Google will block outdated plug-ins in Chrome

On the heels of Google introducing automatic updating for the Adobe Flash plug-in, a future version of Google Chrome will include technology that blocks out-of-date plug-ins and helps users update them, Google said.

The company did not provide a timeline for this feature, except to say it will be "medium-term," in a post Monday on The Chromium Blog.

The browser also will eventually offer a warning when a user is about to run infrequently used plug-ins.

"Some plug-ins are widely installed but typically not required for today's Internet experience," the post said. "For most users, any attempt to instantiate such a plug-in is suspicious and Google Chrome will warn on this condition."

Google Chrome already offers the ability to disable individual plug-ins or run only plug-ins that are on a list of trusted domains, and it offers auto-update for Adobe Flash Player. Chrome also has PDF support via an internal plug-in.

Firefox is the only other browser that warns users about plug-in viability. While Firefox checks and disables plug-ins, it doesn't auto-update them like Chrome does. Mozilla says it plans to add auto-updating to Firefox 4, due later this year.

Meanwhile, Mozilla does offer a Web-based checker.

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Cisco introduces Cius Android tablet PC

Cisco's new Android-based tablet PC, the Cisco Cius.

(Credit: Cisco Systems)

Cisco Systems has hopped on the tablet PC bandwagon with a device of its own that uses Google Android software and is targeted at business customers.

The company announced plans for the new tablet, called the Cisco Cius, during its annual customer conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The device, which will only weigh about 1.15 pounds, will sport Cisco's collaboration software that integrates virtual desktop applications with high-definition video.

Specifically, the new device will have front- and rear-facing cameras that record in high definition for video conferencing and a 7-inch high-resolution screen. The device will be integrated with Cisco's TelePresence video conferencing system to provide one-click access to video conferences. It will also be integrated with the WebEx meeting products. It can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or through a 3G cellular network.

Unlike other tablets, such as Apple's iPad, the Cisco Cius is designed for business users. Cisco didn't announce specific pricing, but the company said it will retail for less than $1,000.

Google Android is used in a number of smartphones and a growing number of tablet PCs. Cisco says the advantage of using the operating system is that it will allow the company's business customers to tap into the growing Android developer community, which is developing new business-class products.

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Firefox's Jetpack extensions get 2010 goal

Mozilla had to restart an effort to overhaul Firefox's extension technology, but theJetpack reboot is steadily coming together.

Mozilla has released five beta versions of the Jetpack Software Developer Kit, a package that puts a friendly face on Firefox's inner workings so that extensions can do things such as open new tabs, add menu items, and modify Web pages. And the latest schedule was announced this week: its goal is to release Jetpack 1.0 by the end of 2010.

"We've been working on the SDK for almost a year now (and the Jetpack project as a whole for over a year), and we've done a bunch of great work that we should get into the hands of developers who could benefit from it," said Mozilla Jetpack team member Myk Melez in a mailing list message.

Jetpack takes a page from the Google Chrome playbook by letting programmers write extensions that use Web technologies such as HTML and JavaScript. That's the same direction Apple went with its new Safari 5 extensions, too.

In contrast, Firefox extensions today use the powerful but complicated XUL technology. Mozilla hopes Jetpack will bring more programmers by making it easier, increase extension compatibility from one Firefox release to the next, and help eliminate the need to restart Firefox when an extension is installed or updated.

As Jetpack matures, the Web-based extension development tool called Flightdeck is growing more important for those who prefer its approach to the Jetpack SDK software running on their computers.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that FlightDeck will be a key component in the success of the project, just as important as the SDK, and we should treat it as such, devoting the same kind of time and energy to planning and driving its development, designing its interface and capabilities, and developing its functionality," Melez said inanother mailing list message.

Jetpack isn't timed specifically to be released with Firefox 4, which brings better performance, a new user interface, and the new HTML5 parser. However, Jetpack is designed to take advantage of some new Firefox 4 features, Mozilla said.

For a tentative look at what's next for Jetpack, see the plans for Jetpack 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8.

One complication of Jetpack is that it integrates with Electrolysis, a Mozilla project to separate elements of Firefox into separate memory regions to help with performance and security. Jetpack extensions are designed to run in these separate partitions, but Electrolysis is a pretty deep and technical change to the browser's development.

The first Electrolysis element, out-of-process plug-ins, arrived last week with Firefox 3.6.4, but Mozilla quickly released the 3.6.6 update because older machines would show the Flash Player plug-in to have crashed when in fact a slower computer was just bogged down in processing.

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Security, interface improvements land in Chrome

The stable version of Google Chrome received multiple security fixes this week, including four rated as "high," while the developer's version adopted an interface tweak to create more room for extension icons.

The latest version of Google Chrome for developers merges the two menu drop-downs into one.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Google Chrome dev 6.0.453.1 for Windows, Mac, and Linux consolidates the former page control menu into the customization menu that's accessible from the wrench icon. This clears space on the toolbar for an extra extension icon, as well as giving a stronger visual presence to the cut, copy, and paste options, page zoom controls, and the full screen view toggle. Other minor changes to Chrome dev for Windows include showing previews of images when dragging them, and printing vectors instead of pixels for the built-in PDF plug-in.

The changelog for Chrome dev indicates only that Mac developers continue to work on feature parity, while the Linux version of dev received more substantial changes. These include experimental password-storing support for gnome-keyring and kwallet, though Google advises users to read a post on how to safely test the feature. The PDF plug-in is now available to Linux users, though it's not on by default. It must be activated in about:plugins.

Google Chrome stable 5.0.375.99 for Windows, Mac, and Linux is a security-fixing release, with four memory corruption repairs labeled "high." There was also one medium-rated fix that addressed sandboxed iFrames, and four repairs ranked "low" that dealt with modal dialog crashes, print dialog annoyances, invalid image crashes, and a WebGL error. The changelog for Chrome stable also details which groups earned rewards for discovering security holes.

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Microsoft's Kin gets tribute site

Microsoft's Kin only survived a few weeks, but a tribute Web site has been set up to make sure that Redmond's phones are not soon forgotten.

The Kin Two, seen here in happier days.

(Credit: CNET)

The KinRIP.com site features pictures of the twin phones as well as places for people to leave their own testimonials and light a virtual candle to the social-media oriented phone that Microsoft discontinued earlier this week. And be sure to have the sound turned on to hear the incredibly sappy rendition of "Gone Too Soon."

"It was the Pontiac Aztec of cell phones," wrote Mark Cordova in one tribute. "It will be missed."

The Kin memorial site is the brainchild of Shmuel Tennenhaus, a Seattle native who has created sites in the past such as Ask a Jew, vanitykippah.com, andBingandking.com, a mashup of Microsoft's search engine and Don King's hair.

Tennenhaus said he didn't have a Kin himself, nor did he know anyone personally with one. (He said he did know someone who knew someone who had one, but they worked on the Kin team).

"Kin lived a short life, but it will be remembered for a long time," Tennenhaus said in an e-mail interview. "So, I spent $10 and 15 minutes creating an easy place for people to light a candle in memory."

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iPhone 4 - 5-megapixel camera takes yellow photos

Adding to the whirlwind of issues surrounding the latest mega-hit from Apple is an apparent inconsistency with the automatic white balance selecting incorporated in iPhone 4's camera.

iPhone 4's 5-megapixel still camera may be the next feature to get hit with unsatisfied Apple customer complaints, joining the antenna issues, signal bar issues, andExchange Server ActiveSync issues in iOS 4. The question on the yellowing camera issue is whether or not the problem is software or hardware related.

The photo comparison, provided by Heather Kelly over at MacWorld, illustrates the white balance discrepancy between various camera models. According to the article the issues are present with, or without, the newly added LED flash.

(Credit: Heather Kelly, MacWorld)

I was not able to replicate the issue on my iPhone 4 (nor the signal bar/antenna issues for that matter), but all signs point to this being a software-related bug. iPhone 4's ability to determine which white balance settings to use are software-based, analyzing the light environment detected by the camera and judging which white balance profile would be best suited to create the truest color.

If you are experiencing this issue, there may be some things you can do to help alleviate the issue. First, as with any software issue on iOS devices, try resetting your iPhone 4. Hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button until the screen goes black and the Apple logo appears. Should the issue still exist, plug your iPhone 4 into your computer, let it create a current backup, then click to Restore in iTunes. When iPhone 4 comes back, first choose to restore from your last backup. If the problem persists, restore iPhone 4 again and choose to set it up as a new phone, keeping in mind you will lose some data, such as text messages, in the process.

Should the idea of restoring your iPhone 4 as a new phone not suit you, or if doing so fails to solve the issue, a workaround is to edit the photos in a photo editing program on your computer. For Mac users, iPhoto provides a great and easy to use tool for simple editing, including white balancing. On a PC, try an application like Google's Picasa (using the Tuning tab). This should help the look of your photos until Apple releases a software update for iOS 4.

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Partial Track List Revealed for Rock Band 3

Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that Rock Band 3, the new music simulation title coming in the fall, will feature no less than 83 tracks on the disk and will allow for more simulation options that any other competing title.



In addition to keeping the three part vocal harmonies, which were initially seen in last year's The Beatles: Rock Band, the fresh game will be delivering a keyboard peripheral set to permit players to experience music as they have never done before.

Harmonix is also making it easier for players to customize their songs lists and then share them with friends and other players, allowing for music tastes to be more easily discerned. The list of songs the developer has confirmed for Rock Band 3 includes:

Metric - “Combat Baby”
Rilo Kiley - “Portions for Foxes”
Them Crooked Vultures - “Dead End Friends”
The Vines - “Get Free”
The White Stripes - “The Hardest Button to Button”
Phoenix - “Lasso”
Ida Maria - “Oh My God”
Juanes - “Me Enamora”
Jane’s Addiction - “Been Caught Stealing”
Smash Mouth - “Walkin’ on the Sun”
Spacehog - “In the Meantime”
Stone Temple Pilots - “Plush”
Dio - “Rainbow in the Dark”
Huey Lewis and the News - “The Power of Love”
Joan Jett - “I Love Rock and Roll”
Night Ranger - “Sister Christian”
Whitesnake - “Here I Go Again”
The Cure - “Just Like Heaven”
Ozzy Osbourne - “Crazy Train”
Queen - “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Jimi Hendrix - “Crosstown Traffic”
The Doors - “Break On Through.”

Rock Band 3 is also set to allow players to import music they have downloaded for previous games in the series in order to make sure that the library of tracks offered to fans is as big and varied as possible, with close to 2,000 tracks available.
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Now For Download Palm webOS SDK 1.4.5 Build 465

Ricky Cadden and Rita El Khoury, alias The Guru and Dotsisx have announced their decision to stop updating their Symbian-Guru website, a place where they used to write about Nokia devices and the Symbian OS for more than three years. The decision to close down a website that has become a brand for Symbian fans should not be taken lightly by Nokia. 



In the past year, the Finnish company has lost an important number of websites that defended itsSymbian OS such as World of Nokia andNokiaAddict just to name a few. What's really sad and alarming is the fact that Cadden was forced to take the decision mostly because of his bad experience with one of Nokia's “flagship”devices, the N97.

Moreover, the fact that Symbian is still being ignored by the most important developers of popular online services drags the OS even further behind compared to the newer platforms. According to Cadden, Nokia also failed to ensure proper marketing of its brand in the US. While the Europeans stumble on each other to get their hands on the latest high-end devices made by Nokia, only mid to low-ranged devices get selected for distribution in the USA.

Another important reason that made Cadden quit Symbian is the fact that Nokia slacked big time in the last few years. The times when Nokia had the best smartphones, the best cameras, the best GPS units are long gone. Now it's Sony Ericsson with their excellent mobile phone cameras, Samsung with its AMOLED techonology or HTC with the Sense UI. Furthermore, the "acclaimed" Ovi services that have been announced two years ago are still showing their limitations (see Ovi Contacts).

Last, but not least, Cadden stated: “I can't continue to support a manufacturer who puts out such craptastic ‘flagships’ as the N97, and who expects me to use services that even most of Nokia’s own employees don’t use.” Even if the newly rumored N8would be better than the old N97, the fact that it runs the same Symbian OS, after the company officially stated that the new OS for high-end device will be Meego, looks to me like they're shooting themselves in the foot. For the full statement written by Ricky and Rita click here.
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Cristiano Ronaldo Announces Birth of Child

Though it would be completely understandable to assume that 25-year-old soccer stud Cristiano Ronaldo simply can’t take one step without the media knowing about it – complete with pictures – it seems that the star can – and does – keep secrets if he wants to. Cristiano has just become a father and he’s the firs to break the news to his fans. 


Addressing them in a message on his newly set up Twitter and Facebook accounts, Cristiano reveals that he’s just become the happy father of a baby boy. Although immensely happy about it, the star refuses to reveal more details on what is undoubtedly a very personal affair – and even says that the mother of the child has asked him not to have her name made public in the press. What he does say, though, is that he’ll be the guardian of the baby boy, so fans should expect some pictures and even more details soon enough.

“It is with great joy and emotion that I inform I have recently become father to a baby boy. As agreed with the baby's mother, who prefers to have her identity kept confidential, my son will be under my exclusive guardianship. No further information will be provided on this subject and I request everyone to fully respect my right to privacy (and that of the child) at least on issues as personal as these are,” Ronaldo writes in the statement that came as quite a shock for everybody.

Last time the star made headlines for matters pertaining to his personal life, he had supposedly just spent the night with none other than socialite Kim Kardashian, who flew on private jet to where he was for the romantic rendezvous. “The ex-glamour girl was spotted snogging in a top restaurant with cheeky winker Ronaldo, 25, after watching him play for Real Madrid. And later she jumped in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes G-Wagon which discreetly followed Ronaldo’s Audi RS6 back to his city mansion. Kim stayed about four hours. The following day she was driven to the airport in the same car to fly home to the States,” The Sun wrote in April this year, as we also informed you.

As of now, since news of Cristiano becoming a father is still very fresh, even the tabloids are not saying anything from the usual, so-called reliable “insiders.” However, in just a couple of days, fans should expect the rumor mill to go into motion – so keep an eye on this space for when it does.
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