Google is giving Chrome a new Password Manager -- here's how to enable it
For anyone who struggles to remember the growing list of endlessly complicated passwords needed to gain access to the plethora of online accounts we all now have, a password manager is near-essential. Chrome, like many of the web browsers, has long-featured a tool for storing and automatically entering passwords, and now Google is giving it a much-needed upgrade.
Until now, Chrome's password manager has been functional, but far from being adorned with bells and whistles. Now Google is giving it a new user interface as well as an important injection of new features.
Google is rolling out Memory Saver and Energy Saver features to Chrome users
Chrome may be one of the most widely used web browsers in the world, but along the way it has managed to earn itself a reputation for being something of a bloated resource hog. Now, weeks after initially announcing them, Google is rolling out a pair of new features to help address the problem.
Energy Saver and Memory Saver do very much what their names suggest, helping to reducing battery consumption and memory usage with a range of techniques. Available in Chrome 110, both features can be customized to your liking.
Google Calendar releases new spam protection
Spam in your calendar? It’s not something that most of us think about -- the word brings to mind email and phone calls and even just old-fashioned snail mail. But your online calendar is also a very real target and it may be growing worse.
It’s actually fairly ingenious; a spammer sends an invite to an event and, even if the email invitation goes to your spam folder, the event still goes to your Google Calendar. When you click on the event in your calendar it contains a malicious link. Even if you click 'decline' it can still take you to possible NSFW content, or worse. Plus, declining will simply cross out the appointment and leave the reminder behind.
Plugable UD-MSTHDC is a 'Works With Chromebook' docking station
What is a Chromebook? Quite simply, it is a laptop running Google's Linux-based ChromeOS operating system. However, when you connect one of these notebooks to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, it becomes a very capable makeshift desktop computer.
The most elegant way to transform a laptop into a desktop is with a USB-C docking station. But how can you be sure your Chromebook is compatible with such an accessory? Well, if the dock is officially certified as "Works With Chromebook," then you can be assured that it will work flawlessly.
Google leaks its own Pixel 7 Super Bowl commercial for some reason
Super Bowl LVII is happening this upcoming Sunday, and men across America are excited to watch the big game. While some women will also watch the Super Bowl, many of them will only be watching for the TV commercials. You see, even if you aren't a fan of football, the advertisements have become a spectacle in their own right.
The cost of running a Super Bowl commercial is very expensive, which makes it quite odd that Google has leaked its Pixel 7 ad early. Yes, over on YouTube, you can view the search giant's Super Bowl commercial now, meaning there will be no excitement surrounding it come Sunday.
Google launches new security and privacy features to mark Safer Internet Day
Google is using today's Safer Internet Day to announce a number of new security and privacy initiatives.
Among these are new ways to fill out passwords easily and securely in Chrome, more privacy protection for the Google app, improvements to Google Password Manger, and an expansion of SafeSearch to protect against explicit images.
Whether you like it or not, AI is coming to search engines
The public release of ChatGPT has started an AI craze that has taken the online world by storm. ChatGPT, for those unaware is a language model that has been trained for dialogue specifically.
It works similarly to chatbots, but is not as limited to returning information based on certain keywords in requests.
Future versions of Chrome will allow browser extensions to be disabled on a site-by-site basis
In a future update to Chrome, Google will give users the option of having extensions enabled or disabled on a site-by site basis.
This is an option that some browser extensions -- notably ad-blockers -- feature as standard, but the update will expand this so it applies to all add-ons. With a few clicks it will be possible to quickly disable all extensions for a particular site for the purposes of compatibility, privacy or performance.
Google launches client-side encryption for Gmail in beta
Google has announced that businesses can now apply to try out client-side encryption for Gmail on the web.
Now available in beta for a selection of Workspace users, the feature is one that was promised some time ago. Google says that the new encryption option means that "sensitive data in the email body and attachments are indecipherable to Google servers", but there will be disappointment that the security and privacy feature is not available for everyone.
Google shares FREE books for the holidays
Some of the best holidays are almost upon us, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Sadly, due to the recession and inflation, many people are finding it hard to celebrate this year. The economic downturn has decimated the bank accounts of many, meaning fewer gifts might be a possibility in some homes.
Thankfully, reading a book can be a free way to escape reality -- just head to your local library. If you don't have a library card or are unable to go to such a place, do not worry -- Google has you covered. No, the search giant is not giving away books, but it has curated a list of digital holiday books in the public domain that are freely available to read.
Google launches OSV-Scanner to help identify vulnerabilities in open source software
Google has announced a new tool designed to help identify vulnerabilities in open source software.
The OSV-Scanner is described as a frontend to the existing OSV (open source vulnerabilities) database and one of the aims is to alert developers to security issues in the code their projects depend on.
Google is making Chrome far less greedy
With 2023 just around the corner, thoughts may well be turning to New Year's resolutions -- and that certainly seems to be the case for Chrome. Just as many people use the arrival of a new year as a reason to go on a diet, so Google is making its web browser less greedy.
Chrome has earned itself something of a reputation for being incredibly resource-hungry, and Google is now ready to address what amounts to a serious problem for many people. What does this mean in practice? Google is reducing Chrome memory and power consumption thanks to Energy Saver and Memory Saver.
Google now lets you search tabs, bookmarks and browsing history from the address bar in Chrome
Google is, of course, best known for its search engine but in a significant update to Chrome, the company has introduced a powerful new way to search tabs, bookmarks and browsing history in the browser.
It has been possible to conduct each of these types of search for some time, but now Google has simplified things dramatically. The change means that Chrome's address bar can now be used for much more than just to search the web; all it takes is the addition of an @.
Google Search on the desktop gains (almost) endless scrolling
Google's search engine may be the go-to tool for millions of daily users looking to track down information online, but there has long been room for improvement. As anyone who has conducted a search that returned a huge number of results will know, clicking through page after page of suggestions can be time consuming.
Now Google has come up with a solution. Having delivered continuous scrolling to mobile users last year, the company has now brought the time-saving feature to the desktop. While not quite endless / infinite scrolling, you can now whizz through more results without the need to manually move to the next page.
Google announces long-overdue desktop VPN apps for Windows and macOS
Google has just offered an incentive to subscribe to Google One. The company is launching a desktop client that makes it possible to use its VPN service on Windows and macOS -- something that was previously only possible on iOS and Android devices.
While Google's VPN service and the associated apps are free, you need to be signed up to Google One Premium in order to access it.
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