Category: Web Browsers

AVG Chrome Extension Makes Users Vulnerable

By | December 30, 2015 | 0 Comments

AVG Chrome Extension Makes Users VulnerableYou would think that installing extension that is bundled with your anti-virus software will make you more secure but as it turns out, at least in this case, it’s the opposite.

What are we talking about? The extension called WebTuneUp, which flags search results that might appear suspicious, although Google already does the very same thing, it looks like AVG did a pretty decent job at convincing that you need more protection.

And just as with every software, a new exploit has been found, as explained by Tavis Ormandy, “This extension adds numerous JavaScript API’s to Chrome, apparently so that they can hijack search settings and the new tab page. The installation process is quite complicated so that they can bypass the chrome malware checks, which specifically tries to stop abuse of the extension API. Anyway, many of the API’s are broken.”
Continue Reading

Control Family’s Christmas Lights with From Web Browser

By | December 28, 2015 | 0 Comments

Control Family’s Christmas Lights with From Web BrowserOn or off.

While not as fun as controlling fireworks, one family has decided to share their Christmas spirit with others and created a simple website, where you can control holiday decorations from your web browser.

As it turns out, this is not their first time either, the couple has been doing this since 2010. Hopefully, next year they will think of something better than just on and off switches.
Continue Reading

Microsoft to Open Source Edge’s and IE’s JavaScript Engine

By | December 14, 2015 | 1 Comment

Microsoft to Open Source Edge’s and IE’s JavaScript EngineSay what?

During the JSConf conference, Microsoft has announced that they will be open sourcing Charka, the JavaScript engine behind Edge and Internet Explorer.

Starting in January, 2016, users will be able to explore Chakra on GitHub, which will be dubbed “ChakraCore”. Why named it like that? Well, while the software giant will indeed open source the whole JavaScript engine, the are some differences between the two: ChakraCore lacks the “glue” between JavaScript engine and the browser’s HTML engine as well as “glue” between Universal Windows Platform and the JavaScript engine. Chakra also includes COM Diagnostic APIs that won’t be open sourced as well. However, that does not seem like a loss.
Continue Reading

AdBlock Plus Coming to Microsoft Edge

By | December 13, 2015 | 0 Comments

AdBlock Plus Coming to Microsoft EdgeYesterday, we have reported that Microsoft has accidentally revealed the Edge extensions page, which listed a couple of upcoming extensions and hinted that the support for the long awaited add-ons will soon be launched.

Now, it looks like one of the most popular extensions will also be joining the party: Adblock Plus. While there is no ETA yet, I know more than few people that will be extremely happy to give Edge another try, just without annoying popups and other ads.
Continue Reading

Microsoft Starts Abusing Windows 10 Users to Gain Market Share

By | October 19, 2015 | 2 Comments

Microsoft Starts Abusing Windows 10 Users to Gain Market ShareWhen Opera complained about bundling Internet Explorer with Windows 7 to the EU and asked to include the famous browser ballot screen, we thought it wasn’t the best decision for the consumers as most have no idea what they are doing on their machines and an extra pop-up could have confused them even more.

Then, Mozilla complained that setting Firefox as default web browser in Windows 10 is not exactly as straightforward as it should be, and then we too did not understand what was the fuss all about. It was easy, at least for us.

Well, third time is the charm, as it looks like Microsoft has started nagging Windows 10 users to give their (incomplete and broken) Edge browser another go. According to the latest report, this is what happens in the latest Windows 10 preview (build 10568) when you switch to Chrome, Firefox or any other (better) web browser:
Continue Reading

Recent Flash Vulnerability Leaves Everyone at Risk

By | October 16, 2015 | 0 Comments

Recent Flash Vulnerability Leaves Everyone at RiskAnother day, another headache.

Now here is something to cheer you up before the weekend. As it turns out, a critical security vulnerability (CVE-2015-7645), affecting all Flash versions on all operating systems (Windows, Linux and OS X), has been recently discovered and is already exploited by various web sites.

The only way to protect yourself? Uninstall Adobe Flash, as the company is said to be releasing patch only sometime next week.

The sense of adventure never ends with Adobe.
Continue Reading

September, 2015 Desktop Market Share: Google Chrome, Safari, Opera – Up, Internet Explorer, Firefox – Down

By | October 9, 2015 | 0 Comments


After focusing on the Microsoft Edge specifically in our last post, it’s time to pick up the pace and reveal the rest of the desktop market share numbers.
Continue Reading

September, 2015 Mobile Market Share: Google Chrome, Android Browser – Up, Safari, Internet Explorer – Down

By | October 6, 2015 | 1 Comment

Another month, another report.
Continue Reading

A Mysterious Company Buys AdBlock

By | October 5, 2015 | 3 Comments

A Mysterious Company Buys AdBlockFor an undisclosed amount of cash.

AdBlock, the extension that has over 40 million active users, has been acquired by the anonymous company that was asked not to be named. Following the deal, AdBlock will begin using the Acceptable Ads List that is controlled by the AdBlock Plus, for his reason alone, many speculate that the buyer was Eyeo GmbH, the company behind AdBlock Plus.

However, AdBlock Plus has since denied the rumor.

Any guesses?
Continue Reading

Adobe Flash: The End is Near as BBC Joins the Party

By | October 1, 2015 | 0 Comments

Adobe Flash: The End is Near as BBC Joins the Party A death by the thousand sites.

BBC, one of the major content providers in the world, has announced its plans to fully ditch Adobe’s Flash in its iPlayer and replace it with none other than the HTML5.

As of this week, there is now a new opt-in beta program, which invites pretty much everyone to try the new iPlayer, which features a much more mobile and desktop friendly user interface and MPEG-DASH streaming standard.

According to BBC, the HTML5 player will be gaining feature parity with the Flash player in the coming months. Oh, but before you start your celebration dance, keep in mind that these browsers won’t be able to join the Beta program:
Continue Reading