You can now download Chrome 6 Beta.

The new  features include: a simplified user interface, a new autofill feature for completing web forms, better syncing, which includes support for autofill data and extensions.

The autofill feature is integrated in Chrome 6 beta, so all of your instances of Chrome (home, work, laptop, etc) will be able to share preferences, extensions, browsing data and themes, as well as form data.  Chrome will store, sync, and remember information you’d normally put in a web form.  Additionally, Chrome can remember credit card information.

In the next couple of weeks, Chrome will probably move from a beta to a general stable release.

Latest Beta Version of Firefox 4 Released

Mozilla has released the latest beta version of its Firefox 4 browser.  You can download the Firefox 4 beta 3 for all major operating systems and over 30 languages from here.

The biggest addition is for touch events inside the browser on Windows 7 machines, which has built-in support for multi-touch actions on touch screen tablets, desktops, and laptops.  Firefox now enables you to interact with websites simply by touching them.  Check out this video

There have also been enhancements to JavaScript capabilities with Firefox, giving scripting animation  performance a noticeable boost, making the speed difference less noticeable.

Note that Firefox 4 is only a pre-release browser.  Firefox 4 will be officially released in October or November of this year

BP recently acknowledged that a photo, showing ten screens with underwater images, exaggerates the activity at its oil spill command center in Houston.  Two screens were originally blank and a staff photographer used Photoshop to add images.  I thought they only used Photoshop in the fashion world?!?!?

Craigslist is much like a newspaper’s classified section – where people list their unwanted goods in hopes for cash in return.  Online users are taking advantage of sites such as Craigslist and are instead bartering with one another.  And why not?  After all, one man’s trash may be another man’s treasure.

“How did he do this?” is probably the first question that pops to mind.  Each day,  Steven spent five to six hours searching for the right kind of swaps on Craiglist.  It took him two years and 14 trades with items including an iPod touch, various dirt bikes, a MacBook Pro, a golf cart, and a 1975 Ford Bronco.

What’s the lesson to be learned?  The Internet is being used more and more frequently by individuals of all ages as a virtual swap meet – with larger and more rewarding payoffs.

Brother, a company known for their sewing machines, is going to shake up the battery world.

Brother has come up with vibration-powered generators, which allow you to charge gadgets, just by giving it a good shake referred to as “Vibration-powered Generating Battery.”  These batteries will fit in a slot designed for AA or AAA batteries and will afford the luxury of charging anywhere, at any time.

The company will be showing off these Vibration-powered Generating Batteries at a trade expo later this month.

According to Old Spice, they have 71 years of experience helping guys improve their mansmells  with deodorant, antiperspirant, and fragrances. However, it is only within the past year that Old Spice has dominated the internet and created such buzz.  Old Spice’s ads “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” starring a bare-chested Isaiah Mustafa, launched in February and since then has generated over 70 million hits.  Their ad has hit the Internet by storm with a series of hilarious videos about smelling good.  Last week, Old Spice and ad agency Wieden + Kennedy used social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to answer questions from fans with personalized video messages.  The first of these videos were filmed on Monday and released on Tuesday, and according to Visible Measures, a company that tracks viral videos, reported that the videos had already received an unprecendented16.3 million views as of Friday afternoon.

To give you an idea of some of the most popular viral videos to date (based on the first 24 hours):

Old Spice responses to viewers: 5.9 million

Barack Obama’s victory speech: 4.8 million

George W. Bush dodging shoes: 4.4 million

Susan Boyle: 3 million

Old Spice is using the ABCs – Authenticity, Bravery, and Consistency – of social media success.  They are using an authentic character answering real questions from real people.  This was a brave move as the videos which encourage men to smell like men, from the shower, on a horse, etc could have been a flop from the start. Old Spice, who, since February knew they had a hit on their hands, has been consistent with keeping the buzz going for the campaign.  The company has combined the superpowers of advertising and social media, whereby social media has revolutionized how individuals are connected.

This is the first campaign which answers individuals’ questions so personally and so quickly, in a way where the acting and writing are both brilliant and it leaves the consumer demanding more.  Other companies will indefinitely jump on the bandwagon and will shift their focus to responding to users in real time.  I have no problem with this, as long as the catch phrases are as out-of-this-world as ““Hello, ladies, look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn’t me, but if he stopped using ladies scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he’s me. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on a boat with the man your man could smell like. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s an oyster with two tickets to that thing you love. Look again, the tickets are now diamonds. Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady. I’m on a horse.” [Smell like a man, man. Old Spice]”