Google will block outdated plug-ins in Chrome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automatic updating for the Adobe Flash plug-in, a future version of Google Chrome will include technology that blocks out-of-date plug-ins and helps users update them, Google said.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