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Google patches SVG and IPC exploits in Chrome, discoverer banks $60,000 in the process
Google revels in hacking contests as ways of testing Chrome's worth. Even if the browser is compromised, the failure provides a shot at fixing an exploit under much safer circumstances than an in-the-wild attack. No better example exists than the results of Google's Pwnium 2 challenge in Malaysia: the company has already patched vulnerabilities found in the contest that surround SVG images and IPC (inter-process communication) before they become real problems. Staying one step ahead of truly malicious hackers carries a price, however. Pwnium 2 winner Pinkie Pie -- yes, Pinkie Pie -- is being paid $60,000 in prize money for catching the exploits. That may be a small price to pay if it reassures a few more Internet Explorer users looking to hop the fence.
Kogan Agora is world's first Google Chromium OS laptop, ships next week
Kogan, the Aussie company behind such gadgets as the fist-sized Bluetooth GPS watch and gesture-controlled IPTV, is adding a Chromium OS laptop to its family of Google-powered Agora products. The 11.6-inch computer has a spec list rivaling the midrange notebooks of 2006, including a 1.3 GHz Celeron processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 30GB SSD. That's not a lot of oomph, but with cloud-based storage and Google's open source Chromium running the show, this thin client laptop should be in decent shape. There's also a 3.5-hour battery, SD card reader, webcam, Bluetooth, and an HDMI output. Like all Kogan products, the Agora is only available in Australia (AUD 349, about $372) and the UK (£269, about $440), so if you live down under or across the pond and don't want to install the open-source (free) OS yourself, look for the laptop to hit Kogan's online stores tomorrow.
