Zmarties

Version 3 of the Google Toolbar has just been released in beta form, and adds the following new features:

• Spelling correction
• Autolink (which turns certain plain text on the page into links)
• Word Translator

These new features are all implemeted via server side magic - as the updated toolbar privacy page explains, they work by sending the contents of the page you are viewing up to Google. This send is done over https, so the data is encrypted during the transfer. The privacy page actually refers to a dictionary service, which the toolbar does not yet provide - whether this is simply what that are now calling word translator, or whether this refers to another service is unclear.

Despite the close relationship Google now has with Firefox, the toolbar remains IE only, which will disapoint many.

There is a good initial roundup of the features at SearchEngineWatch.