Google Chrome for iOS offers app interoperability, full-screen support on iPad
Hot on the heels of its Google Maps for iOS update, Google has unveiled Google Chrome for iOS 28, its alternative web browser for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users. The new build contains a number of notable new features, plus rolls out full-screen support for iPad users, something that has been available to iPhone users for quite some time.
The first major new feature is better interoperability with other Google apps. By tapping Settings > Google Apps in Chrome itself, users can instruct the browser to pipe relevant links through to other installed Google apps such as YouTube, Google Drive and Google Maps rather than using the browser itself.
Run Chrome extensions in Opera
The rebooting of Opera 15.0 saw the niche browser switch to a new rendering engine, adopting Chrome’s Blink in favor of its own proprietary Presto engine. In restarting the browser from scratch, Opera has opted not to include a lot of popular functionality from previous versions -- some of this is temporary, while others (specifically bookmarks) could be permanently lost.
One way of restoring some functionality is through extensions, small programs written in HTML, CSS or JavaScript. Opera has its own Extensions store, but the great news for early adopters of Opera 15 is that -- with the aptly titled Chrome Extension for Opera 2.0 installed -- you can use Google Chrome Extensions too.
Chrome 28 adds richer notifications, implements new Blink rendering engine
Google has released Google Chrome 28 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The latest version of its open-source, cross-platform web browser sees Google implement the latest revision of its web rendering engine -- Blink -- and also give apps and extensions a better platform for interacting with users outside of the main browser window.
As part of the switch to a "richer" notification system, Chrome introduces a new Notification Center, which works independently of the browser via the taskbar or menubar. Already present in Chrome OS, the center currently only appears on Windows builds with this stable release, but will be extended to Mac and Linux shortly.
Vet social networking app privacy settings with MyPermissions Cleaner
With privacy higher than ever on the news agenda, it is not surprising people are starting to wake up to the fact they have happily allowed all kinds of personal information about themselves to appear online. It might be too late to stem the tide, but if you are thinking about reviewing your personal privacy, one place to start might be with the apps added to various social networks.
If this idea appeals, then desktop users should install one of MyPermissions Cleaner for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, while iPhone and Android users can go with Online Privacy Shield -- once done, you are ready to start taking action to tighten privacy settings.
Bitdefender Total Security 2014 review
When you buy a program with “Total” in the name then you probably expect a very complete feature list, and Bitdefender Total Security 2014 certainly does not disappoint in this regard: the suite offers antivirus, firewall, anti-spam, browsing and social networking protection, privacy tools, parental controls, online storage, anti-theft service, PC tuneup module and more.
And although some people prefer to ignore the frills and assess security packages on their core essentials, Bitdefender does just as well here. An AV-TEST report on Bitdefender Internet Security 2013, for instance, shows it detecting 100% of the test malware samples -- this program is strong on the basics, too.
Opera 15 is a fresh start, not the end
Opera Software made a bold move earlier this year when the company announced that it would use WebKit as its rendering engine and V8 as the JavaScript engine for all new products. Later on it revealed that it would follow Google and use the Blink Fork instead of WebKit, but that did not change the explosiveness of the move.
It took the Norwegian company five months to release the first final version of Opera for PCs that is powered by the new engines. While that seems like a long time for users who wanted to find out how the change would affect them personally, the development time is not that long.
Stable Opera 15 arrives with new features and rendering engine
Just a month after unveiling the first beta to the public, Opera Software has released Opera 15.0 FINAL. The latest version of the browser receives a complete reboot, sporting a different rendering engine, revamped interface and a number of new features.
The new release does not spell the end of the previous version, however, with Opera 12.15 FINAL still available (and due to receive an update shortly) for those reluctant to move on.
Pale Moon 20.2 delivers improved security and visuals
Moonchild Productions has released Pale Moon 20.2 and Pale Moon x64 20.2 for Windows. Also available in portable 32-bit and 64-bit forms, this performance-enhanced Firefox variant continues to base itself on an older build (version 20), despite the release of Firefox 22 FINAL.
Version 20.2 includes identical functionality to Firefox 20, which means developments in later versions of the popular opens-source browser, such as fully enabled WebRTC and social API extensions are not included here. This isn't surprising, as Pale Moon purposefully leaves the latter switched off by default as part of its commitment to deliver a more secure and speedier browsing experience.
Firefox 23 Beta arrives, enables mixed content blocking, click-to-start plugins
Hot on the heels of the release of Firefox 22.0 FINAL, Mozilla has released Firefox 23.0 Beta 1, a preview version of the next release that will ship in around six week’s time.
Version 23.0 implements mixed-content blocking for greater security, plus allows plugins to be evoked only when specific websites require them. New consolidated search default preferences have also been implemented that could prove controversial.
Firefox 22 enables WebRTC, makes social APIs easier to manage
Mozilla has released Firefox 22.0 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. The update includes some platform-specific improvements -- Firefox following display scaling options in Windows, and providing download progress indicators in its dock application icon in OS X -- plus a number of other tweaks and improvements.
Other new features include the ability for users to now manage their social API plug-ins via the Add-ons menu (select Services in the left-hand menu to do so), while users can now adjust the playback rate of HTML5 audio and video files (right-click the playback screen and choose Play Speed to do so).
Has Microsoft made WebGL Secure? How?
Microsoft has dropped strong clues, without saying it explicitly, that Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 8.1 will support WebGL, a DirectX-like standard for fast gaming on the web. The biggest clue came in a video posted on Vine. Others have found direct evidence in leaked builds.
It's not hard to see why Microsoft would want to support WebGL. Everyone else does. However, the company spelled out the reasons it hadn’t so far in a Security, Research and Defense blog post two years ago.
Do Not Track standards do not coalesce
The advertising industry is in a huff over Mozilla’s plans to support "The Cookie Clearinghouse" at the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford Law School. The Cookie Clearinghouse starts with some browser behavior changes and adds what Mozilla’s Brendan Eich describes as both block and allow-lists of sites and a mechanism for managing exceptions to them. What would be blocked? Third-party tracking cookies.
The advertising industry is displeased, as it has been in the past when its abilities to track users are impeded.
Maxthon for Windows adds global rule customising, restores Page Mute function
Maxthon has released a major new update for its self-titled browser. Maxthon 4.1 and Maxthon Portable 4.1 both aim to provide Windows users with a performance-enhanced browser that retains compatibility with Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.
Version 4.1 continues in this vein, delivering a number of performance-related improvements alongside a handful of new and enhanced features, including the support for customising global blocking rules.
Dolphin browser for Android gets Flash, redesigned interface, new features
Late-yesterday, after reaching 80 million app installs, popular Android browser Dolphin received a significant update which, among the most noteworthy improvements, introduces a new UI (User Interface), a web app store and (re-adds) support for Flash content.
To take advantage of Flash content, Dolphin users have to install the Adobe Flash Player app and enable the feature from the settings menu. The browser now also comes with improved search support, touted as both faster and smarter, with queries directly turning up results on Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia or YouTube.
Microsoft: If you want to be green, use Internet Explorer!
The "browser you loved to hate" continues to try and find ways to push itself into prominence against the likes of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Now, on World Environment Day, Microsoft comes up with yet another reason why you should choose Internet Explorer over its closest rivals. And this is one of the most imaginative ones yet -- energy efficiency!
Roger Capriotti, Director of Internet Explorer Marketing, tells us that, according to the Center for Sustainable Energy Systems at Fraunhofer USA, "When compared to Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer uses up to 18 percent less energy". He also adds in some fancy numbers, to boost this claim. Unsurprisingly, the report was commissioned by Microsoft.
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