye-1 satellite will be capable of making out details on Earth just 16 inches across. It will be the highest resolution satellite run by a private company; it's images will be marketed to a range of governments and private customers.

The Obama campaign has used text messaging to communicate with its supporters. Andrew Rasiej, founder of TechPresident, a blog that focuses on technology and the presidential campaigns, says the cell phone numbers can be used to get out the vote on Nov. 4.

In the newest test version of Microsoft's forthcoming Internet Explorer, consumers will have the option to surf without a "history." There are benefits to this feature beyond just prolonging marriages.

In February, people who use an antenna to get television signals will have to begin using conversion boxes to watch their favorite programs. The Federal Communications Commission will start an 80-city tour this week to talk about the changes.

The Obama camp promised to deliver news of the Democratic candidate's vice presidential choice by text message and e-mail. It didn't quite go according to plan. We examine what went wrong and right during this new media experiment.

We look at how Hollywood became a driving force in the invention of new technologies — from Technicolor to the rise of digital special effects — and how new ideas and technologies, such as the Internet, are still shaping the movie industry today.

We bring you a roundup of research being presented at this week's American Chemical Society meeting in Philadelphia.

Developers have created flexible sheets of 'nanoantennas' that could aid in getting energy from solar energy or from other heat sources. The sheets could harvest up to 80 percent of the infrared light that falls upon them and the researchers say the material could cost just pennies a yard.

Despite the slow U.S. economy, consumers are putting their cash into all things green. New York-based Eco-Bags makes reusable shopping bags. Sales doubled last year; they're set to do so again this year. One small company is profiting from America's growing distaste for the plastic bag.

Cloud computing — whereby users work and store information on the Internet — is becoming more and more popular. But what happens if you get locked out of your Flickr account?

EBay may soon be giving up the gavel as the world's biggest online auction site. The company is announcing a major overhaul that would make it easier for merchants to sell items for a fixed price. We examine the company's shift to a business model that emphasizes buying over bidding.

Rather than going out in the evenings, Americans appear to be spending time and money on new gadgets. The U.S. government says consumer electronic sales were up 4.8 percent in July.

Michael Phelps won his record-tying seventh gold medal by a fraction of a fingernail, just 0.01 second. Even when you study the photos and the video, it's tough to tell who came in first. Christophe Berthaud, the director of Olympic timekeeping for Omega, the official timekeeper at the games, explains the system used to time swimmers.

Troy Hitch talks about You Suck at Photoshop, a hit series of Web videos created to explore viral marketing concepts. Hitch is the creative director for the agency Big Fat Brain.

Using a technique known as self assembly, researchers have found a way to create high-quality repeating patterns with features just ten nanometers across.

iPhones, electric toothbrushes, antilock brakes — all of these are products of mechatronics, a growing field which combines physics, computer science and mechanical engineering. We meet students training in this difficult discipline, as they play with robotic mice.

If you're among the people who make personal calls on a company mobile phone, the Internal Revenue Service may want to talk with you. The IRS considers such cell phone calls to be a taxable extension of your compensation package.

Every day, millions of people are asked to retype sequences of squiggly letters so Web sites can verify they're not automated spammers. A scientist has figured out how to harness that manpower to digitize old books.

Many Americans are getting their fix of the Olympics on the supersmall screen — cell phones. Real-time results, live coverage and on-demand video are just some of the cell phone options for tuning in to what's happening in Beijing.

Millions of people thought they were watching live fireworks as part of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. It turns out, some of those vivid fireworks were computer graphics created by a team of hundreds of Chinese visual-effects specialists who worked nearly a year to pull it off.

Will the Web trump Olympic TV coverage? NBC is offering hundreds of hours of Olympics coverage on its various broadcast and cable outlets, but it's also offering hundreds of hours of coverage online. How can it profit off the Web?

Esquire magazine's October cover will feature an animated electronic display using a technology called E-ink. How will it work? Russell Wilcox, the CEO of E-Ink Corp., explains.

The town of Rock Port in northwest Missouri is the first community in the United States to be completely powered by wind. The small community owes its energy independence to the presence of four massive wind turbines.

Are you more likely to browse sports sites or celebrity gossip? And what does that say about your gender? Madeleine Brand talks with Mike Nolet of mikeonads.com about an online widget he created. It claims to predict whether you're male or female based on your Web surfing history.