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Chrome for Android 32 update now saves 50% data usage

Chrome for Android now updated to Version 32

Visit Play Store in your Android smartphone or tablet to check whether the update is available for you or not.

If there is no update for your Chrome for Android, you probably have to wait one or two days, because Google rolls out Android app updates in stages.

What are the goodies in Chrome for Android v32?

Based on the blog post, the new features in this Chrome for Android update include:

Add web page shortcuts right to your home screen more easily from the menu
Reduce data usage in Chrome up to 50%. Visit Settings > Bandwidth management > Reduce data usage to enable.
Stability and security updates
Lots of stability and performance enhancements.

Of course, the most prominent feature for most users in this update is reduced data usage up to 50%.

How does Chrome for Android reduce data

… Read the rest

Chrome for Android updated to 25: faster, more HTML 5, better scrolling, pinch to zoom, background audio playback

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide

Chrome for Android was just updated to version 25.0.1364.123. If you have an Android phone or tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) or Jelly Bean (4.1 and 4.2). You can grab the update from Google Play Store. So, the version on desktop and Android is similar now. For older versions of Android, Chrome is not available.

Previous update of Chrome for Android was released in November, and the version was 18.0.1026311. It is easy to find out this is a major update (from V18 to V25), and now the Android one reaches the identical version of the desktop. This implies Chrome for Android will be updated more frequently.

The major changes in this update include

Improved scrolling performance

Increased responsiveness to pinch-zooming on pages

Faster interactive pages thanks to the latest version of the V8 javascript engine

Audio now continues to play while Chrome is in the background

Expanded

… Read the rest

Encrypted search for all Chrome users in Chrome 25

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide

As a Chrome user, you probably know the Omnibox, the combined search and address bar in Chrome.

But you probably did not notice the difference in search when you signed into Google and when you did not sign into Google.

If you sign into Google, the search is encrypted, i.e., the search is sent through https. But if you are not signed in, your search will be sent through plain HTTP, which means your search can be easily monitored/intercepted by others.

So, this can be a privacy concern for some users.

Of course, you can always get encrypted search through: https://encrypted.google.com. But for Chrome users, a lot of searches are sent directly through the Omnibox.

Encrypted search can protect your privacy. Actually, Firefox sent encrypted search since Firefox 14 in last July; Safari started to send encrypted search in last September.

Finally, Chrome 25 (now is in beta) starts … Read the rest

The looming browser war on Windows RT: Microsoft wants to go back to “Return to the Digital Dark Ages”

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide

Do you know or even heard about Netscape Navigator?

It has been the best browser from its initial launch in December 1994 to its death (almost dead, and bought by AOL) in 1998. It was buried by AOL in 2008.

Netscape Navigator was not defeated but was murdered, by Micro$oft. Sometimes, this is often referred to as the First Browser War. As a long time user of Navigator, I always believe Navigator was murdered. The murder is Mirco$oft. The ammunition used by the murder mainly includes: 1). monopoly in the PC operating system; 2). huge cash pile; and 3).the uninformed mass.

So, The notorious Internet Explorer dominated in almost all Windows PCs, and the digital dark age started. The antitrust slap on M$ could not revive Netscape Navigator. Thankfully, the Firefox, somewhat linked to Navigator and Mozilla, and Chrome, from the Chocolate Factory, lighted the sky.

Now, Micro$oft … Read the rest

Keep My Opt-Outs: Chrome has the Do Not Track option for long time

Anonymous proxy, Safe Surfing Guide

Recently, Google has been in the crosshair of privacy groups. It was revealed that Google can bypass Safari’s privacy settings. Then Microsoft cried out that Google also bypassed the privacy settings of IE very easily (and naturally).

It seems people suddenly start to concern about their privacy. Do Not Track becomes a popular word, although most people do not really understand it. Even the politicians want to express their interest in solving this issue. The White House last week unveiled a “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights”.

Mozilla reminded us that they invented Do Not Track in February 2011. If it was Apple, it was probably patented already, and now everyone would have had to pay for it except Safari users (they already paid when they purchased the fruity toy). According to the official page:

Keep My Opt-Outs is an extension for users who aren’t comfortable with personalization of the

… Read the rest

Another reason to dump Microsoft IE: Microsoft claims Google bypassed its browser privacy easily

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide

IE privacy setting is just a joke, now this is clear.

In our safe surfing guide series (part 4), we recommended you to dump IE and choose a better web browser, e.g., Chrome or Firefox, or SeaMonkey. Today, you get another reason to dump it forever!

On Feb. 20, Microsoft claimed that Google has been bypassing the user-defined privacy settings in Internet Explorer by using incorrect P3P identification terms:

Technically, Google utilizes a nuance in the P3P specification that has the effect of bypassing user preferences about cookies … By sending this text, Google bypasses the cookie protection and enables its third-party cookies to be allowed rather than blocked

Google’s response gave us a clearer picture.:

Microsoft uses a “self-declaration” protocol (known as “P3P”) dating from 2002 under which Microsoft asks websites to represent their privacy practices in machine-readable form. It is well known – including

… Read the rest

Microsoft security update flags google.com as a severe, exploit-filled threat

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide, The Proxy Free

It is not a joke. Micro$oft did it again. Last year, Microsoft Security Essentials tried to Google Chrome by deleting it.

According to some reports, Microsoft Antivirus and Security products ( Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft Security Essentials) started to mark google.com as being a severe threat called Exploit:JS/Blacole.BW on Valentine’s day. A V-day gift for Google.

Surely, Microsoft quickly (4 hours) fixed the issue, and as usual, explained this is another technical issue.

Of course, I was not affected because I am using Avast!, one of the best free antivirus software. We used it for many years without major issues.

I just feel a bit sorry for those who are still using M$ antivirus or internet security software. If you are using Windows (90% of our readers are still using it on the desktop), you need antivirus for safe surfing as explained in a previous post.

But you … Read the rest

Silent update of IE from January 2012

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide

Finally, Micro$oft knows how to do a silent update for your IE browser. Maybe just learned from Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

Anyway, this is a smart move to stop or at least to slow down the loss of market share (to Chrome and Firefox). M$ won the browser war against Netscape by bundling IE to Windows since Windows 95. But is has been a loser in the same battlefield against Firefox, nor against Chrome.

Security, speed, and W3C standard are the major reasons tech geeks abandon IE. IE 8 and IE 9 did have some improvement in security and speed. But the compliance with standards is still not as good as Chrome or Firefox.

So, M$ silently updates the IE browser for most users; a lot of users will not know because they already switched to other better browsers.… Read the rest

Why Chrome is the safest web browser?

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide

In our safe surfing guide series, I mentioned one important thing for safe surfing is dumping IE and choosing a better browser.

One of the safest web browsers is Google Chrome browser, which is becoming more and more popular. The security features include:

Sandboxing. Almost all browsers now have tabbed browsing, even IE has it for a long time. But Chrome differs itself from others by implementing sandboxing. The tabs have individual processes with sandbox capabilities which restrict privileges for third-party apps. This (sandboxing), according to Google and security experts “prevent malware from installing itself on your computer or using what happens in one browser tab to affect what happens in another. The sandbox adds an additional layer of protection to your browser by protecting against malicious web pages that try to leave programs on your computer, monitor your web activities, or steal private information from your

… Read the rest

How to surf safely? Dump IE, choose a better browser

Daily digest, Safe Surfing Guide

This is part 4 of the Safe Surfing Guide series. You may check other parts as well to read the complete safe surfing guide.

To surf safely, your browser can also play an important role. There are so many choices for browsers now: IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, SeaMonkey; all are freely available. But unfortunately, most users are still using the crappy piece of IE, simply because it is bundled by M$.

You should dump IE when you get your new PC. Most computer viruses or malware reply on IE, because M$ tightly integrate IE with the Windows OS.

In addition, IE is notorious for ignoring the web standards and trying best to drag the advancement in HTML standard. Although M$ changed gradually changed the strategy since IE 8, it is too little, too small.

Sadly, if you are not using Windows 7, you cannot disable or … Read the rest

Microsoft Security Essentials kills Google Chrome

Daily digest

When we get a new PC, anti-virus software is usually installed. Some big companies (I really don’t want to name them) give you 30 to 90 days trial. Of course, this is mainly for Windows machines. If you are using Linux or UNIX (e.g., I know a geek is still using FreeBSD), you probably seldom worry about virus.

Anyway, all anti-virus software companies should thank Microsoft for creating the business opportunity for non-productive nonsense. Some of you may not know Microsoft also offers “free” anti-virus software together with Windows. If Windows finds out you have not installed any anti-virus software, this free guy will jump out. The name of this guy is Microsoft Security Essentials.

Ironic? If you cannot make your OS secure, how can we trust your “Security Essentials”? If it is essential, why can’t you put it into OS? Anyway, M$, as well as some analysts … Read the rest

Your proxy was blocked, so what?

Anonymous proxy, Daily digest, The Proxy Free

Web proxy sites may be blocked any time by your ISP, without giving any explanations. So, it is important to have a list of proxy, and most importantly, a list of new proxy. you need to know how to get them, and where to get them.

One of the major lists of new web proxies is proxy.org and unrestrictedsurf.com. Unfortunately, most of such list sites were blocked by some institutions totally. It means you even cannot access these sites at all.

There are several ways to solve this issue:

Subscribe to the newsletter. Some list providers also send the latest proxy list through email. So, if you subscribe to such newsletters, you will get new lists from your email automatically, even you cannot access the list site itself. Unrestrictedsurf provides such emails through their Web Proxy List. (on the subscription page, you just select web proxy list

… Read the rest