Gears (software)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Developer(s) | |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 31 May 2007 |
| Stable release | 0.5 (2008-11-29) [+/−] |
| Operating system | Windows XP & Vista, Windows Mobile 5, 6, Mac OS X, Linux 32bit |
| License | open source (BSD) |
| Website | http://gears.google.com/ |
Gears, formerly Google Gears,[1] is software offered by Google that "enables more powerful web applications, by adding new features to your web browser."[2] Released under the BSD license,[3] Gears is free and open source software.
Contents |
[edit] Components
There are several major API components to Gears:
- A Database module (powered by SQLite), which can store data locally.[4]
- A WorkerPool module, which provides parallel execution of JavaScript code.[5]
- A LocalServer module, which caches and serves application resources (HTML, JavaScript, images, etc).[6]
- A Desktop module, which lets web applications interact more naturally with the desktop.[7]
- A Geolocation module, which lets web applications detect the geographical location of their users. [8]
[edit] Version history
| Version | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | 2007-05-31 | Initial release as Google Gears. |
| 0.2 | 2008-02-22 [9] | |
| - | 2008-05-28 [1] | Project renamed to Gears to reflect the open source, collaborative nature of the project. |
| 0.3 | 2008-06-11 [10] | Introduced ability to add desktop icons, support for Firefox 3. |
| 0.4 | 2008-08-22 [11] | Geolocation API / Event handling for upload / download transfer progress, localization in 40 languages |
| 0.5 | 2008-11-24 [12] |
Updated SQLite, Geolocation can now get data from WiFi antennas, Improved API to manage data blobs on LocalServer |
[edit] Support
There are a number of web applications that use Gears. These applications come from a variety of companies, including Google (Gmail, YouTube, Docs, Reader, Picasa for mobile, Calendar), MySpace (Mail Search), Zoho (Writer, Mail), Remember The Milk, and Buxfer.[13] WordPress 2.6 added support for Gears, to speed up the administrative interface and reduce server hits. [14]
Gears can be enabled on sites where it is otherwise unsupported, by using a Greasemonkey user script one of the Gears engineers has created.[15]
Gears is supported on Google Chrome and IE 6+ on Windows XP and Vista, IE Mobile 4.01+ on Windows Mobile, Safari 3.1.1+ on Mac OS X 10.4+[16] and Firefox 1.5+ on multiple platforms[17]. There is only limited 64 bit support from 3rd parties.
On May 29, 2008, Opera ASA announced that the new Opera Mobile 9.5 will support Gears.[18] The technology preview release of the browser was published on February 20, 2009.[19] It is currently available for touch-screen devices on Windows Mobile 5/6 only.[20] Gears is not built into the browser and must be downloaded separately.
The Ruby on Rails framework supports interfaces to Gears without needing to understand the Google Gears API.[21]
As of version 0.5.16, Gears is compatible with Internet Explorer 8 but Gears prevents some of Internet Explorer's features, such as Accelerator previews, Web Slice previews and Suggested Sites, from working properly. As of May 2009, this is reported as a known issue by Microsoft.[22]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Happy birthday,
GoogleGears!". Official Google Blog. 2008-05-28. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-birthday-google-gears.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. - ^ "Gears". http://gears.google.com/. Retrieved on 2008-09-01.
- ^ "Google Code project for Gears". http://code.google.com/p/gears/. Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
- ^ "Database Module API". http://code.google.com/apis/gears/api_database.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
- ^ "WorkerPool Module API". http://code.google.com/apis/gears/api_workerpool.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
- ^ "LocalServer Module API". http://code.google.com/apis/gears/api_localserver.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
- ^ "Desktop Module API". http://code.google.com/apis/gears/api_desktop.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-31.
- ^ "Geolocation Module API". http://code.google.com/apis/gears/api_geolocation.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-27.
- ^ http://gearsblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/gears-02-released.html
- ^ http://gearsblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/fly-gears-03.html
- ^ http://gearsblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/gears-04-is-here.html
- ^ http://code.google.com/apis/gears/upcoming/history.html
- ^ "Gears History". http://code.google.com/p/gears/wiki/GearsHistory. Retrieved on 2008-06-28.
- ^ "WordPress Trac ticket - Gears Support". http://trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6965.
- ^ "GearsMonkey: Google Gears + Greasemonkey to take Wikipedia offline". http://code.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=81101. Retrieved on 2008-06-11.
- ^ "Gears for Safari beta". Google. http://groups.google.com/group/gears-users/browse_thread/thread/36537d4f47c5495c/59c3950739b83da6?show_docid=59c3950739b83da6. Retrieved on 2008-08-26.
- ^ http://code.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=69201&topic=11629
- ^ "Opera extends Gears support". Opera Software. http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2008/05/29/. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Technology preview: Gears-enabled Opera Mobile 9.5". Opera Software. http://labs.opera.com/news/2009/02/20/. Retrieved on 2009-02-21.
- ^ "Gears-enabled Opera Mobile 9.51b2 download page". Opera Software. http://www.opera.com/mobile/download/?man=Windows+Mobile+5.0+Pocket+PC&ver=9.51b2_gears&heading=Windows%20Mobile%205/6%20Pocket%20PC&img=/bitmaps/products/mobile/platform/951b2.gif&extra=Touchscreen-based%20devices%20only.%20Visit%20http://gears.google.com%20to%20download%20the%20Gears%20plugin%20for%20Opera%20Mobile.%20Last%20updated:%2019.%202.%202009. Retrieved on 2009-02-21.
- ^ "Google Gears Takes Ruby on Rails Offline". eWeek. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Google-Gears-takes-Ruby-on-Rails-Offline/. Retrieved on 2008-07-15.
- ^ "Microsoft Knowledge Base article". Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/969213. Retrieved on 2009-05-07.
