Articles about Browser

Buffer overflow vulnerability in PDFium PDF reader affects Google Chrome

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The name PDFium might not be immediately familiar, but if you're a Chrome user there's a high chance you're using it to view PDFs. The PDF viewer is built into Google's browser, and a vulnerability has been discovered in the jpeg2000 library which could allow for malicious code to be executed.

Unearthed by Aleksandar Nikolic from Cisco Talos, the heap buffer overflow vulnerability could be exploited by simply getting a user to open a PDF document with an embedded jpeg2000 image. The National Vulnerability Database entry warns that the security flaw affects versions of "Chrome before 51.0.2704.63 [and] allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted PDF document".

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Opera 38 unveils battery saver feature for laptops, promises reduced power consumption

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Just one month on from the previous stable release, Opera Software has released Opera 38 FINAL. The latest release of this desktop browser for Windows, Mac and Linux has one major headline of note: new battery and power saver features for laptops.

The new build also refines the app’s ad-blocking tool by allowing users to import their own block lists, plus makes several minor Speed Dial improvements.

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Bing now gives malware and phishing warnings

Bing iPad

Microsoft has changed the way it displays malware warnings in its search engine Bing to help users distinguish between the various forms of attacks that can appear in its searches.

The company has decided to replace its generic warning for websites that could be potentially dangerous for users, and instead offer separate warnings for sites that are known to contain malware and phishing sites.

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Firefox 47 widens HTML5 video support to include DRM-protected streams

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Mozilla has released Firefox 47 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. Version 47 adds support for Google’s Widevine CDM, enabling compliant sites including Amazon Video to stream DRM-protected video natively using HTML5 rather than via a third-party video plugin.

Elsewhere the new build drops support for add-ons that use the Firefox User Extension Library, plus implements a tweak that allows pages in Reader Mode to be read aloud to the user.

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Newsprompt displays breaking news on Chrome’s new tab page

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Newsprompt is a free Chrome extension which finds, sorts and displays 50+ of the latest news stories on your new tab page. The add-on scans 1,000+ top websites covering broad and niche categories, uses smart algorithms to remove any duplicates, and presents you with the results: a picture, headline, source and date per story.

Just skimming through the recent results will get you up-to-date in seconds. Click anything interesting and the source article opens in new tab.

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Calendar and Countdown: quick and easy task countdowns for Chrome

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Calendar and Countdown is a free Chrome extension with some handy calendar and task management features. Click C&C’s address bar icon and a full year calendar appears, along with week numbers and links to view different years.

If you’ve some major event coming up, click that date and give it a text description and color code. The color code is visible on the calendar, and hovering your mouse over that date displays the text, as a reminder.

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Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer now trail Mozilla Firefox

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Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge are slowly but surely losing ground in the desktop space. In fact, according to web analytics company StatCounter, for the first time Mozilla Firefox has more usage share than the two other browsers combined. However, Google Chrome still reigns supreme

Google Chrome is now the most popular desktop browser according to all the major web analytics companies. NetMarketShare was the last one to crown it king earlier this month -- Google Chrome surpassed Internet Explorer in its rankings with a 41.71 percent usage share to the latter's 41.33 percent.

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Google to block Flash in Chrome and default to HTML5 except for these ten white-listed sites

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By the end of 2016, Google aims to switch Chrome users away from Flash in favor of HTML5. The writing has been on the wall for Flash for some time now, with a seemingly endless torrent of security issues pushing increasing numbers of people toward HTML5.

Google says that by Q4 2016, it wants to make HTML5 the primary user experience. Flash support will still be built into the browser, but it will be disabled by default. Ten sites, however, will be given a year's reprieve.

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Opera 39 will boost your laptop's battery life by up to 50 percent

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No matter if we are talking about Windows PCs or MacBooks running OS X, the browser that you use can have a major impact on your laptop's battery life. Tests suggest that if you want the best results you should stick to the default browser, Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge on Windows, and Safari on OS X.

But, with Opera 39 soon to be released, Opera Software is basically claiming that the new version of its browser is far superior to any of its rivals. The trick is to activate the new power saving mode, which is available when you run on battery power.

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Opera 37 gets video pop-outs, ad-blocking technology

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Opera Software has released Opera 37 FINAL, a major new release of its desktop web browser for Windows, Mac and Linux PCs. The latest release contains two new major features of note: built-in ad-blocking and support for video pop-outs.

The ad-block feature has also been added to the brand new release of Opera Mini for Android 16.0, also out today.

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Google Chrome now more popular than Internet Explorer, says NetMarketShare

Victory Winner Free

Google Chrome has just passed Internet Explorer to become the most popular desktop web browser, according to web analytics company NetMarketShare. Based on the latest figures, the former has 41.71 percent usage share as opposed to 41.33 percent for Microsoft's longstanding PC browser.

NetMarketShare is the last major web analytics company to crown Google Chrome as the most popular desktop web browser. Other players in this field have it pegged as the leader with an even more comfortable lead over Internet Explorer.

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Firefox 46 arrives, security and stability the order of the day for desktop users

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Mozilla has released Firefox 46.0 FINAL, a relatively minor refresh of its desktop browser for Windows, Linux and Mac with no standout new features.

Also released is Firefox for Android 46.0, which does at least include some noteworthy new features such as the ability to display previously cached pages offline and support for sync via Firefox Accounts.

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Capture, edit and share full web pages with Open Screenshot

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Desktop screenshot tools support many capture types, and sometimes this includes taking an image of a full web page, even when it doesn't fit on the screen.

Sounds great, but it's extremely difficult for a third-party tool to make this happen consistently with all browsers and web pages, and often it just won’t work.

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With security and privacy in mind, will more browsers follow Opera's lead and offer free VPN?

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The modern internet user is somewhat paradoxical -- looking to be more connected and contactable than ever before, whilst simultaneously seeking privacy. Can the two ideas live side by side? It's a tricky balancing act, but many people turn to VPN tools to increase their security and privacy online.

Opera is the first web browser to bundle a free VPN tool as standard (with unlimited VPN data, no less), and it's hard to imagine that the competition won’t follow suit. Nothing has yet been announced, but the appearance of versions of Chrome or Firefox with integrated VPN would hardly be a surprise -- or would it? And how would you feel about a VPN tool supplied by Google?

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Deja Vu! Google's antitrust offenses are like Microsoft's (and the defense, too)

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Once again, as it has done in the past, Google makes the classic monopolist defense for its competitive—or anticompetitive, depending on perspective—behavior with respect to Android. Today, the European Union's Competition Commission formerly charged Alphabet and its major subsidiary, which has 12 weeks to provide satisfactory legal response before the Commission issues corrective sanctions.

Simply stated, the EC finds that the company abused its dominant position, in part by contracts compelling Android licensees to preload Google apps and related services, including search. Microsoft ran into similar bundling headaches starting in the late 1990s with respect to Windows. Responding today, Kent Walker, Google general counsel, claims that licensees and consumers can choose to install third-party apps. Microsoft made like-claims during its antitrust defense here and in Europe; they fell flat.

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