For all the market heft that Google's search delivers, for all of the hype around the Android mobile operating system and Chrome Web browser, the most direct, erstwhile Microsoft killer may have appeared late last night from Google in the form of Chrome OS . By now you've read the reports, which you can pick through on TechMeme today . Slated for release to open source later this year,

By now you must have read about today's biggest news - Google Chrome OS. The Official Google Blog just broke the news, Google Chrome is about to give birth to a full blown Operating System By virtue of its name - Google Chrome OS  will be built on the Chrome architecture. It's just like running Google Chrome on a computer, or to be more specific on netbook  minus Windows XP.

SheSpeaks.com conducted a great survey of women's online and computer habits, and published the results in a comprehensive 65-page document.  It's a fascinating study that looks mainly at women's social habits online, and most definitely has implications for online marketing.  Looking at the results of this study can help you tailor your marketing campaigns to effectively, rather than ineffectively, reach out to women. Shopping & Social Not surprisingly,

Google announced an open source OS called Google Chrome Operating System . Google's aim seems to make this a lightweight operating system that has a browser running web apps at its core. Many web apps being Google's of course, or at least, that's probably Google's bet. Google says Chrome OS will be initially targeted at netbooks. "Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight,

The Official Google Blog announced the launch of the Chrome Operating System - late night in California - the entry is timestamped 9:30 pm PST - but an hour and a Twitter link ago - I found it. A number they claim - "30 million regular Chrome browser users" - seems high. But who cares Chrome is now an operating system. It will run on the web with interaction through browsers based in most OSs. If they can flip a decent percentage of the browser users,

Google's Gmail team removed the right-side labels feature in the Webmail application last week. The removal spurred some fiery protest: Check out the comments at the end of my Google Watch post on the matter. Users are miffed that Google turned off right-side labels, moving up the left-side labels to help promote the woefully underused labels feature (only 29 percent, according to the Gmail team). With all of the protest,

We're asked all the time how platforms like Twitter and Facebook are impacting the Blogosphere. This is what we're seeing: Twitter is not replacing blogs, but it has evolved as a major awareness vehicle for bloggers and people who read blogs (same goes for Facebook status updates). So the idea behind Twittorati was to allow people to view the topical geist that the most influential bloggers are tweeting and blogging about.

Google Maps Blog announced a new widget - Google Directions Gadget you can put on your site that gives directions to physical directions. Now this is a handy one with options. With good insight into the user experience the blog notes: "This simple gadget allows webmasters to add customized Google Maps directions to their business locations. With the directions gadget, you no longer need to type and update multiple sets of text directions.

by Michele Meyer Last Thursday, paparazzi photographs answered the question that's been on many minds since the 2006 debut of Disney's "High School Musical": Does Zac Efron have a forehead? Based on what the photos show, we can confirm: Yes, Virginia, there is a forehead. Much to the horror of tweens everywhere, 21-year-old Efron cut off the locks that have grazed his mesmerizingly long eyelashes for the past three years, to reveal a sleeker, more manly look.