Today, treat we’re very happy to take the Beta tag off of Google Chrome Frame and promote it to the Stable channel. This stable channel release provides our most polished version of Google Chrome Frame to date, allowing users to access modern web technologies like HTML5 on legacy browsers. You now can download the stable version of Google Chrome Frame and users of the Beta will be automatically updated to it in the days ahead. If you’re an IT administrator, we’ve also posted an MSI installer for deploying Google Chrome Frame in your network.

When Google Chrome Frame went into beta in June, the team set aggressive goals for speed and stability before delivering a stable channel release. We wanted it to start much faster and to reduce crashes by an order of magnitude. After months of polishing, Google Chrome Frame now starts three times faster on Windows Vista and Windows 7 and the most common conflicts with other plug-ins have been fixed.

Thanks in part to how simple it is to enable rendering with Google Chrome Frame, sites like DeviantART, Hootsuite, and github have added support, and Ruby on Rails is making a better-performing, more standards compliant experience the default for all users of Rails apps. Google applications like Orkut, Google Docs, and YouTube have already begun adding Google Chrome Frame support. Gmail and Google Calendar are planning to adopt Google Chrome Frame in the near future to improve performance and ease the transition for users as they drop support for legacy browsers.

A stable release is just the beginning for Google Chrome Frame. We’ve set aggressive goals for future releases: we’re working on making start-up speed even faster and removing the current requirement for administrator rights to install the plug-in. Expect more improvements and features in the near future, as we plan to release on the same schedule as Google Chrome.

We would not have made it this far without strong community support and feedback. The users and contributors to the preview versions have helped improve and shape the product in huge ways. If you’d like to get involved or just see what’s coming soon, you can subscribe to the new beta channel or if you are adventurous, try the dev channel to experience the very latest. The whole team continues to listen to your feedback through our project forum and we look forward to working with you to improve Google Chrome Frame even further.

Posted by Tomas Gunnarsson, Software Engineer and Robert Shield, Software Engineer

One of my favourite new features added to the Maps API this year is the Elevation service in the Maps API v3. This was in part because I enjoyed playing with the launch demo far too much, erectile but mostly because the service opened up opportunities for genuinely new and interesting applications that were not previously possible.

For this reason I am delighted to announce that we have now also added the Elevation service to the Maps API for Flash, for sale providing our ActionScript developers with the same opportunities. And just for completeness, and to distract me yet further, we have ported the elevation profile demo to 100% Flash, with an added 3D twist (mouse over the profile graph to see it).

The Elevation service allows you to obtain elevation for individual points, or sample elevation at equally spaced intervals along a path, such as that generated by the Directions service. To get started using the new Elevation service, check out the documentation in the Maps API for Flash Developer Guide.

In addition to Elevation we have also added the MaxZoom service to Flash. This allows you to determine the highest zoom level at which Satellite imagery is available at a given location. One other change to note is that the we have also introduced the sensor parameter in the Maps API for Flash, which is mandatory for any application built against v1.19 of the Maps API for Flash or later.

For assistance using these new features, or to discuss any other aspect of using the Maps API for Flash, be sure to join the Google Maps API for Flash Google Group.

Posted by Thor Mitchell, Maps API Product Manager

I have a serious love/hate relationship with photo-realistic rendering. I’m completely intrigued by the drop-dead gorgeous images I come across every day, but I’m terrified by the prospect of ever having to produce any myself. Simply put, rendering seems hard – so hard that I don’t even know where I’d begin. There are so many options…

“A mobile beachfront resort concept.”
I found this SketchUp/Maxwell rendering on Ronen Bekerman’s Flickr photostream.

I’ve heard lots of good things about Maxwell Render. When they sent me an email about a new series of Getting Started videos for their SketchUp plugin, I clicked on the link; I’m a total sucker for sexy renderings. I spent about 45 minutes watching the first four tutorials, and I have to say, I’m hooked.

If you’ve ever wondered about Maxwell, here’s your chance. Clear an hour from your schedule, pour yourself some coffee, and find a comfy chair. I think it’ll be worth your while.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist