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Chrome Canary now uses the web's speedier official standard
If you've been wondering about the fuss over the speedier HTTP/2 web standard, you now have an opportunity to check things out first-hand. Google has released the first version of its experimental Chrome Canary browser with support for the final draft version of HTTP/2. You won't see the full benefit until the websites you visit also support the new spec, but you also won't be left out as the internet switches over. With that said, remember that Canary is a bleeding edge build -- you may want to wait for a more polished version of Chrome if you'd rather not grapple with bugs just to save a few hundred milliseconds. [Image credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan]
Google to speed up Chrome with the next version of HTTP, not its own tech
Google is giving up on its homegrown SPDY protocol, which aimed to deliver a faster web browsing experience in Chrome than tried and true HTTP. Instead, it's adopting HTTP/2 -- an upgraded version of the protocol that's close to being standardized -- in Chrome 40 in the next few weeks. All of that working developing SPDY wasn't for nothing, though. Google says HTTP/2 includes several features that evolved from its protocol, including multiplexing and header compression, both of which allows you to efficiently make multiple page requests at once. Don't expect your web browsing to speed up immediately with HTTP/2 -- it'll take some time for Google, other browser makers, and developers to fully take advantage of its many improvements -- but it lays the groundwork for a faster and safer web over the next few years. As for SPDY, Google says it'll dump support for that entirely in early 2016.
Chrome beta for Android delivers a proxy-based speed boost, now syncs autofill and saved passwords
As Google continues to work on improving Chrome for Android, today's update for the company's beta build of its browser appears to be a step in the right direction. Aside from the usual stability improvements and bug fixes, version 26.0.1410.26 adds two major additions. Lurking within this new software update is a data compression feature powered by Chrome for Android's recently uncovered SPDY-powered proxy boost. When enabled, this feature optimizes HTTP traffic over an SSL connection and transcodes images to Google's homegrown WebP format to reduce file sizes. In addition to turning your browser into a speed demon, this optional setting also uses Safe Browsing, which checks the sites you're visiting against a list of potential threats for malware and phishing. Further focusing on efficiency, this new update adds the ability to sync autofill and saved passwords across mobile devices. Google says it will deploy this new feature "in the coming days" and notes that you'll also need the latest version of Chrome's desktop beta in order to successfully sync your account. So, with that said, we suggest you wait at least a day or two before using your smartphone to go on a shopping spree, because those online checkout forms can be downright tortuous.
Chrome for Android build may tout a proxy-based speed boost
A fast smartphone will only go so far toward improving browser load times if the connection isn't there to back it up. If a discovery within a recent build of Chrome for Android is any hint, Google may have its own solution to that bottleneck. New code flags reference Google-run proxy servers that would squeeze pages using SPDY, improving performance at least slightly for the bandwidth-deprived. While there's not much more to go on, the finding is enough to suggest that roughly equivalent boosters like Amazon Silk and Opera Turbo could have a real fight on their hands. We'd advise caution when the flags are only accessible by running an ADB command -- they're clearly not ready for prime time. Should Google flick the switch on compression for Chrome's main release track, though, Android users may not need a third-party browser to sip the web through a thin straw.
Opera 12.10 browser hits desktops with Windows 8 touch, Retina display, SPDY support
Opera has just released version 12.10 of its browser for Windows, Linux and Mac with some significant touch-ups, considering it's a point release. Building on the recent 12.0 launch, the desktop browser now has OS X notifications, Retina support, pinch zoom and inertia scrolling for touch-friendly Windows 8, better color rendering, SPDY support for faster page loading and built-in page sharing to Twitter or Facebook. Along with a bump in speed, some of those new treats might tempt desktop users to make a switch, though it's got an uphill climb. You can grab it at the source.
HTTP standards group looks to SPDY protocol to influence HTTP/2.0
Google's SPDY protocol is already gaining traction among web browsing heavyweights such as Chrome and Firefox, but its next step may be its biggest showing to date -- albeit in a different form. According to Mark Nottingham, the chairperson of the committee behind the HTTP protocol, a decision was made to focus on SPDY as the starting point for HTTP/2.0 discussion. Now, in case you couldn't tell, this is far from a sure thing, and as is, the HTTPBIS Working Group is currently targeting 2014 for the new specification's release. The decision is important, however, as the group seems intent to not reinvent the wheel with HTTP/2.0. While Nottingham made it clear that SPDY wouldn't serve as an outright replacement for HTTP -- for example, the "methods, status codes, and most of the headers" will remain the same -- there's now a high likelihood that SPDY will heavily influence the new protocol. Up next, Nottingham will open the discussion to the group's mailing list, and after that, approval will be sought from the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Once those steps are out of the way, however, we can expect work to begin in earnest toward the development of HTTP/2.0, and hopefully, a lot of speedy influences.
Firefox 13 final swings by with new home and tab pages, flaunts its SPDYness
It's been barely over a month since the Firefox 13 beta began, but the wait for a completed version has felt especially drawn out. Thankfully, Mozilla has just wrapped up its work and set loose the polished code. The new release makes its changes felt right away, as you'll see a new default home page with bookmarks and history. Opening a new tab page presents a list of most visited pages -- a feature that we can swear we've seen in a few browsers before. A slightly fresher addition switches on Google's SPDY protocol by default, which as its convenient acronym suggests should squeeze and streamline web traffic to load it faster. Mozilla won't completely open the floodgates until tomorrow, but you can download Mac and Windows editions today from the source links below.
Google badmouths HTTP behind its back, proposes SPDY as a speedy successor
If there's anything that Google doesn't like, it's things that collect dust. The company is famous for its annual spring cleaning efforts, in which the firm rids itself of redundant and dead-end projects, along with more bullish moves, such as its push to overhaul the internet's DNS system. Now it's looking to replace HTTP with a new protocol known as SPDY, and to that end, it's demonstrating the potential speed gains that one might expect on a mobile network. According to the company's benchmarks, mean page load times on the Galaxy Nexus are 23 percent faster with the new system, and it hypothesizes that further optimizations can be made for 3G and 4G networks. To its credit, Google has already implemented SPDY in Chrome, and the same is true for Firefox and Amazon Silk. Even Microsoft appears to be on-board. As a means to transition, the company proposes an Apache 2.2 module known as mod_spdy, which allows web servers to take advantage of features such as stream multiplexing and header compression. As for HTTP, it's no doubt been a reliable companion, but it seems that it'll need to work a bit harder to earn its keep. Stay weird, Google, the internet wouldn't be the same without you.
Mozilla dispatches Firefox 3.6, fills its chair with version 13 beta
If you've been defiantly clinging onto Firefox 3.6 by your fingertips, bad news. Mozilla is officially putting it to sleep -- whether you like it or not -- by auto-updating users to version 12. You've still got a few days to bid your emotional farewells, with the switchover being pegged as early May. But, the browser's creators stop short of setting a date for you to get the flowers delivered by. Official support for the 2010 release finished this week, and the final bout of security fixes was back in January. At the other end of the spectrum, Firefox 13 wobbled up onto its beta legs yesterday, bringing a new homepage, Google's new SPDY protocol and tab extra features with it. If you're making the leap, don't panic if you find some old friends missing.
Microsoft's 'HTTP Speed + Mobility' aims to make the web faster, could be the next big ping
We're generally satisfied with our internet performance, but we wouldn't say no to a speed boost. A Microsoft blog post reveals plans to enable just that, with the company's proposed "HTTP Speed + Mobility" approach to HTTP 2.0. Have you thought about what life would be like with a faster internet? MS says Y-E-S! "There is already broad consensus about the need to make web browsing much faster," the company proclaimed. Juicy. The suggested protocol will, well, focus on achieving greater speed, but Microsoft hasn't detailed exactly how it will accomplish that, beyond mentioning that it's based on the Google SPDY protocol, which on its own aims to reduce latency and congestion by prioritizing requests and removing the limit on simultaneous streams over a single TCP connection. For its part, MS says it will be expanding on SPDY to "address the needs of mobile devices and applications," which we presume would be in Google's best interests as well. It's safe to say that Microsoft's being a bit more forthcoming during its meetings with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) this week -- the organization responsible for creating HTTP 2.0 -- so perhaps we'll be hearing more about this fabled faster internet before we turn anew to Q2.