Google's Chrome browser is getting a huge privacy and security makeover, with a redesign of the settings with simplicity in mind. In addition to making controlling how Chrome handles privacy, Google is also switching up how extensions are managed, and how cookies are handled when you're in the Incognito private browsing mode.
Google has announced plans to start limiting the amount of resources ads can use before the user interacts with them, something that will crackdown on the small percentage of poorly optimizing or otherwise problematic advertisements that use up data and drain battery life. Under this change, users will see some ads that show an error page after a short period of time.
Google has announced a new Chrome feature that is currently in beta, one similar to a recently launched feature on the Opera browser. Going forward, Chrome users will be able to better organize their open tabs by separating them into their own groups, each of which can be color-coded and given a custom name. Google says the new feature is made for all users regardless of how many tabs they tend to have open.
It was expected but nonetheless disappointing that Microsoft has decided to delay not just the Surface Neo but the dual-screen flavor of its upcoming Windows 10X. It hasn't however, completely given up hope on the dual-screen promise even as it focuses on a single-screen Windows 10X first. Not only is the Surface Duo reportedly still on schedule, whatever that schedule may be, the company is now pushing an emulation mode in Chromium that will let web app developers test their software not just for Microsoft's dual-screen devices but even for something like the Samsung Galaxy Fold.
Once upon a time, the browser wars revolved around which browser supports more or better extensions. As those extensions became more popular or got imitated, their exclusivity became less of a selling feature. In fact, extensions themselves have become somewhat of a liability because of security and privacy concerns. Unsurprisingly, Google's Chrome Web Store has become a haven for those kinds of unhelpful and even harmful extensions. Given the times, Google is putting in place stricter rules to reduce the number of spam and misbehaving extensions on Chrome.
Web browsers have become very powerful but, as the cliché goes, that power also comes with responsibility. Major browsers like Chrome often use sandboxing methods to make sure that any wayward web page won't be able to harm the rest of the system. Those sandboxing methods, however, ultimately rely on the underlying operating system's capabilities and unfortunately for those that rely on Chromium's sandboxing on Windows 10, Microsoft changed just one line of code that rendered almost all major web browsers' sandboxes ineffective, including Chrome and, ironically, Microsoft Edge.
Instagram Live now works on the web. That means that web browsers on multiple platforms - including desktop platforms - can now view Instagram Live video feeds. The new interface is far more intuitive than the original, especially when it comes to multiple feeds in a single Instagram Live event situation. This system should be live for most if not all users right this minute.
The browser wars may not be truly over yet but it has taken on a slightly different turn. Internet Explorer has been laughed out of the arena, practically leaving Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox at the top with a large chasm between them. Now Firefox has suddenly found itself dethroned from its already precarious position by the upstart Microsoft Edge. Ironically, that is mostly thanks to Google Chrome, to be more specific its open source Chromium base.
The Internet has taken on a critical role in the past weeks thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, too, is the software that connects us to the Internet and to each other. During these days, it would be difficult to have such technologies break down left and right if it can be helped. That's why Google has been making a few changes to its policies, including rolling back the privacy-related changes it has been enforcing through its SameSite Cookie policy, even if it means leaving users open to such abuses just for a while.
Stadia just got a big boost for web browsers - just so long as you're using Chrome, of course. This week the streaming video game platform Stadia was boosted to 4K in web browsers, and the rest of the necessary graphics power and hardware. Those requirements include - for starters - a proper internet connection speed.
Just last week, Google made a rather bold and forceful stand that would be echoed by other software developers in the industry. It said that it would put Chrome and Chrome OS releases on hold during the COVID-19 crisis, a move that Microsoft would follow both for the Chrome-based Edge and even Windows 10 to some extent. In another surprising move, however, Google is now announcing that releases will be pushing through though with a few changes along the way.
This week the folks at Stadia and Unity Technologies made an announcement about their new initiative to bring new games to the cloud gaming universe. This is part of the Google for Games Developer Summit - an online event, as is the situation with most events in the world at the moment. In Stadia Makers, creators will have the potential to be given technical assistance, free development hardware, and funding.