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Google now lets you view Microsoft Office documents in the Chrome web browser (when install an extension), which means you can click a link from a web page and open a document without first downloading it. That’s something that’s been available to Chromebook users for a while, but it’s a new feature for the Chrome browser on other platforms.
Unfortunately the Chrome previewer doesn’t always get things right.
Here’s a roundup of some of the day’s tech news from around the web.
- Google releases Chrome extension for opening Office docs (suffers from compatibility issues)
Google has released an extension that lets you open Microsoft Office documents in your web browser without downloading them first. Pretty cool. Unfortunately it turns out that like Google Docs in general, the new extension can’t handle some of the formatting found in Office documents. [Geek] - Amazon Kindle app for Android gets a major home screen makeover (reading UI is largely unchanged)
Amazon has updated the Kindle app for Android with a carousel cover view, a new side panel for navigation, and a general UI that looks more like what you’d get from a Kindle Fire tablet. [Google Play] - Using an iPad Retina-like display as a PC monitor
You don’t need to buy an iPad to get a 9.7 inch Retina-style display. In fact you can pick one up for as little as $55 and use it as a DIY high resolution PC monitor.[EmerytHacks] - Google Glass is designed to run all day… if you don’t shoot video. If you do, it’s good for about a half hour
Early adopter Robert Scoble has been testing Google Glass… and watched the battery level drop 20 percent while shooting 6 minutes of video. There’s a reason most UI cards pop up briefly and then go away. [Quora] - Dell XPS 10 tablet now available with AT&T 4G LTE
Dell’s 10 inch Windows RT tablet is now available with optional 4G LTE for working on the go. [Dell] - Ubuntu 13.10 will be code-named Saucy Salamander
Now that Ubuntu 13.04 is available, Canonical’s founder is looking toward things to come. The next version of Ubuntu is due out in October, and like all those that came before, it’ll have an alliterative code name. [Mark Shuttleworth] - Samsung aims to simplify its PC names… by renaming a bunch of existing models (and launching new ones)
Find Samsung’s PC naming conventions tough to follow? No problem. Now all the Windows models will be called ATIV… even models that have already been released under different names. How could that be confusing? Â [Engadget]
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