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It's been over a year since hints of Google Now being integrated into the Chrome browser started showing up, but things just took a big step forward today. Google just announced that Google Now notifications were now integrated into the Chrome beta browser on Mac, Windows, and of course in Chrome OS. Assuming you're signed into Chrome with the same account that you use for Google Now on your mobile phone, you'll start getting Google Now in the recently-added Chrome notification center — the small "bell" icon that lives in the OS X menu bar or Windows system tray.

Google has moved pretty quickly to get Google Now into the Chrome beta browser — it was only added to the official alpha a few weeks ago. The beta browser is generally a lot more stable, so now might be the time for those who want to experience Google Now on the desktop to give it a shot. That said, Google Now will be rolling out over the coming week — and it doesn't appear to be live on our end yet. There's also no word on when this will make it into the official Chrome build, either — so if you're gun-shy about running beta software, you'll have to be patient.

Some PC manufacturers choose to imitate Apple’s MacBook line with various products, but Dell has taken a slightly different approach. In a recent marketing video, the company has raised the bar above MacBook imitation and transformed its very own Dell XPS 15 into a laptop that combines OS X and Windows 8. The entire marketing video, released in December, shows a laptop that seamlessly switches between the Windows 8 Start Screen and apps running in OS X, all thanks to a flick of the wrist or a tap on the screen.

While it might look like Dell has created the ultimate hackintosh, it’s all a giant mistake. Dell’s XPS 15 is a Windows 8 laptop that’s not designed to run Apple’s OS X operating system, and it’s clear the marketing team got a little too creative in the production of this particular video. We’ve seen plenty of similar blunders before, but never a minute-long product demo of a Windows laptop that also "runs" OS X.

When Cartoon Hangover launched its Kickstarter to fund a second season of Natasha Allegri‘s Bee and PuppyCat animated series back in October, fans quickly noticed that comic books were among its backer rewards — and just as quickly deduced which publisher would be bringing them to life. Boom! quickly confirmed it was working with Allegri (with a teaser that playfully read “Of Course we’re doing the comic!“), following their successful team-up on her Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake comics and now the publisher is ready to confirm the book’s full launch details. Bee and PuppyCat #1, co-written by Allegri and Garrett Jackson, with art by Allegri, and colors by Allegri and Patrick Seery, is set to arrive in stores digitally in May.

Drawing inspiration from Sailor Moon, Garfield and yes, even Superbook, Bee and PuppyCat launched in August as a two-part animated saga introducing fans to the 20something human protagonist Bee as she discovers her mysterious new pet from another realm, PuppyCat, on the way home from another failed day in the workforce. Since then, the shorts have been viewed a combined nearly 4 million times, with some 18,209 fans funding the Kickstarter for 10 new episodes with $872,133 (more than 145% of the $600,000 total it had sought).

In an interview with ComicsAlliance in November, Allegri teased that a space cat cafe could be in the series’ future, and emphasized that the series would avoid mean-spirited humor. So far, it definitely seems at home at Boom!’s Kaboom! imprint alongside Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors and the upcoming Steven Universe comic.

The first issue will feature covers by Allegri and Zac Gorman (Magical Game Time), although roughly 3,100 of the fans who backed the B&P cartoon on Kickstarter will be receiving an exclusive cover.

You can check out covers and two pages from Bee and PuppyCat #1 below.

Natasha Allegri Talks About The Upcoming Bee And Puppycat Comic

Facebook announced its new, gorgeous mobile app Paper last week, paving the way to today's launch on iOS. It's already an impressive new way of navigating Facebook. However, the company is now in hot water over the name, since Paper by FiftyThree, a well-regarded app in the App Store, has been around since 2012. FiftyThree CEO Georg Petschnigg took to the company blog this morning to politely ask that Facebook "stop using our brand name."

"There's a simple fix here."

Petschnigg writes that the Paper developers, along with others online and in the press, were surprised and confused after last week's announcement. After FiftyThree reached out, he writes, Facebook apologized for the confusion. However, the CEO is now calling for a change to the app's name. After all, his company's Paper has garnered plenty of praise and recognition since its debut to stand as the one-and-only app with the name. "There’s a simple fix here," Petschnigg says. "We think Facebook can apply the same degree of thought they put into the app into building a brand name of their own. An app about stories shouldn’t start with someone else’s story."

The new Paper app just launched, and it's already the best Facebook app ever. But, simple solution or not, the name issue is still unresolved. We've reached out to both companies for comment.

Mattel has rarely remarked on its Barbie dolls' controversial body proportions, but a new interview with FastCo Design finds one of its top designers defending the exaggerated shape. "Barbie’s body was never designed to be realistic," Barbie design VP Kim Culmone tells FastCo Design. "She was designed for girls to easily dress and undress." Beyond just allowing the clothing to come on and off the doll, Culmone also says that Barbie' tiny figure helps Mattel sew and shape common fabrics at such a small scale. That's a lesser concern though: "Primarily it’s for function for the little girl," Culmone says.

"Girls' perceptions are so different than grown ups'."

Though Barbie's shape has changed slightly over the years — even making its proportions modestly more realistic — Culmone suggests that Mattel would prefer not to change its design all that much. "Everything may not always be able to fit every doll, but it’s important to me that the majority of it does," Culmone tells FastCo Design. She says that the doll's "heritage" is important, and that she wants older Barbie's clothing to fit on newer dolls. "There’s an obligation to consistency," she says.

Culmone dismisses concerns that Barbie's unhealthy shape could hurt young girls' body perception or encourage bad dieting habits. "You have to remember that girls’ perceptions are so different than grown ups’ perceptions about what real is and what real isn’t, and what the influences are," Culmone tells FastCo Design. Culmone doesn't believe that girls compare their body to the doll, saying that peers and parents are what kids find truly influential. "Girls view the world completely differently than grown-ups do."

Critics of the doll's shape obviously disagree. Though there's been little research to prove the point, Barbie's shape has been widely criticized for years: in the mid-'90s, the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders calculated just how wildly out of proportion the Barbie doll was — according to Rehabs.com, it found that the average woman would have had to grow two feet to match a Barbie's shape, just for starters. The doll's design has changed a bit since then, but it hasn't been enough to make it appear much more lifelike.

Barbie designers have previously dismissed concerns over the doll's shape, suggesting that Mattel views it as a toy without capacity to impact a person so broadly. Though it doesn't sound like Mattel is eager to change the doll's design anytime soon, its success has been waning. On Friday, Mattel revealed that global Barbie sales had fallen 13 percent year-over-year for its holiday quarter, according to The Wall Street Journal. "The reality is we just didn't sell enough Barbie dolls," Mattel CEO Bryan Stockton said.

For now, Culmone points to concerns over fit and creation of the doll's clothing as a major holdup for making changes, but it's hard to imagine that concerned parents wouldn't be happy to buy new dolls and accessories if given the option. If sales continue to decline, it's an option that could be increasingly appealing to Mattel.