Hasta La Gadget!

While many browsers sync through the cloud, few know how to cope with the local network — what if we just want to push a file to another device nearby? Maxthon doesn’t think we should have to resort to an online service or a dedicated app for the purpose, so it’s rolling a LAN Transfer feature into its Cloud Browser. Starting with Android and Windows versions available today, the web client lets users shuttle files directly to others on the same network, with nothing but the browser in between. Both iOS and Mac users should join the party soon, which could turn Maxthon into a rare (and very unconventional) cross-platform file manager.

Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Software, Mobile

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Source: Maxthon

Google has rolled out an update for Chrome Beta for Android, which is its snazzy Chrome browser for your favorite Android-based mobile device. As with past updates, this one brings along a couple of improvements to fix some common complaints users have, making the overall experience more pleasant and less frustrating. This time around, the update improves fullscreen and link redirects.

There aren’t any new features in the update, but it does bring some fixes that frequent users will find pleasant – perhaps essential, depending on how frustating you consider the link redirect bug to be. If you’re not familiar with the problem, just fire up an app and open a link from it with Chrome Beta – you’ll probably discover it doesn’t load, forcing you to refresh, at which point it may then load correctly.

That problem has finally been fixed with this update, to the relief of many if online complaints are anything to go by. Another issue fixed with this update is fullscreen mode, specifically with the “tab cropped in the tab switcher.” It’s a very minor change, so you’re not likely to notice too much either way with this one, but it is worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning is a bux fix that concerned NBCnews.

Back on April 11, Chrome Beta for Android was updated so that it would automatically switch into fullscreen mode upon scrolling. In addition, a change was made to how Omnibox works, improving searches by eliminating the need to completely retype a query, a problem that was beyond frustrating and time consuming at times. With that update, searches can now be edited in the search bar.

[via Android Community]

Chrome Beta updates with improved fullscreen and fixed link redirects is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Makers of the Opera web browser have sued a former employee claiming that he took the trade secrets that was given at Opera and used them at Mozilla, the company behind the popular Firefox web browser. The man being accused, Trond Werner Hansen, left Opera in 2006, but returned in 2009 and 2010 as a consultant.

Opera is claiming a large $3.4 million in damages in the lawsuit, and they point to a video with Hansen talking about some of the innovations behind a prototype web browser for the iPad, called Junior. Hansen talks about some the features used in the browser that Opera claims that they were, or are, working on.

Hansen refused to comment about his work history with Opera, but he said that he is working with lawyers to prove that he did nothing wrong. As for Opera’s side of the story, they believed that Hansen “acted contrary to his contractual and other legal obligations towards Opera, among other things, the duty of loyalty and his contractual and statutory confidentiality obligations.”

The court hearing is set to take place sometime in late August, and the dispute is currently pending, so there’s not a lot of details to go around just yet, but we’re sure that come August when the hearing takes place, we’ll find out which party gets the win, but in the meantime, it seems Hansen will receive a lot of grief over the summer.

[via The Next Web]

Opera sues former employee for giving trade secrets to Firefox devs is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There are some universally annoying things the average Web surfer will encounter from time-to-time, and while the list is mostly made up of pop-up advertisements that bypass your ad-blocker, one of them is direct-file links to things like PowerPoint and Word files. Clicking one of these files results in it being downloaded and opened by the application, a potentially slow and usually unwanted action. Google aims to solve this problem with the launch of Chrome Office Viewer (Beta).

Chrome Office Viewer (Beta) is an extension for Chrome Beta users on Windows and Mac that solves the aforementioned problem, allowing users to view Microsoft Office files within the browser rather than downloading the files and opening them with the relevant application. This feature has already been available to Chromebook users, and will hopefully be available to all Chrome users soon.

There’s another benefit to using this in-beta extension in addition to speeding up the process of viewing Microsoft Office files – malware protection. When you click a direct link and the file is downloaded to your computer, you’re potentially downloading a compromised file that could leave your data or system at risk. The extension helps guard against this via a sandbox.

If you find yourself opening your fair share of Microsoft Office links and are tired of the clutter and slowdown that results from how they are handled, you can give the new extension a try by downloading Chrome Beta. Once you have Chrome Beta, you can then download the Chrome Office Viewer (Beta) extension and use it to view the files. Google advises users to keep in mind that it is a beta extension that could have bugs, and is welcoming feedback.

[via Chrome Blogspot]

Google rolls out Chrome Office Viewer Beta, enables in-browser file viewing is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google is mighty proud of Chrome‘s security, something it has taken a proactive stance on. Back in December, the Internet giant put the kibosh on silent extensions, which are the sleeper-cell kind that slip in unnoticed and unwanted, installing by default. This move has been expanded on, with the company announcing earlier today a new safeguard that ensures malicious extensions stay out of your browser.

This safeguard was just implemented into Chrome browser, and involves additional measures that keep an eye on extensions that don’t follow the path-laid-before-it mechanisms Google has deemed the proper route to extension installation. If a piece of software doesn’t follow these measures, Chrome will assume it is malware and will flag it as such.

The malware designation will be applied because such methods are typically used to circumvent the silent installation blockers that Google has in place for the purpose of fixing something in place that doesn’t belong. The way it does this results in installation by default, and as such the user will not be able to disable it or uninstall it like an ordinary extension. Other varieties of malicious software that use other methods to get around the system are also detected and flagged.

Users will be made known of this attempted installation via a Safe Browsing warning that will appear stating that a malicious download is present. The warnings won’t start appearing for another week or so, however. The result will not only be better protection, but also performance improvements and a better experience, says Google.

[via Google]

Google to roll out new Chrome safeguard against malicious extensions is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.