Google calls for Chrome applications

OPERATING SYSTEM DEVELOPER Google has announced that its Chrome applications store is ready to receive code from developers.

Writing in its developers' blog, Google said that since its announcement of the Chrome Web Store at Google I/O, its team has been hard at work preparing for launch later this year.

Now apparently it is ready to open a developer preview of the Chrome Web Store. Developers can now start uploading applications and experiment with packaging them, installing them in Chrome and integrating Google's payments and user authentication infrastructure.

The search engine outfit has just released some guff on how to get started. It has also changed some of the rules on its licensing and user authentication features.

However when you look into the fine print it appears that most of the changes are designed to make sure that people do not put dodgy software into the store.

Currently everyone can upload Chrome extensions to the gallery, and malicious developers could simply use that to their advantage to either spam the website or easily distribute malicious extensions.

Under Google's new plan developers will have to pay $5 before they are allowed to publish extensions, themes and apps in the gallery.

Malicious developers might not want to make the $5 payment to distribute their hinky apps, considering that the payment can be linked to the person making it.

It appears that Google Checkout will be used to make sure that the money changes hands correctly. µ