Google has finally launched a version of the popular Chrome browser for Android smartphones.

Google Chrome Beta for Android arrives for phones and tablets packing the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, which means the app won't yet be available to an overwhelmingly large percentage of users.

The app brings tab syncing meaning the pages open on your desktop browser will automatically be sent to your smartphone through Chrome sign-in, meaning if you need to get up and leave your screen you can pick up what you were reading on your phone or tablet with minimum fuss.

We're thinking this might be particularly relevant when you're reading an engrossing article about the nuclear arms situation in Iran, but you really need to go to the toilet for half an hour, during work hours, but Google is probably thinking about when you had to leave the house or something.

Anyway, Chrome for Android will also sync up with your favourite sites, previously visited sites and also features the fast search functionality associated with the desktop version of the browser.

Other new features include a re-imagined tabs interface which Google says will allow you to flip through your open web-pages like a "desk of cards" which sounds pretty neat to us.

There's also a Link Preview feature, which allows you to easily zoom in on all the links featured on a page, rather than haplessly prodding at your small screen and invariably hitting the wrong page.

Hopefully Google will get this out to other Android users before too long, or at least put a little pressure on its manufacturing partners to get everyone up to speed on Android 4.0, which was, of course, the initial plan.

Via: TechRadar