Earlier this year Google’s Chromcast device became (rather quickly) one of their biggest hardware hits, selling out not long after it was first put on sale. Almost as quickly, developer Koushik Dutta began work on prospective apps for the device, aiming to expand the functionality of the miniature HDMI-friendly dongle to allow more than Google’s […]
As the device known as Chromecast gains steam, an ecosystem is being expanded around it. Google’s intended purpose for Chromecast was to make connecting Google apps and services – not to mention their Android software on devices galore – to displays of all sizes, specifically in the television realm. Just weeks after the initial launch […]
Let’s get this straight. Yahoo can afford to kill a dozen products at once, but the Yahoo Toolbar — a relic from the days when only birds Twittered — just got a full makeover? Go figure. At least the browser add-on has received the same sort of tender loving care given to other recent Yahoo apps, including a fresh look, speed improvements and Chrome support. If you rely heavily on Yahoo services, or just have trouble letting go of the past, the toolbar update is available today.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: Yahoo (Tumblr)
Source: Yahoo Toolbar
TweetDeck just received a big upgrade for those who compose as many tweets as they read. Updated versions of TweetDeck’s web and Chrome apps now include a simple, dedicated New Tweet panel that shows image previews and streamlines posting to multiple accounts. It should also be much faster — the new client suggests usernames and hashtags as you type, speeds up replying to multiple tweets and automatically shortens web addresses. While only browser-based users will see the New Tweet pane today, Twitter promises corresponding updates to TweetDeck’s native Mac and Windows apps in the near future.
Filed under: Internet
Via: Twitter Blog
Source: TweetDeck, Chrome Web Store
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Sold out for weeks after its launch, everyone seems to be in love with the Chromecast — the ultra-cheap, ultra-small, interface-free, HDMI-toting TV appendage that stole the show from the new Nexus 7. Building beyond the DIAL device-discovery protocol that Netflix and YouTube have supported, Chromecast is a client of Google Cast, which enables the kind of second-screen control for volume and other features implemented by the device.
Google has gotten the jump on similar products such as the Plair TV dongle by natively supporting three of the most popular services to use on televisions — Netflix, YouTube and Pandora. Furthermore, it has also enabled a backdoor to many other services by building in support for displaying Chrome tabs on a Chromecast-connected TV. In doing so, it treats the TV as an extension of the browser just as Apple’s forthcoming OS X Mavericks can treat an Apple TV-connected set as another Macintosh screen.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Google
Google’s Web Lab exhibition has had a decent run at London’s Science Museum, but all of that web-linked hardware is being packed up for good after the doors are closed this Sunday. Google’s hoping that at least some of it will live on, though, and has teamed up with research and design firm Tellart to open source two of its most popular experiments. Those include the Universal Orchestra, which lets you control a robotic band from the convenience of your web browser, and the Sketchbot, which is a robotic arm that can sketch your face in sand. Of course, since they’re open source, you can put your own twist on the projects if you have some other ideas, and Google notes that it’s providing software-only versions as well for those lacking the necessary hardware skills. You can see both in action in the videos after the break, and find all the code you need to get started at the source links below.
Source: The Chromium Blog, GitHub
Malware certainly exists for Linux, but it’s more frequently targeted at servers than everyday PCs. Unfortunately, regular users now have more reason to worry: a rare instance of a Linux desktop trojan, Hand of Thief, has surfaced in the wild. The code swipes banking logins and other web sign-in details, creates a backdoor and prevents access to both antivirus tools and virtual machines. It’s known to work with common browsers like Chrome and Firefox as well as 15 Linux distributions, including Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu. Thankfully, Hand of Thief is partly neutered by its limited attack methods; it relies on social engineering to fool victims into installing the software themselves. Even so, the trojan is a reminder that we shouldn’t be complacent about security, regardless of which platform we use.
[Thanks, Dreyer]
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: ZDNet
Source: RSA
Your personal information is definitely very precious to you, which is why you should take all the possible and necessary steps to prevent any kind of personal information from getting stolen or abused. Passwords are one sensitive area which we have had to talk about in recent memory, and unfortunately for those who use Google’s Chrome web browser, you run the danger of having your user passwords exposed, “courtesy” of a security flaw within the Chrome browser itself. In a nutshell, this particular flaw would enable just about anyone who is able to gain access to a user’s computer in order to check out the slew of stored passwords straight from the settings panel itself.
Credit to software developer Elliott Kember for discovering this when he was importing his bookmarks from Apple’s Safari browser to Google Chrome. Kember realized that it was “mandatory” to import saved passwords from one browser to the other, and he did not feel quite right about that. After snooping around, he realized that Google does offer protection for the passwords from being viewed whenever a user is logged in and has Chrome up and running. All one needs to do is head on to the advanced settings page, click on the “Passwords and forms” option, and follow that up with “Manage saved passwords”.
Another way of doing so would be to type “chrome://settings/passwords” into one’s browser search bar, and clicking the ‘show’ button located next to a list of obscured passwords will do accordingly – revealing the passwords in plain text.
Google Chrome Carries Danger Of Exposing User Passwords original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Most browsers will ask if you want your passwords saved so when you’re next jumping around the web, logging into sites is that bit easier. Of course, you’d like think those passwords are squirreled away where no one can dig them up, but in Chrome they’re pretty easy to find. As highlighted by software developer Elliott Kember recently, getting access to the list of saved passwords requires only that you point the browser at “chrome://settings/passwords” (or simply find the password management option in advanced settings) and click on one of the saved entries. A small “show” button will then appear next to the hidden password — hit that and it’ll be revealed.
Calling this a major security flaw, as some have, is obviously a tad sensationalistic. Nevertheless, recent attention has shown that making saved password access so simple is a concern for some. Several other browsers give users the option to protect that list with a master password, but Chrome does not — even if you sign out of the browser, data linked to your Google account remains visible on that computer. Justin Schuh, Chrome security tech lead, has responded to internet chatter on the topic, saying that once past the OS login stage, someone can theoretically find your passwords and all manner of other browser info out anyway, using various underhand means. His statement isn’t likely to calm those who’d like to see their passwords more secure, but perhaps the fact people are talking will force Google to consider some changes.
Update: This post has been edited with some additional context and commentary.
Via: Business Insider
Source: Elliott Kember
Most browsers will ask if you want your passwords saved so when you’re next jumping around the web, logging into sites is that much easier. Of course, you’d like think those passwords are squirreled away where no one can dig them up, but in Chrome it’s actually very easy to find them. As highlighted by software developer Elliott Kember, getting access to the list of saved passwords requires only that you point the browser at “chrome://settings/passwords” (or simply find the password management option in advanced settings) and click on one of the saved entries. A small “show” button will then appear next to the hidden password — hit that and it’ll be revealed. Justin Schuh, Chrome security tech lead, has responded to various comments on this, saying that once someone’s gotten past the OS login stage, they could theoretically find your passwords and all manner of other info out anyway, using various underhand means. No doubt the attention this is bound to receive will force an update from Google that actually hides users’ passwords. Until then, keep your laptop away from any malicious friends that, given half the chance, would wreak havoc to your Facebook account.
Via: Business Insider
Source: Elliott Kember
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