App store for Google's Chrome OS showcased at I/O conference

Google have been showcasing an app store for the Chrome OS at their annual I/O conference. With web based applications central to Google’s Chrome OS, the app store briefing was a tantalising look at the heart of the incoming operating system.

Concepts on show included a Sports Illustrated app, which had the appearance of a physical magazine but with embedded videos, the Plants vs Zombies and Lego: Star Wars games and a raft of Google applications like Gmail and Docs. The Star Wars app was particularly impressive, showing off some silky 3D graphics considering it was running inside a browser. Though it used a plug-in for its current build, Google said there was also a version that used HTML5.

Paid for apps including Bejewelled 2, Fifa World Cup 2010 and Scrabble were also on the way.

While Google did not give a specific release date for their app store, they did say that they would be opening its door to developers soon. It looks like the Chrome OS is well on its way towards hitting that late 2010/ early 2011 release date then.