Editor’s note: Kynetx is something you have to use to fully understand! If nothing in this article makes sense, please skip down to the bottom and at least try out the extensions these guys have built in their app directory and you can see the power of what this platform can do! This is very powerful technology – I really believe this is the future of the web!
Friday afternoon Kynetx launched support in their developer platform to build extensions for the Google Chrome Browser. The company, which provides a standardized, open framework for building web browser extensions (among other supported technologies such as Action Cards), became the first extension-building platform that supports all 3 of the top browsers on the web. The move is unprecedented, as now with Kynetx in comparison to GreaseMonkey, possibly their closest comparison in this instance, you can write code once, and immediately have extensions and plugins that work in Firefox, Chrome, and even IE with the click of a button. Kynetx makes customization of the user experience in the browser a cinch with their platform.
I visited Kynetx on Friday for their weekly Kynetx developers lunch (which they invite the public to, just asking that you let them know in advance), and they were hard at work getting the final quirks worked out of the Chrome extension. Developers like myself are now rejoicing, as Chrome is very quickly, with the backing of Google, proving to be one of the most responsive, most extensive browsers on the internet. It also has an integrated development environment so extensions such as Firebug for Firefox don’t even need to be installed. They all come with the browser, providing a much smoother and faster experience for the developer.
Kynetx is positioning themselves to become the ubiquitous controller for user experience and context on the web. With their technology, users have the potential to fully control what they allow and don’t allow to be displayed on the web. At the same time businesses are each given the opportunity, with the user’s permission, to change the experience for that user on the web.
Kynetx recently launched a tool with the Better Business Bureau enabling, with installation of a simple extension (in any of your favorite browsers now!), display of BBB accredited business seals in Google Local search results. When a business has been approved by the Better Business Bureau a little seal appears next to their name in search results, enabling a more educated experience for users in the browser. All of this is done without any need to form a special relationship with Google to customize those results. Because of the ease of development and broad install base for extensions like the new Chrome extension launched Friday, any business has the potential to customize the experience for the user in a similar manner.
The new Chrome extension works across all versions of Chrome that support extensions. While the official Chrome for Mac does not yet support this yet, the PC version does, as do developer builds of Chromium for Mac. It is rumored that Chrome for Mac will be supporting extensions very soon. The other advantage Chrome brings to the Kynetx environment is the availability of Jails for each extension. With Chrome, developers can enable extensions to not be able to talk with each other or affect each other. This introduces some interesting and secure identity and authentication/authorization implications which I’m sure we’ll be seeing from the Kynetx team in the future.
If you’re a developer with some knowledge of the DOM and Javascript, you should really check out the power of what the Kynetx platform can bring to your company and business. This goes way beyond the browser, and makes context-aware applications a user-controlled standard that goes with that user anywhere. Be sure to check out a little glimpse of what this stuff will enable in my previous article. You can get started developing for this platform immediately on their AppBuilder site.
Just a user? Be sure to check out their App Directory here, download the extensions and try them out in your favorite browser!
