Opera looking into it.

Although it was previously known that Firefox will include a Metro like UI, the team behind Mozilla’s web browser only recently started the development. However, turns out, Google is also developing a Google Chrome Metro version, which will be available for the Windows 8 consumers.

In addition to Google’s announcement, the search giant has also confirmed that they will work on a touch optimized version of Google Chrome for the desktop.

What about other web browsers? Safari remains silent, however, ArsTehnica contacted Opera Software and received the following statement, “Unfortunately we can’t comment on any specifics yet, other than we are currently looking into Windows 8. The new OS and the Metro UI offers an interesting new platform and we know users will want to run Opera on it.”

We are curious to find out, how exactly will Google Chrome and Firefox differentiate themselves from the IE10 Metro, UI wise.

From left to right Jim Hebert, Cris Necker, Justin Schuh

Just 24 hours after reporting the critical vulnerability in Google’s Chrome web browser, the search giant has already released a patch to address the issue.

Identified as a bug CVE-2011-3046, discovered vulnerability is described as “UXSS and bad history navigation”, with no additional details revealed.

Having said that, the latest stable build of Google Chrome (17.0.963.78) also fixes earlier reported issues with the Flash games and videos.

Security contests prove to be useful.

Just as some might have thought that Google’s Chrome sandboxing feature is bullet proof, Sergey Glazunov, a security researcher who have found quite a few vulnerabilities in the fast, has enriched his life with a $60k reward, received for a “Full Chrome” exploit, which bypassed the sandbox feature. Although Google Chrome was previously known to withstand various attacks in Pwn2Own and similar contests, this time it was the first to fail.

Justin Schuh, Chrome’s security team member said, “It was an impressive exploit. It required a deep understanding of how Chrome works. This is not a trivial thing to do. It’s a very difficult and that’s why we’re paying $60,000.”

The second exploit was executed by a team from VuPen Security, which took about 6 weeks to write and test. According to Chaouki Bekrar, the co-founder of VuPen Security, they wanted to demonstrate that Chrome not as unbreakable as some might have though.

While details about exploits were not revealed, he said, “We had to use two vulnerabilities. The first one was to bypass DEP and ASLR on Windows and a second one to break out of the Chrome sandbox. It was a use-after-free vulnerability in the default installation of Chrome [which] worked against the default installation so it really doesn’t matter if it’s third-party code anyway.”

The keyword here is “up to”.

As if the Pwn2Own contest was not enough, Google will be holding its own competition at the CanSecWest security conference.

Called Pwnium, contest attendees will be asked to exploit the Google Chrome web browser and in return, will be rewarded as follows:

$60,000 – “Full Chrome exploit”
$40,000 – “Partial Chrome exploit”
$20,000 – “Consolation reward, Flash / Windows / other”

So where does this $1 million reward come from? Well, Google will be giving away money not for the first two or three hackers, but for pretty much everyone, who manages to compromise their web browsers security.

As simple as that.

With the release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, guys at Neowin have managed to benchmark the latest version of IE10, which is Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 5, running in both desktop and Metro modes.

What’s the difference between IE10 Metro and Desktop? IE Metro (aka Immersive web browser) uses the 64 bit libraries by default.

Tested browsers

Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) PP5
Google Chrome 17
Firefox 10
Opera 11.60

Benchmark results

With all the privacy and tracking talks going on, it looks like Google will finally be joining the ranks of other web browsers who support Do Not Track feature.

Introduced years ago, Do Not Track allows users to opt out of tracking by advertising, social and other web sites that enjoy such data.

However, it’s not coming anytime soon, according to the report, Google Chrome is likely to introduce Do Not Track feature by the end of this year, which is 8-10 months away.

Susan Wojcicki, Google’s senior vice president said, “This agreement will not solve all the privacy issues users face on the Web today. However, it represents a meaningful step forward in privacy controls for users. We look forward to making this happen.”

Chrome: Google's chat feature is useful for sending quick IMs and starting video chat sessions, but you can only view it when you're on a Google page like Gmail. Google has released an official Chrome extension that detaches it from your browser, allowing you to view it no matter what web page you're viewing. More »

Google Chrome 17.0.963.46 Stable

Following the release of Google Chrome for Android, the search giant has pushed a long awaited updated to the Stable Channel, tagged as version 17.

As reported earlier, the following build introduces a couple of new features that will improve the overall browsing experience.

Google Chrome 17 Changelog

First of all, it will pre-load the web sites that you are likely to visit when typing them in the URL bar before even hitting the Enter button.

Finally, am improved feature from the Google Chrome 12 will protect you from the malicious downloads with a simple notification.

However, those are not the only changes, Google Chrome 17 also includes a new Extensions APIs and about 20 security bug fixes.

Download

Google Chrome 17 Final (Stable)

That delicious Ice Cream Sandwich.

As it was just a matter of time anyway, Google has finally launched the Beta version of Google Chrome for Android, which is currently compatible with the 4.0 version only.

So what does it bring to the table?

Well, just like with its competitors, you can synchronize your tabs and bookmarks between your PC and a handheld device, but it also includes few features that are not yet widely available.

First of all, you can swipe between the opened tabs just like a deck of cards, which, depending on the number of opened tabs, can be quite useful.

Secondly, incognito mode has made its way to the Android version as well, providing an extra layer of privacy for those in need.

Least but not last is a superb feature called Link Preview. As you might know, clicking on small links can be quite painful, especially in the winter period when you are wearing gloves and can’t be bothered to take them off. Thankfully, Link Preview will automatically zoom in the links, making them easier to click on.

Google Chrome for Android 4.0 also includes search suggestions that can be personalized, omnibox and few other goodies.

Q:

How can I burn a slideshow that I made in iPhoto on my MacBook Pro onto a CD?

A:

You can export the slideshow as a video (a QuickTime movie in Apple parlance) and then burn that video to your CD.

Here’s how: In iPhoto, after you’ve created the photo slideshow, with titles, music and so forth, click on the “Export” button at the bottom of the slideshow-creation window. Choose an option for the resolution of your movie and click “Export.”

Then, choose a destination on your hard disk where you’ll temporarily store the movie. Next, insert the recordable CD, and copy the movie into the window representing the CD. Finally, click on the “Burn” button at the upper right of that CD window.

Q:

I have recently gone almost all Google: I moved my business email to Google, am using Google Docs, etc. I am in need of a new laptop and am considering a Google Chromebook. My question / concern is: What about programs I may need, such as iTunes, or some printer / scanner software, or an accounting suite? Will there be room for some of these programs and if so, will they operate on Chrome OS?

A:

Das ist gut.

BSI (Bundesamt fuer Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik), Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, which has a habit of issuing software recommendations, has picked Google Chrome as the most secure web browser.

Complimenting various Chrome’s features, such as: silent update (which also updates Adobe Flash Player), BSI officials also stated that other web browsers are behind in this area, “This sandbox protection is implemented most consistently in Chrome…and similar mechanisms in other browsers are currently either weaker or non-existent”

Google Chrome on the other hand was “particularly honored” after such recommendation and were happy that their efforts for secure web browsing experience were recognized by such institution.

[Thanks, Blake Sening]

If you've got an Android device running Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), you can now download the beta version of Google's Chrome browser from the Android Market, complete with many of the things we love about Chrome—like bookmark syncing and Incognito mode—but on your mobile device. More »

Chrome: Keeping up with the stream of news throughout the day can be difficult. If you're looking for a way to stay updated without heading over to Google News repeatedly, GNews is a Chrome extension that allows you to quickly glance at hot topics and move on with your day.More »

As the search giant has recently released the Beta version of Google Chrome 17, it’s no wonder that the 18th version is already available as the Dev build.

Tagged as 18.0.1003.1, Google Chrome 18 Alpha is mostly bug fixes so far. Excluding those, there are also few minor improvements worth noting.

From now on, Google Chrome will reject weak RSA and DSA keys when validating certificate chains for HTTPS and do a better job at error handing in audio wave out.

Although this is just the first of many v18 builds that are yet to come, judging by the size of changelog, it looks like Google is gearing up for quite a release.

Google Chrome 18 Alpha (Dev) Changelog

• Updated V8 – 3.8.4.1
• Fixed several crashes
• When a profile is synced, use GAIA name + GAIA photo for avatar – Use Google OAuth userinfo API to get profile information
• Added support for manifest_version attribute for extensions
• Eliminate drawing glitch on WebUI radio controls
• Fixed regression with extension omnibox API where whitespace would get trimmed
• Fix page zoom for plug-in documents
• Fix race condition in extension service that causes extensions installed
• Folders in the wrench menu and application menu are greyed out
• Better error handling in audio wave out
• Made URL filter for web request API mandatory
• Reject weak RSA and DSA keys when validating certificate chains for HTTPS; related UI

Today Google released new updates to the offline version of Gmail in their Chrome web browser. While offline support is nothing new for Gmail, you can no synchronize up to 31 days of mail for offline access. All attachments are also downloaded for easy access, along with full keyboard shortcut support and a variety of performance boosts. To give this new version a try, just install it via the Chrome Web Store. More »

In an effort to “boost” employees productivity around the globe, a group of programmers have decided to port a popular Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME) into Google Chrome and thanks to that, you can now play pretty much all the classics directly from your web browser.

While you might encounter some compatibility issues with few games, the majority of them should work fine and if you need any ideas, just head over to the MAME’s web site for some nostalgic moments.

In case you are not keen on testing them, Google Chrome Store already includes the ones that are compatible, for example: Robby Roto.

With the release of Google Chrome 17 Beta, we go hands on to see the latest and greatest new features and other improvements.

As this is our first try, expect the quality of videos to improve over the weeks to come. This time: two new features that we could not test :)

Feel free to provide us with a feedback and any tips you might have.

Now with sites pre-loading and safe browsing.

A new Google Chrome release has recently hit the streets, which can now be downloaded from the official page as version 17 (Beta).

Including various tweaks and bug fixes, Google Chrome 17 also brings two new features that will benefit both hardcore and new users.

Announced last year, a pre-load feature is now enabled by default and will load your sites before you even hit the enter button when typing URL in your address bar.

In addition to that, Google Chrome 17 will protect the everyday users by informing them on possibly malicious files that they are trying to download. This is an expanded functionality feature introduced with the Chrome 12 release.

With the Firefox 10, Opera 12 and Internet Explorer 10 releases just around the corner, guys from TomsHardware have decided to test the latest stable builds of the top 5 web browsers on both Windows 7 and Mac OS X Lion.

How did your favorite web browser perform? Let’s find out.

Tested versions

Internet Explorer 9
Firefox 9
Google Chrome 16
Opera 11.60
Safari 5.1.2
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Startup Time Performance Benchmarks

Chrome: If you have a bunch of Gmail accounts you might grow sick of switching between them using the native switch account feature. Google Mail Multi-Account Checker is a Chrome extension that notifies you and switches between new emails in up to nine accounts.More »