So, I’m sure most of you heard about Chrome, Google’s new browser by now. Well I have to tell you - as a developer - the idea of having to support yet another browser is outright frightening to me. On the other hand, anyone who has any experience closing Firefox multiple times a day due to gigantic JS memory leaks can attest to the potential benefit that this new browser can bring to the table.

Chrome has found its place among an impressive and ever growing line-up of beta services and products that have been rolled out just in the last year.

• Android

  Will this be an iPhone without fascist limitations?

• KNOL

  Are Google going to be able to battle it out with Wikipedia?

• Google Apps

  Ok, this isn’t that recent, but its free. Microsoft Office anyone?

• Google Health

  Going after Microsoft Health Vault?

• Google App-Engine

  Ouch! Amazon EC2, Slicehost & co - you just got sliced.

• OpenSocial

  Could be a threat to Facebook?

• Lively

  Second-life with mass-appeal?

So, what do you make of it? Some endeavors obviously stand out having more potential than others, and one thing is clear: the 20% of Employee Innovation time is paying off in way of innovation. The big question on my mind, however, is how Google manages these projects internally and exactly what financial homework is made before a project gets a green light.