A few months ago when Google introduced Android 2.2 Froyo, the company promised one of the upcoming features would be the ability to push content from a web browser directly to your phone. Want to finish reading that article you have open on your desktop on your phone? Just click a button and the page will automatically open on your Android handset. This can also come in handy for long URLs that you just don’t feel like typing on your mobile device.
Today Google officially launched Chrome to Phone. The app comes in two parts. You need to install an extension for the Google Chrome web browser on your computer, and install the Chrome to Phone app from the Android Market on your phone.
You can configure Chrome to Phone to automatically open links on your mobile device without any user interaction required. Or you can adjust the settings so that you have to manually approve links before they open.
Eventually this technology will tie into a web-based version of the Android Market that will let you install apps on your mobile device by clicking a link on a web site. But for now, it’s just a way to send links to web pages, YouTube videos, and other web content. It can also send phone numbers and some other types of content. For instance, if you send a map from Google Maps, it will open the mobile version of Google Maps which you can use to open driving directions or navigation.
Of course if you’re tired of waiting for Google to improve the Android Market experience, you can always check out AppBrain — which already offers a utility that lets you click an install button in your desktop web browser to send apps to your phone.
Chrome to Phone is currently only available for phones running Android 2.2.
You can check out a demo video after the break.
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