Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Chrome to Phone Sends Links, Text, and Numbers to Android Almost Instantly [Downloads]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5581392/chrome-to-phone-sends-web-and-map-links-to-android-almost-instantly

Android (2.2) with Chrome/Firefox: For certain web searches, your desktop is better than Android, but you still want that data on your phone. Install Chrome to Phone and you can shoot links, Maps, and copied text directly to your Android phone.

Chrome to Phone is a two-part installation: an app for your Android phone (version 2.2, or "Froyo," required), and an extension you can install in Chrome—or, technically, with this Firefox add-on, too. The Chrome and Firefox extensions are one-click utilities, after you register your phone through the Android app and set your preferences in Chrome or Firefox. When you're on a web page or Maps location that you want to send to your phone, hit the Chrome to Phone button, and your phone will quickly open the link in a browser or the Maps application. If you copy a phone number and hit the extension, your phone's dialer will pre-load with that number to dial. Copy text, and it goes right to your phone's clipboard, which you can then paste anywhere with a long press.

The pass-along speed varies from link to link, but I found it generally pretty tolerable—if you were sending yourself directions as you headed out the door, you'd have them by the time you got to your car. Other times, it's near-instant, as shown in the video demonstration above.

Chrome to Phone is a free download for Android phones running 2.2—which, at the moment, is only a Nexus One and a few others. It's a handy and very overlooked Android feature that we hope makes it to more phones soon.