Send Links from Firefox to an Android Phone

Android 2.2 has a cool service for sending messages to phones: Android Cloud to Device Messaging. "The service provides a simple, lightweight mechanism that servers can use to tell mobile applications to contact the server directly, to fetch updated application or user data."

A simple way to use this service is to send a link from your browser to an Android device. Chrome to Phone is a Chrome extension that makes this possible, assuming that you also install an Android application on your phone. The extension has been recently updated and you can use it to send links, phone numbers and text from web pages.

There's also an unofficial Firefox extension called "Send to phone", which offers similar features. The Firefox extensions adds an option to the contextual menu, so you don't have to click on the toolbar button to send some text.



Some things you can try:
* send a Google Maps link and the Google Maps app from your phone should handle it
* send a link to a YouTube video and the video should start playing on your phone
* copy a phone number from a web page and send it to your phone
* copy a short text from a web page (<1KB) and send it to your phone's clipboard.

Note that you need a device that uses Android 2.2 (Froyo), which is officially available for Nexus One, HTC Evo and HTC Desire. Motorola Droid will be updated to Froyo starting from next week, while other phones will be updated in the coming months.

Integrated Interface for Google's Services

Integrated Gmail is a Firefox extension that adds Google Calendar and Google Reader to Gmail's interface. It's a simple way to switch between the three Google services without opening multiple tabs.

The extension is customizable, so you can add other Google services, reorder them and delete the ones you don't use. The interface for each service loads in a collapsible box and it's preloaded when you open Gmail.


You can add events or check your agenda while composing messages, read your feeds and chat with your friends from the same interface or copy some text from an email to a notebook.

The extension is not perfect, it might slow down browsing, but it's an interesting experiment and a good starting point for an official unified interface for Google's services. iGoogle, Google's iPhone interface and the support for gadgets in Gmail show that this idea has a great potential.

Preview Google Results

Cooliris Previews is a Firefox extension that lets you preview Google results in an inline box when you hover the links. This is useful to decide if that site is really god and relevant for your search.

Cooliris Previews prefetches the sites so they load really fast.

Related:
Inline Google Definitions
Google Toolbar for Firefox 2.0
Reduce RAM usage in Firefox

Get Word Definitions From Google Fast

Inline Google Definitions is a great Firefox extension you can use to find the meaning of a word from an article you are reading. Instead of opening a new tab, searching Google for the word and then returning to the article, you can now view the definitions next to the page in an inline iframe.

The extension uses Google search and the define operator. If you go to Google and enter [define:artificial intelligence], you will find many definitions for this concept, as well as related phrases. Another great thing is that the define operator works for many languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, German.

Install Inline Google Definitions extension.

Google Toolbar for Firefox 2.0

Here are 5 features that will make you download the new Google Toolbar for Firefox 2.0, available in 16 languages (including French, Spanish, German, Chinese):

* subscribe to feeds in Google Personalized Homepage, Bloglines, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Pluck and Firefox.

* use Gmail to compose messages, when you click on a mailto: link

* if you like the new search box from Google Toolbar 4.0 (for IE), you can have it for Firefox too: when you type a search query, you will see previous queries, spelling corrections, and suggestions for popular choices

* Google Toolbar integrates the Safe Browsing extension that lets you detect pages that use phishing to get sensitive information from you, such as your credit card number and your PIN.

* if you think it's pointless to have another search box in Firefox, Google has the solution: replace Firefox search box with Google search box. And if you want to devote more space to the page you're browsing, you can hide all the other toolbar options and get just the search box.

Still pending for Google Toolbar for Firefox: integration with Google Accounts, custom searches, custom buttons and bookmarks.

Download Google Toolbar for Firefox (528 KB).

[via Google Blog]

Check Multiple GMail Accounts

If you have more than one Gmail account and want to check them simultaneously, install Gmail Manager, a Firefox extension that allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts.

Gmail Manager displays account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets. You'll also get a compose menu for your Gmail accounts.

Also read:
5 Fast Ways To Check Your Gmail
Gmail Skins: Change Gmail Interface
Gmail Horror Story: Gmail Account Deleted

BugMeNot - easy to get account login passwords

Ever tried to access a site to read an article and found you needed an account? Maybe you are too lazy to create an account for such a small thing, or maybe you don't want to pay for a subscription.

BugMeNot.com was created as a mechanism to quickly bypass the login of web sites that require compulsory registration and/or the collection of personal/demographic information (such as the New York Times).

Some nice people post their username and password and let you use them.

What sites are in the database: www.nytimes.com, www.nypost.com, www.washingtonpost.com, www.chicagotribune.com, www.latimes.com, www.imdb.com and many more.

If you are too lazy to visit BugMeNot.com every time you need a login, you can install a Firefox extension or use a simple bookmarklet.