For those of you loving Google’s Chrome Browser on your desktop or laptop computers and who also have an Android-powered phone, this is a great day. Why? Well, as you can probably guess from the headline above, Google has announced the first beta release of the Chrome Web browser for Android-powered smartphones and tablets.

“Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s SVP of Chrome and Apps, wrote on the company’s blog.

Chrome for Android is available immediately as a free download in the Android Market. It is compatible with smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0 or later. As I user of Chrome on Mac OS X I can only hope they release a version of Chrome for the iPhone. Although, knowing Apple’s reluctance to share, I won’t hold my breath.

If you want to see the Chrome browser for Android in action before your decide to try it yourself, check out the video from Google after the break.

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Renting DVDs is fast becoming an antiquated concept, soon to join music stores and MySpace as nostalgic reminders of days gone by. With the prevalence of digital downloads and high quality streaming, brick and mortar rental stores are fast becoming an endangered species.

Redbox has been able to carve out a niche for themselves in the failing industry by bringing the maximum amount of affordability and convince with 1 dollar rental units in stores nationwide. Not just content with staying alive for a few more years Redbox has recently partnered with Verizon to bring a new streaming service to compete with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and all the rest.

Verizon and Coinstar, Inc. today announced the formation of a joint venture that will create a new choice for quality- and value-conscious  consumers seeking a simple and affordable way to access the video entertainment they crave. The venture’s services will offer all of the convenience, simplicity and value of Redbox® new release DVD and Blu-ray Disc® rentals combined with a new content-rich video on-demand streaming and download service from  Verizon.

The service is expected to roll out in the second half of 2012, and with the infrastructure of Redbox already in place this new service stands a real chance at biting into Netflix’s failing grip on the market place it basically invented.

If you’ve ver purchased anything from online retailer Zappos, it’s probably time to change your password. Why? Well, on Sunday the company confirmed that someone (or someones) breached the company’s servers and accessed personal data belonging to about 24 Million of its customers.

The company, which is owned by Amazon and mostly known for shoes, confirmed that intruders were able to gain access to sensitive data including user names, encrypted passwords, customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit card numbers.

The company insisted that full credit card numbers were not compromised, but it’s probably not a bad idea to keep an eye on your next couple statements just to be on the safe side. that way, if you see something weird, you can report it and take care of the situation quickly.

The company also said in an email to customers that it had reset the passwords of all compromised accounts. The full text of the email can be read after the jump.

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Welcome to another edition of On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

• We’ve seen some pretty lame posters for movies that already exist, but here are some pretty amazing posters for movies we’ll sadly never see.

• We love Star Wars as much as the next movie site, but when it’s mixed with AC/DC’s best tunes, it is completely mind-blowing.

• Speaking of mind-blowing music, here’s a special look at the recording sessions for the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary theme.

• Everyone is getting ready for Skyrim to take up their lives for the next few weeks, so why not get this catchy rap stuck in your head getting ready for it?

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It’s not easy being a consumer trying to cut the cable or fiber cord these days. You’d think with a bevy of hot new set-top boxes like Apple TV, Google TV and Boxee, we’d be living in a Utopian future where television finally does what we want and dumping your expensive provider was a real possibility.

Not so fast, because it’s just not the reality, at least not yet. And predictably, given the nature of content owners, the issues are control and profits.

As thousands of new Apple TV owners plugged in their shiny new boxes, the realization that only a handful of networks were available, slowly began to sink in. With shows from ABC, Fox, Disney, and BBC, Apple TV via iTunes simply does not offer enough diverse content to satisfy most TV-watchers. While that’s a nifty start for Apple’s reboot of Apple TV, certain shows are conspicuously absent.

Are you a ‘Wipeout’ or ‘Big Bang Theory’ fan? Unfortunately, you’re out of luck since iTunes doesn’t carry those shows. And if you think Google TV might be your salvation, it just may be worse for owners of Logitech’s Revue Google TV devices. Upon Google TV’s release, the big three networks as well as Hulu began to block Google TV owners from streaming their shows.

So it’s no shocker that the recent reporting talking about how Microsoft is potentially cobbling together enough network deals to launch it’s own streaming service on the back of its extensive installed base of Xbox gaming systems, has many consumers quite skeptical.

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Today, everyone’s favorite movie and TV streaming service that also sends you programming on DVD and Blu-ray announced that beginning today the company will offer a new, streaming-only service option for $7.99 per month. The plan, which does not include any by mail content rentals, allows users to stream available titles to their televisions, mobile devices, and computers.

According to the company, they are “Creating the best user experience that we can around watching instantly is how we’re spending the vast majority of our time and resources.” Mmmkay. Sounds good.

Unfortunately, with good news also, on occasion, comes bad. The company also announced an increase to monthly plan prices by from $1 to $8. Netflix did not offer any reason for the increases, but did say price of its two most popular plans — one DVD and 2 DVDs — will only rise by $1. Thanks for that. Click through to see how the new Netflix plans work.

Will this change cause most people to switch to the streaming only plan? Maybe. What about you guys? Will you switch or do you still l like getting physical media?

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Here at The Flickcast we like to experiment with cool gadgets, software and such that can add something fun to our otherwise dreary lives toiling away for the man. Of course you can find most of us on Twitter and Facebook and yes, the site itself has its own Twitter and Facebook presence as well.

Another social media site and software we’ve been having a go with is called GetGlue. I could describe the site and its mission to you, but instead I’m going to let the folks who know it best tell you all about it (Plus, its Friday and I’m lazy). From the GetGlue website:

GetGlue is a social network for entertainment, with more than 4.5M new unique ratings and check-ins for tv shows, movies, music and books every month. GetGlue users rate and check-in to things they like to get recommendations and earn rewards.

The GetGlue mobile app enables users to check-in to tv shows, movies, music and books, plus see what their friends are consuming in real-time. On GetGlue.com users can quickly build up their taste profile, get fresh suggestions every week, browse top lists and find taste neighbors.

And with that, a cool new idea was born which now consumes time in my day. Fortunately, the GetGlue team make it very easy to check in and share your favorite items with applications for the iPhone, Android and now the iPad.

This is good news for us iPad users because using the GetGlue iPhone app on the iPad wasn’t working so well. Now that there’s a native iPad app, my use of GetGlue will undoubtedly increase. Plus, did I mention the stickers?

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Syfy is preparing a new Battlestar Galactica series, currently entitled Blood and Chrome, that will follow the exploits of William Adama during the Cylon War.

However, before you start to get too excited the series won’t actually be a full blown TV show airing on Syfy. Instead, it will be a web series with about 10 episodes, each around 9 minutes long. Not that I have anything against web series, in fact I kinda love them. I was just hoping for a new network show with a big budget and lots of awesome Cylon heads exploding and big space battles.

Oh well, here’s more on the show from Syfy:

According to Mark Stern, Syfy’s executive vice president of original programming and the co-head of original content for Universal Cable Productions, “Battlestar Galactica” and “Caprica” co-executive producer Michael Taylor will write the the script for the new venture.

“Blood & Chrome” is “about a young man’s initiation into war: both the realities of war as fought by soldiers on the ground (and in Battlestars and Vipers), and the somewhat less real version portrayed in the media,” according to Taylor.

“Blood & Chrome” would consist of nine or 10 episodes of nine or 10 minutes each, and it would make use of cutting-edge digital technology and special effects to depict the Cylon War. If it is greenlit to production, it will be filmed using green screens and virtual sets, not unlike Syfy’s “Sanctuary” or James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Before “Battlestar Galactica” ended, high-tech scans were made of all the show’s sets, so that the special-effects team will be able to re-create them (possibly even in 3D).

But wait, there’s more:

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Given the storm of bad press and user revolts Facebook has been suffering since announcing their “Open Graph” feature to better spread its data across the web, it’s rather puzzling that the company would announce an unrelated new security feature. But, announce it they did. With well-known tech pundit and podcaster Leo Laporte deleting his Facebook account on-the-air, Facebook has announced a new security method that ties your account to certain known computers and devices.

Similar to a method already in-use by most U.S. banking entities, Facebook will recognize computers and devices you typically log-in with, however when an unknown device attempts to log-in, you will be required to answer a challenge-response question to verify your identity. Facebook users will be able to approve which computers and mobile devices are allowed to log-in, and when an unauthorized attempt occurs, an email or text message will alert the user of the unauthorized access attempt.

While this heightened security is certainly unique in the social networking world, it does nothing to address the serious privacy issues being expressed about how Facebook data is being extended and used by unknown and potentially untrustworthy third-party web sites. Even Congress is getting involved, with four Democratic senators calling on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reconsider the recent changes in its privacy settings and asking the Federal Trade Commission to streamline guidelines regarding privacy on all social networks.

After the jump, I describe how to activate Facebook’s new authorized device/log-in notification feature, so read on if you’d like to try it for yourself.

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Facebook's "Open Graph" Concept

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a series of updates integral to their next-gen Facebook Platform today at their third annual f8 conference held in San Francisco. At the heart of these updates is the technology to allow Facebook data to flow more easily outside the carefully-controlled confines of Facebook itself.

Building on the success and widespread adoption of Facebook Connect, first announced at the inaugural f8 in 2008, a new concept dubbed “Open Graph” will expose your Facebook connections and public data to third-party web sites and mobile apps. In doing so, these outside services can better personalize your experience based on the data it finds. Expect the data to flow in two directions as services like Pandora, Yelp, Foursquare and other connected services feed even more behavioral data into your personal Open Graph.

You can easily imagine a scenario wherein after analyzing your Foursquare check-ins, Yelp decides that you really have a thing for Thai food and helpfully displays all of the Thai Restaurants in your immediate area upon start-up. Or perhaps you’ve favorited so many female singer-songwriter tracks at your favorite music-streaming service, that Yelp notifies you that Sara Barailles is playing at the Hotel Cafe nearby in Los Angeles this evening.

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably marveling at the glorious levels of personalization you might experience while simultaneously cringing at the potential privacy issues that Open Graph may unleash on unsuspecting users. But wait, there’s more!

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If you’ve been using Google Docs because you’re looking for a collaborative platform to work in that resides in the “cloud” or you just hate Microsoft and its Office products, then this post is for you. This week, the search giant announced a series of updates to Google Docs which are sure to make fans of the cloud-based service very happy indeed.

Some of these updates included the documents editor, which received additions such as a margin ruler, tab stops, comments, a re-worked system for placing and maintaining bullets and numbers and support for real-time collaboration of up to 50 people. In addition, spreadsheets now allows for cells to be edited from the formula bar, the use of auto-fill and the dragging and dropping of columns.

Plus, the system is reportedly going to be much faster, smoother and more intuitive. In truth, there are so many improvements announced by Google that it would almost be a disservice to them to try and list them all. Besides, why read about something when you can watch it instead, right?

Fortunately, Google has put together a little video highlighting the changes and we’ve got it right here for you after the jump. Check it out.

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Last week, a new site came to the attention of the video game world. Game Crush launched with the promise of giving gamers something they have searched their lives for… a girl to game with. Unfortunately, this isn’t a social networking site to help gamer guys and gamer girls connect with an interest of mutual friendship. Instead, Game Crush more closely resembles a service you’d see advertised on late night cable that comes with a 900 number. For just $6.60, a gamer can play over XBox Live or a browser based game against a hot girl.

Yes, “connecting” to a hot girl has been reduced to 66 cents a minute for gamers (although that rate is better than the $2.99 for phone sex lines). With either voice chat over Live or video and voice chat through browser games, these girls will actually play certain games with their customers.

After each interaction, users are encouraged to rate each girl which, according to the site, will decide which girls get a stronger spotlight on the site. Without a doubt, the most “enterprising” of these gamer girls will quickly figure out what these guys are actually paying to hear.

What’s even more sad at a service like this coming into existence is the fact that it is already becoming an internet sensation. Logging on to Game Crush today, potential “dates” were greeted with the following message:

“The GameCrush Public Beta is temporarily unavailable due to the incredible user response (more than 10,000 inquiries in five minutes). We are adding new servers to provide players with the best PlayDate experience possible. Games with GameCrush PlayDates start at $6.60 for ten minutes.”

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