Google Updates Chrome to Boost Speeds

Google released a new version of its Chrome Web browser on Tuesday, as the search giant continues its efforts to get a foothold in a market dominated by Microsoft Corp.
The new Chrome represents the first major update of the software aimed at the general public since Google entered the browser business six months ago. It offers Web surfers faster performance and a handful of new features, such as auto-filling of personal information on online forms and a new way for users to drag around tabs of different Web pages within the browser window.
Google was a distant No. 4 in the browser market, with 1.2 percent share of the worldwide market in February, according to market research firm Net Applications. Microsoft's Internet Explorer dominates the market, with a 67. 4 percent market share in February, while the Mozilla foundation's Firefox browser had a roughly 22 percent share. Apple's Safari browser had an 8 percent share. Last month, Google officially joined the European Union's antitrust case against Microsoft, describing the browser market as "largely uncompetitive." The EU has charged Microsoft with abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows personal computer operating system.
According to a post on Google's blog on Tuesday, the new Chrome beta loads certain types of Web pages 25 percent to 35 percent faster than the current version of the browser. The new features were previously available to programmers using the "developer" version of Chrome, but Google has now packaged all the updates together into a more reliable beta test version that is available for download. Google also has a more polished, so-called stable version of Chrome, based on the older beta version.

Facebook worm hijacks web search

A new variant of the Koobface worm has returned to menace users of Facebook.

A new kind of virus has been found on social networking site Facebook. As per latest news this virus sends messages to friends on the social networking site which contains links to some videos. Once the link is clicked it asks the users to download a Adobe Flash players files from a certain site which contain the worm's payload.

Once the code is executed the Windows PC gets infected. Once the worm completes attacking one user it then moves on to the friends list of infected users. This malware was first spotted in July and since than has taken nasty steps and has been flared up again since last week.

The latest variant of the malware typically comes in a less salacious package. The first wave of infections came with messages such as "Paris Hilton Tosses Dwarf on the Street" whereas the latest variant is more likely to pose as "secret video by Tom" or some such. The latest Koobface variant is programmed to hijack search queries and divert infected users to bogus sites, benefiting crooks through related ad hijacking and click fraud in the process.

Facebook's advice for dealing with the worm can be found here. The social networking utility is in the process of purging spammed links to the malware from its systems, reports McAfee, which has a full write-up of the threat here. Though various antivirus software have been used to quarantine the virus but the effort has been unsuccessful because of the nature of its code.

Microsoft Testing New Internet Search Service

Microsoft Corp is internally testing a new version of its online search service under the name of Kumo.com, a spokesman for the software company said on Monday.
The service is not yet available outside the company, but may eventually form part of Microsoft's attempt to catch up with Internet search leaders Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.
The new search service was unveiled in an internal memo sent by the head of research at the company's online services division on Monday, but it did not go into details about features on the new service.

What Firefox user missing in Chrome

Call me fickle, but I switched my default browser back to Firefox for the time being. In doing so, I discovered the features I really miss about Chrome.

Why did I switch back so soon after lavishing praise on Google's open-source Web browser? Well, when Google added the option to use a cutting-edge "developer preview" version, I signed up, and guess what--it's not as stable. Specifically, both 2.0.156.1 and the newer 2.0.157.2 that I now have installed inexplicably become unresponsive for long periods of time--at least 10 seconds, which is about 9.5 seconds longer than my tolerance limit.

But I like some of Chrome's new features, so I didn't want to downgrade to better-tested stable or beta versions. Instead, I thought perhaps I'd see what my second-favorite browser felt like again while waiting for the newer Chrome features to settle down.

I was a little surprised. What got me to switch to Chrome two months ago was performance, but what I missed most upon heading back to Firefox was Chrome's user interface.

More than once, I found that even after a few weeks of Chrome, my muscle memory had been reprogrammed to expect different behavior. Switching back to Firefox wasn't just different, though--I wanted the old features. Here's a list of what I didn't even know that I'd come to like.

The location of new tabs
When you open a link in a new tab with Chrome (I often middle-click to do so), the new page shows up in tab immediately to the right of the current tab. This naturally groups related tabs, and for me at least, eases the process of switching among many.

When you open a new tab in Firefox, it appears to the far right of the list, and it's harder to get to it. It takes just that little extra bit of time to locate and navigate to the tab.

Good news, though: Mozilla evangelist Chris Blizzard pointed me to a blog post by programmer Mike Beltzner, which says the same behavior is coming to Firefox:

• tabs that are opened from links will open to the immediate right of the current tab
• new tabs created by the New Tab button or keyboard shortcut will open at the end of the tab strip
• if multiple tabs are opened (in the background) from links, they will open sequentially to the right of each other; as soon as focus changes, this sequential opening behavior will stop, and tabs will go back to opening immediately to the right or at the end of the tab strip as per the above

Searching from the address bar
I think Firefox's awesome bar does a better job digging previously visited links out of my history, but searching directly from Google's Omnibox, which adds online search into the mix, is more useful. I search dozens of times a day, and now I have to remember either to visit a search page or head over to Firefox's special search box (to do the latter faster, I hit Ctrl-L, then Tab).

Some folks are concerned about sending lots of juicy personal data to Google's servers, which monitors what you type so it can supply suggested search results. But except for typing in Web sites, it's the same stuff I'd type into a search page anyway.

One less keystroke
When typing addresses into the address bar, both Chrome and Firefox offer a list of suggestions in a drop-down box. But Chrome highlights its top pick, while Firefox puts it one entry below the box.

That means if the pick is right, I just have to hit Enter with Chrome, but the down arrow, then Enter with Firefox. It's a tiny thing, but I do this hundreds of times a day. (full Story)

Now .smith, .sports or .love on the web

Internet regulators on Thursday voted to relax rules on domain name like .com .edu which could pave the way for companies or individuals to create an array of new addresses for the web.

The Internet corporation for assigned names and numbers, or ICANN, also approved measures that will allow top-level domain names in script such as ARABIC or CYRILLIC.

Top=level domain names or TLDs, refer to Internet name suffixes such as the ubiquitous .com .net and .org among others. Currently there are more than 200 top-level domain names which also include the two character country codes used by websites, such as Britain’s .uk.

ICANN officials said some technical issues for the new system must be worked out, but it could be reviewing the first applications for new TLDs as early as next spring.

The application fee is expected to be $100,000. Individuals, companies or group could apply to have any string of letters established as a domain name. It could be a vanity name, for example-.smith-or a category name like .sports or .perfume. A company could also change to reflect its brand, so Apple.com could become Apple.mac, for instance. Straight forward applications will be approved quickly. A review process would be undertaken for controversial strings.