Google Chrome 11 hits beta with HTML5 speech input and GPU-accelerated 3D CSS [Updated]

New Google Chrome Logo - Flat icon

Ladies and gentlemen Google Chrome 11 has already appeared and it is in the beta stages for now, and the new logo was not the only thing that the developer team has added to this latest release. Google Chrome 11 beta also pack a new HTML 5 Speech Recognition engine that developers can take full advantage to create application with speech-to-text capabilities, where end-users will be able to just talk to the Website and have their voice translated into text, if you are curious here is a little demo that you can try right now.

Furthermore Chrome 11 comes with a tweaked and updated Webkit and V8 JavaScript engine that improves the browser performance. There is also the introduction in this beta release for support of GPU-accelerated 3D CSS, feature that will enable developers to create and apply 3D CSS effects to Websites.

If you are already using a beta version of Chrome you will be updated automatically and if you are planning to upgrade follow this link to download Chrome 11.

One last thing that I would like to point out is that HTML5 Speech Recognition is not enabled by default, you will have to try running Google Chrome with a special flag — –enable-speech-input that you can apply to the shortcut that launches Google Chrome. To do this in Windows the easiest way is to right-click a Chrome 11 shortcut, select Properties, next to Target: go to the end of the line, and after \chrome.exe add one space and paste — –enable-speech-input command like is shown in the image below, to finish click Apply and OK. Last restart Google Chrome 11 beta and now speech input should be enabled.

Google Chrome 11 - Enable Speech to Text flag

Source Google Chrome Blog

Mar. 25, 2011 Update

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Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me.