Today, Google’s Chrome Beta for Android received a most impressive update through the Play store. Included is the addition of Google Translate, allowing users to instantly translate full webpages to their native tongue, as well as options for controlling and limiting bandwidth consumption through the browser’s settings. 

Since the majority of us are probably using Chrome, at least according to this poll, we feel it quite justified to talk about the world’s most popular web browser. Today, Google enabled “rich notifications” for Chrome. Think of these as little info cards that pop up in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. They are clean and elegant, heavily resembling that of Google Now’s UI. 

If you are a Chrome user on your desktop computer, be sure to update to the newest version that was released this morning as it includes Google’s new conversational search. We first saw conversational search at Google I/O last week in one of the more impressive demos from the keynote, and have been waiting for its release. 

Back in April, Google updated Chrome beta for Android to include a full-screen browsing mode along with simpler searches that stay in the search box after you press enter. Today, they are releasing that same update to the stable build of Chrome for Android. Once updated, you’ll see the toolbar disappear as you scroll down pages, giving you a full-screen experience. With a quick swipe back towards the top, it will return. You’ll also get searches that stay in the omnibox (search box), making follow-up searches easier. 

Google Hangouts, the new unified and cross-platform messaging service announced by Google at I/O, is now live on all platforms. For most of us, we care about Chrome and Android, but if you are an iOS user, you can find it in the App Store as well. Go grab it!

To install to your phone, you’ll need to install through the web Play store for the time being. This replaces Google Talk. Screenshots after the break! 

Google I/O 2013 is next week. Hard to believe, right? It seems like only a few weeks ago that we were freaking out as the Nexus 7, Nexus Q and Jelly bean (Android 4.1) were all being unveiled through Google Play as we were entering the day 1 keynote of 2012′s I/O. But here we are, almost a year removed from that event and six months out from Google’s cancelled winter event that was supposed to feature the Nexus 4, Nexus 10, new version of Jelly Bean (Android 4.2), and an updated HSPA+ version of the Nexus 7. So as we approach next week, we thought we should drop some of our own predictions, include a few rumors that are floating about, and even a few whispers that have entered our inbox over the last week or so.

Ready? Here is our list of Google I/O predictions. 

Chrome beta for Android received an update today that introduced two minor features that actually change the user experience in a semi-major way. For one, as you scroll down web pages, the toolbar will disappear so that you get a fullscreen view. All you need to do is swipe back up ever-so-slightly and it will then reappear, so that you can type in a new search query, change tabs, etc. Second, the omnibox (search box) now holds onto your search queries after you press “enter.” So when search results appear, you can quickly edit or add-on to search queries much easier. Previously, your search queries would show up in the Google Search box of the actual Google website – now they stay in the omnibox.

The rest of the new features and known issues are below. 

Whenever Google Babel does arrive for public consumption, we’re starting to believe it will be everything we have ever asked for in a unified messenger service. We’re talking synced notifications, cross-platform conversation experiences, a new UI, photo sharing, quick access to live video chats, and on-the-record chat history viewing from anywhere. According to sources of ours who have shared new information with us (including a feature list), we’re getting all of this and more.