Browsers and extensions

The first results of Opera's WebKit brain transplant are now available for people to try: a beta version of Opera for Android.

The new version uses Android-native user-interface elements but preserves many Opera features such as Speed Dial. It gets some new features, too, such as Off-road Mode to enable a proxy-browsing technology designed for slow network connections and the Discovery tool for people who want to browse content tailored to their interests.

The Oslo, Norway-based company announced in February that it's scrapped its own Presto engine, except in its TV browser product line, in favor of the … Read more

Advertisements, poor text color and background color choices, or even annoying Web site themes can distract you while reading an article online. And sometimes it's not just the distractions, but the strain on your eyes, that makes you want to stop reading.

Instead of suffering through the awful color palettes or vibrant advertisements, you can install a lightweight Chrome extension that will remove the color from the Web page you're reading. Here's how:

First you'll have to grab a copy of Grayscale Tool, by Emanuel Malmquist. Just click Add to Chrome in the top-right-hand corner.

Next, … Read more

Apple's Safari is still by far the dominant mobile browser, though its competition is eating away at some of its popularity.

Safari grabbed 55.4 percent of all mobile-browser traffic captured by Web tracker Net Applications in February. That proved a hefty drop from January's 61 percent share and last July's 66 percent share.

At the same time, the stock Android browser, which is found on older Android devices, chewed up 22.8 percent of the mobile browser traffic last month. Though its numbers were higher last October and November, the Android browser has sliced off an … Read more

There are Android apps that come with many features, possibly more features than you need. Or perhaps it's not fully-featured apps you're trying to avoid, but the battery power they require. The more apps you have running in the background, the less battery life you'll see. Here's a trick you can use to skip out on apps that have Chrome bookmarklet counterparts.

This example uses Pocket (formerly Read It Later) to show you how it's done. The Pocket app is actually fantastic -- provided you want access to any queued content on-the-go. If you're … Read more

Chrome 25 for Android (download) finally gets another update, this time bringing numerous fixes to stability, speed, and overall browser behavior.

The last time Chrome for Android updated was November 2012.

In the interim, Google has been building significant backend improvements for the browser. In its blog announcing the Chrome update, Google programmer Jason Kersey revealed the changes but with few details.

The biggest improvement that Chrome fans will appreciate is the update to the latest version of V8, Chrome's JavaScript engine.

Other changes include better responsiveness when using pinch-to-zoom; improved scrolling performance; expanded support for HTML5 changes since … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Opera Software has dropped the new engine into its browser and now has begun revving it up.

At the Mobile World Congress show here, the company began showing for the first time its new WebKit-based version of Opera for Android. That browser is the first product from a completely overhauled product line and technology strategy for the company based in Oslo, Norway.

Opera is changing the browser engine at the core of its software, dumping its own Presto for the open-source WebKit used in Chrome and Safari. It's a radical change in many ways: many engineers are changing … Read more

Internet Explorer 10 debuted on Windows 8, and until now was only available to people who bought into Microsoft's big Windows redo. That changes today, as Redmond rolls out IE 10 for Windows 7 (download).

The update brings enormous changes to the browser, and mostly for the better. Internet Explorer 10 is not only faster and more stable than the current IE for Windows 7, version 9, it's also far more standards-compliant.

"Gone are the days when developers aspire to build for the lowest common denominator. The way the Web becomes like an application is when you … Read more

Private browsing, or 'porn mode' for people with more prurient Web browsing requirements, will soon be available in Firefox on a per-window basis for desktops and a per-tab basis on Android.

The latest versions of Firefox 20 Beta (download for Windows, Mac, and Linux) and Firefox 20 Beta for Android (download) have been updated to allow people to have a more streamlined private browsing experience. Private browsing disables built-in browser recording, including history and cookies.

This is a pretty big change for Private Browsing aficionados, since previously in Firefox switching to Private Browsing would save all your tabs, close the … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Laying the groundwork for its nascent Firefox OS, Mozilla has won over a sizeable list of allies including LG Electronics and China Unicom, and the first phones with the browser-based operating system should arrive in the second quarter of the year.

Mozilla announced today at the Mobile World Congress show here that it's persuaded 18 mobile network operators and four mobile phone makers to back its open-source mobile operating system. That's not enough to unseat the incumbent powers of Google's Android and Apple's iOS slayer, but it is enough to ensure Firefox OS at least … Read more