Archive for the ‘Browsers’ Category
Web browsing on Android’s stock browser has been pretty decent so far. Next to Safari for iOS, it’s the next best (native) browser. But it could certainly be better.
Today, it gets better. Google has officially unveiled Chrome for Android, a more portable version of its desktop counterpart but with some interesting and useful finger friendly features tossed in.
After the break you’ll see a quick video showing off Chrome for Android’s new user interface as well as unique tab management and navigation. Nifty navigation/tab features aside, the underlying guts of Chrome for Android is better than the old stock browser, too. For starters, now that Chrome for Android is built off of the same open source Chromium project, updates should be (in theory) faster and easier for Google to push out as it allows the entire mobile-desktop browser landscape follow a much closer path.
Also, while Google has focused more on UI presentation and “natural” feeling throughout, the browser itself is a wee bit faster than the outgoing version. Finally, we’re stoked to see the ability to sign into Chrome for Android and have it automatically open up the tabs you’ve left open on your desktop version of Chrome, perfect for continuing your web browsing on the go.
Hop past the break for a quick video, screenshots and the download link (Android 4.0 required)!
- December 16, 2011 8:46 am
Microsoft is taking matters into their own hands regarding the — Won’t it ever DIE!! — Internet Explorer 6. Now more than a decade old, IE 6 is a perfect example of what happens when complacency and laziness take hold, if not a bit of obliviousness. Whatever the reason may be for a particular person or company to continue using IE 6, very soon you’ll have to work even harder to keep the old internet relic chugging along on your computer thanks to new auto and transparent updating of IE.
Essentially, Microsoft is making IE update much like Chrome and Firefox already do — in the background silently. IE updates won’t even show up in Windows Updates anymore either. For most consumers, this is great as they don’t have to think about browser maintenance and in turn get stuck in the version number battle. For companies with ancient software that requires and equally ancient browser, the news isn’t entirely exciting. But there’s a perk: the process will be opt-in meaning companies (and consumers should they choose) can keep going the manual route.
The new auto-update functionality is scheduled to begin rolling out this coming January in Australia and Brazil, “scaling up” over the year to other countries.
- December 13, 2011 7:22 am
Well this is sad — The Bolt BlackBerry browser, originally launched in 2009, is officially dead. A message posted to Bolt’s website simply reads:
“Dear BOLT User,
The free BOLT mobile browsing service will be discontinued. Unfortunately, the economic circumstances prevent us from running a free service going forward. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your loyalty and support.
The BOLT Team”
The specific mention of “free service” seems to suggest that the Bolt team could be working on a new offering that would require some type of payment whether it be a one-time charge or recurring monthly payment. Though, at this time any such speculation is purely rumor.
While the BlackBerry browser has come pretty far since the earlier 4.x days, it’s still a pretty pathetic option, meaning 3rd party options such as Opera and (up until today) Bolt made web browsing on RIM’s smartphone platform bearable.
Now that one of the better 3rd party browsers for BlackBerry is dead, what will you turn to, dear BlackBerry reader?
- November 11, 2011 1:12 pm
Mozilla has officially let loose Firefox 9 beta just a few days after pushing out Firefox 8 into the world as part of their newer rapid release cycle. One of the biggest features for consumers comes by way of a “new” look that “better integrates with OS X Lion”.
Look at the picture above and see if you notice anything different. As far as we can tell, the icons on the toolbar on FireFox 9 are a tad more grayed out than that of Firefox 8. Nothing groundbreaking here.
Looks aside, developers are supposedly in for a treat with features such as “Do Not Track” Javascript protection, Chunked XHR support, and Type Inference to name a few.
Interested parties can grab the latest Firefox 9 beta right over here. Let us know if you spot anything else, feature or UI-wise.
Google recently upended the Google Reader world with not only the removal of some old, favorite features, but buy rolling out one of the most drastic UI changes to ever come to the popular online feed reader. Naturally, some people aren’t happy with the changes (count us in with that group). While the changes are fresher and a nice change from the old Google Reader interface, they’re far from perfect. Of course, the beauty of the open web, modern browsers, and plugins, is that changing these types of things aren’t too terribly difficult. So how do you make Google Reader much more stylish and usable? Install this awesome OS X Lion-themed Userstyle.
The created of the user style is a Lifehacker reader by the name of Allen Bargi, who has uploaded his creation to Github for everyone to enjoy free of charge. All that’s needed on your end is a browser that supports the plugin “Stylish” plugin (read: Firefox or Chrome) and the OS X Lion user style install file: here.
If we absolutely cannot use a Mac with Reader installed and have to resort to using the clunky Google Reader web interface, we’re exponentially happier with it after installing Allen’s user style. It’s simply more usable all around thanks to better spacing of elements and yes, a good design. Hop past the break for a few screenshots.
Fun tip: Go to Google.com and type in “do a barrel roll”. Click search.
A barrel rolling browser trick won’t save the world. And it certainly won’t be the deciding factor between two competing phones. But it at least proves Google has a geeky sense of humor.
Look out, Logmein.com (and similar services). A new “Chrome Remote Desktop BETA” Plugin has effectively made screen sharing and remote control easier and far more affordable. For starters, Chrome Remote Desktop BETA is free. Toss in an easy, single-use security code driven authentication and you’ve got the meaty core of your typical RDP client.
With Chrome’s web presence growing daily, it would seem rational to think that paid RDP services may see a halt in new subscribers or even decline if most of your common RDP needs can now be handled by a simple plugin in a browser. As such, more dedicated RDP users seeking more features will still need their trusty RDP client of choice. But for the rest of us…
- Chrome Remote Desktop BETA plugin: Download
- September 30, 2011 12:16 pm
At first we thought Google was pretty slick by moving to a brisk 6-week release schedule for major Chrome revisions. Mozilla follows a similarly spaced schedule of their own. However, we don’t know what to think after discovering that the Firefox 8 beta is already available for download.
What’s new you ask?
- Ability to use Twitter as the default search engine.
- More options for tab restoring on start-up.
- Increased user control over add-ons.
- HTML 5 (for developers) improvements.
We’re sure a few other features will get added before Firefox 8 goes live, not to mention continuing tweaks to speed and performance. Considering Chrome has been gaining a bit of bloat as of late, is anyone looking at possibly jumping ship back to their old favorite?
- September 15, 2011 8:06 am
The world wide web within Windows 8 and the Metro-styled Internet Explorer 10 will be a lot less…full. After years of constantly criticizing Apple for their lack of Adobe Flash support on their mobile iOS platform Microsoft is now beginning to sing the same Flash-less tune, though for a good reason…
