The second day of Google I/O featured some great announcements in the Chrome ecosphere, including an interesting focus on the fact that Angry Birds is going to be available in browsers from the Chrome Web Store. The Cr-48 prototype device, announced 6 months ago, was shipped to thousands of applicants to the Chrome OS pilot program. Some updates to the platform were shown off, including the new media player and integration with the new Google Music Beta.
An interesting new feature is immediate cloud uploads for imported files. For example, if you install Picasa from the web store, it registers itself as a local file handler, allowing you to immediately upload pictures on import. This is yet another way Google wants users to be more constantly connected to the cloud. The same functionality will be available for Google Docs out of the box.
Finally, Google announced a Samsung Chromebook ($429 Wifi/$499 3G)and an Acer Chromebook ($399 Wifi/3G price TBA). Both have integrated 3G and WiFi, instant-on, 6-7 hours battery life. The devices will become available through select retailers on June 15, and the same date will apply to a number of international inline outlets. The devices will ship with the kernel unlocked, allowing developers to tweak as they see fit.
Update: Google has released the product page for the new hardware.
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