Google has released a developer preview of a tool based on Apache Cordova, an open-source mobile development framework for building native mobile apps. Developers can use this tool to wrap their Chrome apps into a native application s

hell that enables them to distribute it via Google Play and Apple App Store.

Developers can build their apps on standard web tools such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Google is already making wide variety of API's (Application Programming Interface) available for developers. The tool will also support payments and rich notifications on Android. Developers will also have additional API's available through Cordova itself.

First, developers will need to install Node.js version 0.10.0 or higher and a number of required development tools to get started. After the app is built, they can run the app on a device or an emulator using the command line or an IDE. In case developers want to run the app on an Android device without the need to install the SDK or IDE, they use the Chrome Apps Developer.