Google just surprised everyone by releasing an Android version of Chrome, the popular desktop browser. The Android version of Chrome is still in beta, but comes with all the bells and whistles. Some of these including a GPU accelerated UI, smarter auto-fill, omnibox, HTML5 support, a simple UI optimized for tablets and phones, and much more.

While the UI of Chrome for Android is similar to the stock browser in Android 4.0, it does feel much faster and smoother. The tab switching UI has a card like UI, which make switching between open tabs a lot easier. 

Below is a video of Chrome for Android in action on the Galaxy Nexus -:

Sadly, the app is available only for Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich, which is running on around 1% of the Android devices out there. The other bad news is that like some of the other Google services and Android apps – Chrome to Phone, Google Currents, Earth etc. – Chrome is only available for Android handset users in the United States. 

Thankfully, one Android user has already extracted the Chrome for Android APK file from his handset, and uploaded it for all other fellow Android users to enjoy. Readers can download the Chrome for Android APK file from here. Keep in mind that the app will only work on Ice Cream Sandwich running devices.

Thanks for the download link, @SSaig

Update: As one of our reader pointed out, the app is also available for download from the U.K Android Market!