THE BEST Google

Google has released a new beta for Chrome and has brought the browser’s speed to life with a series of unconventional speed tests; specifically, comparisons to lightning, sound and a potato.

Artist Christoph Niemann apes the style of Google Maps in his clever cartographic illustrations in his Abstract City column in The New York Times. We’ve been down all these roads at some point.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen a few of those sentimental Google search ads on TV. College Humor’s parody is all about looking for love in the Star Wars universe.

Android users won’t be left out in the cold if Neofonie has its way: its WePad tablet sports an 11.6″ display, Atom N450 CPU, GMA 3150 graphics, webcam, and UMTS modem.

Not to be outdone by Topeka, the city of Duluth takes pandering to new heights with an announcement from the mayor himself: all firstborn children will be known as Google/ette Fiber.

The Boneyard near Tucson, Arizona is where old military aircraft permanently bail out, and is viewable on Google Maps; there are over 4,000 planes spread out across 2,600 acres.

First social networks, then ISPs, and now entire mountains: the Google Snowmobile brings Street View to the slopes of Vancouver’s Whistler Mountain, just in time for the winter Olympics.

Apple’s not the only company that can do cool product videos: Google, HTC, and Audience engineers talk about the History of the Nexus One and also reveal two new docks.

Uploaded two days before Apple’s iPad unveiling, this Chrome OS Tablet UI may be a warning shot across Cupertino’s bow; it’s purely conceptual, but it’s also made by a Google employee.

The Google Street View Guys are back, this time mapping the entire world from every angle in Google Earth Guys; hilarious yet also a bit sad, at least their odyssey ends with rebirth.

Google Voice arrives on the iPhone and Palm Pre courtesy HTML5; you’ll need to access it via your browser, but outgoing calls will display on Caller ID with your Google Voice number.

Mixing assassins with Google’s Nexus One thankfully only results in a lot of shredded cardboard: Ninja’s Unboxing is a sharp warning to blister packs and shrink wrapping everywhere.

Google’s Nexus One is official: it’s available unlocked or via T-Mo/VZW and features a 3.7″ AMOLED touchscreen, 5 MP camera, video recording, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Android 2.1.

NORAD and Santa go social for 2009, adding Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, and mobile phones to their sleigh; need visual tracking? Watch him on Google Maps or Santa Cam.

Set to music by The Temper Trap, Whirled bids a collaborative adieu to this year using Google Wave with Waving Goodbye to 2009; it’s surprisingly concise, albeit fast-paced. Thanks, Kevin!

Audi’s new creme-de-la-creme A8 also gets Mountain View’s best of breed: drivers will be able to navigate in 3D using Google Earth on an 8″ LCD screen thanks to a built-in UMTS modem.

We’re not sure if this SkyNet t-shirt is an exercise in cognitive dissonance or cyborg destruction; with Los Angeles the latest city to join the Cloud/Cyberdyne, it may be time to call on Connor.

If you liked the quirky Google Japan ad, this Chrome Features video by Google UK is a not only a rundown of the browser’s abilities, but an exercise in Rube Goldbergian creativity.

Also fresh from Google today: over 300 Chrome Extensions are now available for Windows users, while Mac and Linux finally get their own version of the Chrome browser.

Peek at the real world with Google Goggles; it’s a basic visual search for Android phones that can store business cards as well as ID books, art, businesses, and landmarks.

CollegeHumor’s Google Android Blackmail would be pretty ham-fisted if it weren’t so perfectly-timed; it was released the same day Google decided to extend personalized search to all.

Designed for folks who live, breathe, and sleep Gmail, the Gboard is similar to a USB numeric keypad but features 19 commonly used shortcuts including stars, trash, ESC, and archive.

Due out in a year, Google’s Chrome OS is a browser as an OS that targets netbooks with fast boot times, with all web apps and data served and stored in a cloud. “For dummies” intro here.

We like the free airport Wi-Fi, but Google Maps gets put to more practical (and healthy) uses: the Flu Shot Finder helps you track down seasonal and H1N1 flu shots in your neighborhood.

Happy (early) holidays: Google will offer free Wi-Fi at 47 airports and Virgin America flights from 11/16/09 to 1/15/10; Yahoo offers it at Times Square starting today through all of 2010.