Items tagged with Chrome
Google is bringing a biometric security mechanism to its Chrome browser on Android, after rolling it out to Windows Hello earlier this year. Once in place, users with Android phone will be able to authenticate web purchases using biometric inputs supported by their handsets, such as fingerprint scanning and facial recognition capabilities. This will make confirming credit card details quicker, easier, and overall more convenient. That is assuming you choose to save your credit card information to your Google Account. If so, rather than having to punch in the CVC number on the back of your card before having Chrome autofill the credit card details in a web form, biometric authentication will serve...
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The most popular web browser around is Google Chrome, and lots of Android users who prefer the browser will be glad to hear the latest news about a new feature. A report indicates that Chrome Canary for Android will get a scheduler feature for downloads. This will allow users to schedule a download to happen when they aren't using their device in the middle of the night or any other time of their choosing. The new feature is called "download later" and offers a download dialog that allows users to choose a specific date and time in the future. The image seen below shows what the interface would look like and provides options to download now, when on Wi-Fi, and an option to pick a date and time....
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Google is looking at ways to extend the battery life of devices running Chrome with significant numbers of tabs open in the background. The search giant has announced that starting with Chrome 86, it will ship a new feature that limits JavaScript timer wake ups in background web pages. Chrome's new feature will be part of the chrome://flags settings area. The new setting will limit the JavaScript timer wake ups in background web pages to one wake-up per minute. Apple also limits wake-ups to the same time frame in Safari. Google will reportedly use the new feature in Chrome for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and Chrome OS. Ahead of rolling out the new feature, Google has been doing some research...
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While the Android ecosystem moved in large part to support 64-bit architectures way back in 2014 with Android 5.0, one of the most commonly used web browsers has lacked 64-bit support. Chrome has only been offered for Android devices in 32-bit form, but that is now changing. Chrome 85 finally brings a 64-bit version of the popular browser to Android devices. Current stable builds are version 83 and version 84, which are both 32-bit apps. However, it has been confirmed that Chrome Dev and Chrome Canary for Android are both 64-bit software. What this means for users is faster operation and consistently better scores on benchmarks like Octane 2.0. Improved performance on benchmarks should equate...
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An interesting new feature is currently rolling out to Chrome users on Android devices that can show the definition of any word in a text passage. When users are reading a text page on the Chrome browser with their Android device, they're able to tap a word to see a definition or knowledge graph information on the bottom of the screen. As of this writing, the feature hasn't widely rolled out. Depending on the word that users tap, the definition could include a small image. Users typically see a picture of the book if they are receiving a word definition. When the word touched is an object or element, small images are offered. When given a dictionary result, users are also presented with a pronunciation...
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A third-party security team uncovered a massive ring of Chrome spyware extensions that were all working together. The nefarious extensions had been downloaded a total of over 32 million times and impacted millions of Chrome browsers. The researchers at Awake Security are coming forward after they informed Google of the Chrome spyware ring, and after Google removed over 70 identified extensions from the official Chrome Web Store last month. A Google spokesman said that after extensions are removed from the Web Store that violate policies, the incidents are used as training material to improve the automated and manual analysis systems. Most of the illegitimate extensions discovered by the researchers...
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The most popular web browser also happens to be a notorious memory hog, particularly for power users who juggle a bunch of tabs. We are of course talking about Google Chrome. There have been ongoing efforts to reduce Chrome's appetite for memory, and not just by Google—Microsoft's recent May 2020 Update for Windows 10 includes a feature that might be of help. While not aimed specifically at Chrome, the May 2020 Update introduces Windows segment memory heap improvements that could potentially benefit the browser and other Win32 applications. "The value SegmentHeap indicates that segment heap will be used. Segment heap is a modern heap implementation that will generally reduce your overall...
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installing the May 2020 Update for Windows 10 is still not an option on my main desktop, and I am just fine with that, given the number of issues that have arisen since it went public on May 27. We have written about several of them already. The latest woes reported by Windows 10 users who made the upgrade include experiencing login issues in various programs. Fortunately, the login headaches some users are having do not appear to be widespread. Nevertheless, it is annoying for those who are experiencing issues, no matter how many others are running into the same trouble. Over on Reddit, a user started on a thread regarding Windows 10 version 2004 forgetting login information in Chrome, Edge,...
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Google faces a proposed class action lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over its data collection policies tied with its Chrome browser, and specifically the browser's Incognito mode. According to the lawsuit, Google engages in "surreptitious tracking" by collecting browser histories and other web activity "no matter what safeguards consumers undertake to protect their data privacy." Part of what makes the lawsuit interesting is it alleges Google is running afoul of federal and California state laws on wiretapping. "Google must be held accountable for the harm it has caused to its users in order to ensure it cannot continue to engage in the covert and unauthorized data collection from...
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Heavy Chrome users know that it can be hard to manage all the tabs that they tend to have open at one time. Google feels the pain and has announced that it's bringing a new way to organize Chrome tabs called tab groups. The feature is available right now in Chrome beta channel and will come to the stable channel at a later date. Google says with tab groups, users will be able to right-click and group tabs together and label them with a custom name and color. Once the tabs are grouped, they can be moved and reordered within the tab strip. The new feature will allow users to group tabs by topic or by job if working on multiple projects at the same time. Google says that some early users have grouped...
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Building a dual-screen device is one thing, leveraging it is another matter. The latter requires proper software support. To help with that, Microsoft is working on an experimental feature for Chromium called "dual-screen emulation," which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like—it adds dual-screen emulation support to Chromium-based browsers. Why Chromium? Microsoft has a vested interest in adding support ever since the company overhauled its Edge browser. The latest version of Edge is built around Chromium, the same foundation that Google's own Chrome browser is built on top of, so it makes sense. Interestingly, Edge is the second most popular browser, coming in behind (way behind)...
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Google has launched a new version of the extremely popular Chrome web browser that pushes the browser to version 81. Some of the key updates for Chrome 81 includes WebXR hit testing, app icon managing, Web NFC, and others. The update also includes 32 security fixes, many of which earned at least some bug bounty money with the highest payout being $7,500. As for the new features, WebXR Hit Test API is intended to allow web-based applications to do things that previously required an app, such as allow users to see what a new chair might look like in their home. WebXR Hit Test API lets users place virtual objects into the camera's view of the real world. The app icon badging feature has moved from...
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Google noted this week that it had patched a zero-day bug inside the Chrome browser that had to do with its V8 JavaScript engine. The V8 JavaScript Engine is open-source, and the flaw in Chrome impacted the versions of the browser for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The bug is tracked as CVE-2020-6418, and it has a severity rating of high. Google noted that the flaw impacts versions of Chrome that were released before 80.0.3987.122. Technical details of the bug are being withheld until the flaw has been fully patched, according to Google. ThreatPost, however, says that memory corruption vulnerabilities happen when memory is altered without explicit data assignments, triggering programming errors....
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Malware is a major problem and spreads easily through insecure downloads over the web. As such, Google's Chrome browser will begin to block "mixed content downloads" in order to guarantee that HTTPS (SSL secured) pages are only able to download secure files. Google's plan will be rolled out over various upcoming iterations of Chrome. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) pages are intended to be secure ways to send data over a computer network. However, their security can be compromised by mixed content downloads or non-HTTPS secured transmission of files. Mixed content downloads are vulnerable to attackers and can do major damage to users. The plan is for the Chrome browser to therefore...
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Homer Simpson spoke for all of us when he said, "Mmm...crumbled-up cookie things" in Lisa the Greek (Season 3, Episode 14). I mean really, who does not like cookies? Or cookie things? Be that as it may, cookies in browsers are not always so delectable, and so Google is changing the recipe for developers with the release of Chrome 80. Chrome 80 will begin rolling out today, and then starting later in the month, Google will be enforcing a new cookie classification system within the latest stable browser build. This will start with a "small population of users" and then gradually increase to include more Chrome users over time (though Google doesn't specify how fast it plans to ramp things up)....
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It's no secret that Google has the most popular search engine on the planet and the most popular browser with Chrome. Microsoft also has its widely popular Office 365 suite of software. Microsoft now wants all the people that use Office 365 ProPlus to change to using its Bing search engine. The software giant announced this week that it would be forcing users to install the "Microsoft Search in Bing" extension if they are using the Chrome browser for all Office 365 ProPlus customers. The extension will be forced on the users with the version 2002 rollout of Office 365 ProPlus. That rollout is set to start in February, and there will be a broader rollout in March. The first countries to be graced...
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Google Chrome may be the most popular browser out there, but Windows 10 users know that it can be a resource hog. This lack of regard for efficiency is particularly evident when running Chrome on a Windows 10 notebook that is on battery power. Microsoft may have a solution that will end the power and resource-hogging that Chrome is known for. Last summer, Microsoft noted that it may be possible to reduce Chrome's battery use by eliminating the unnecessary disk caching when watching videos. The caching of video during playback keeps the disk in an active state and consumes power. Microsoft has a second commit that shows it plans to add a check to verify if the device is running on battery. The...
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Starting next month, Google will tighten the controls on its Chrome browser by limiting cross-site tracking, and within the next two years, it plans on eliminating third-party cookies from the equation. These and other steps are part of a larger initiative Google is calling "Privacy Sandbox," which entails open standards to enhance user privacy when surfing the web. "Our goal for this open source initiative is to make the web more private and secure for users, while also supporting publishers," Google said. On the surface, getting rid of third-party cookies may seem to go against the latter part of that statement, but Google believes there is a better way of satisfying both users and publishers....
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Microsoft is nearly ready to pull the plug on Windows 7; at least for general consumers. Starting next week, January 14thto be exact, Microsoft will end extended support for the operating system after more than a decade on the market. As you might expect, instead of diverting resources to keep Windows 7 operational, Microsoft would rather you upgrade to its newer Windows 10 operating system. With that being said, some software developers won't be so quick to part ways with Windows 7 compatibility, and one of those companies is none other than Google. Google Chrome is the most popular web browser around the globe, and a great number of Windows 7 users have it installed on their systems. While...
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Google was forced to stop the rollout of Chrome 79 for Android devices recently due to a bug. The bug was discovered when mobile app developers reported the update was deleting user data and resetting mobile apps. The bug occurred during the upgrade process from Chrome 78 to Chrome 79, and had to do with a changed location of the Chrome directory. Google developers have admitted that the mistake was their fault because they had forgotten to move the contents of localStorage or WebSQL into the new Chrome 79 directory. That mistake made the data inaccessible for all users. WebSQL and localStorage are both storage mechanisms that allow a website or web app to store data on the user device within...
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Google has announced that it will be rolling out a new version of Chrome in the coming days with release M79, which will bring better built-in password protection. Google introduced password breach warnings with the Password Checkup extension earlier this year. That extension would compare passwords and usernames against over 4 billion credentials that Google knows have been compromised. In October, Google went a step further and integrated the Password Checkup feature directly into the Google Account, making it available from passwords-google.com. The next natural step for the Password Checkup extension was to integrate it directly into Chrome. With the new integration, when Google discovers...
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Google Assistant has gained a new capability that movie fans will appreciate courtesy of Google Duplex technology. On Android phones, Google Assistant can now help users to buy movie tickets online. Users can get times and buy tickets starting with "Hey Google, showtimes for [movie] in [city] this weekend." Google also notes that movie fans can search for movie times from the Google app on Android. Once the list of theaters in the area turns up, users can choose a theater and time that they want. The option to buy tickets will be offered from within the Assistant and supports more than 70 cinemas and ticketing services. Supported ticketing services include Fandango, movietickets.com, AMC, or...
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