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Microsoft's humble NotePad might be getting tabs in Windows 11
Microsoft may be introducing tabs to Notepad on Windows 11, judging by a tweet that was quickly deleted.
Microsoft says Edge is now the 'best performing' Windows 10 browser
The next release of Edge will be the "best-performing" browser available on Windows 10 when it arrives later this week, Microsoft claimed at its Build 2021 event.
Chrome's new tab grouping feature brings order to chaos
Chrome is getting a handful of new features and faster tabs.
Firefox makes it easier to send links between VR and desktop
Firefox is making it a little easier to bounce between VR and real life. In a new update for Reality, Firefox has introduced the ability to send videos and tabs straight to your VR headset from your phone or desktop, and vice versa -- you'll be able to send tabs straight to your phone or desktop to access as soon as you take your headset off.
Google's refreshed Chrome design is nearly here
Chrome's design has remained largely the same for a long time, but earlier this year Google started hinting at a complete "Material Design" overhaul. Now, we've got a better idea of what this might finally look like. As the company gets even closer to updating the browser's UI, it's today rolled out an update to Chrome Canary on Windows, Linux and Chrome OS that enables the new Material Design UI by default.
Microsoft's latest Windows 10 experiment: Running apps in tabs
When it comes to multitasking, few UI upgrades were as helpful as browser tabs. Instead of juggling dozens of windows on your computer, they let you place multiple websites in a single pane. It's the sort of thing we take for granted today -- especially if you don't remember the pre-tab dark ages. With its latest feature in Windows 10, currently dubbed "Sets," Microsoft has taken some major cues from what browser makers learned years ago. Basically, it lets you group together Windows apps in tabs. That might sound simplistic, but Sets (which isn't the final name yet) could fundamentally change the way we work in Microsoft's OS.
Firefox Quantum beta promises to double your browser speeds
After announcing plans for Project Quantum late last year, Mozilla has now launched its overhauled Firefox in beta stage, making it an increasingly imminent challenge to Chrome. And it's a very feasible challenge too, given the browser's improvements. Speed is its main selling point -- Mozilla says Quantum is roughly twice as fast as Firefox was a year ago. This is largely due to a new CSS engine written in Mozilla's programming language, Rust, which operates across cores rather than as a single memory-hungry process on one core. It also priorities tabs, loading up in-use tabs before background ones, which Mozilla says makes Quantum 30 percent more RAM-efficient than Chrome. The team has also tracked down and eliminated 469 bugs that were contributing to slowness.
Chrome 51 on Android brings tabs back
Now that Google has officially released Chrome 51 on Android, it's reversed a change that came with Lollipop in 2014. That release of Android brought in the option to "Merge tabs and apps" which put open tabs in the app switcher instead of all in one process and was on by default. The only problem was that we disliked it from the start, and so did many others, who quickly disabled it. Now the option is gone altogether, and the old tab selecting option is back by default. As we noted in our Lollipop review, it's just an easier way to keep track of tabs, and also makes it easier to scroll through any recently opened apps. If you don't have the new version already, check Google Play for an update.
Samsung sticks more colorful screens in its new Galaxy Tab S
Thanks to the internet, we've already seen leaked images of Samsung's flagship Galaxy Tab S. So when the company announced a press event for June 12th, we had a pretty good idea of what was in store. Sure enough, the company just unveiled the Tab S family, which includes models with 8.4- and 10.5-inch screens. Update: You can check out our hands-on impressions here!
Dropcam can now tell the difference between your cat and boyfriend
Wi-Fi-connected surveillance camera Dropcam can be useful for checking on your special furball when you're away from home. However, movement from an enthusiastic scratching post session registers the same as a burglar running off with your flatscreen, making it a less than ideal for security. That means you either have to deal with constant push notifications, or run the risk you're getting robbed. Today Dropcam announced that an update coming August will allow the cams to differentiate between people and pets. The company created an algorithm for picking out Fluffy without using depth sensors like other systems by analyzing hours of publicly-shared videos. That means she can keep on frolicking in that sun spot, and you don't have to hear about it all day.
Yahoo Mail brings back tabs, makes viewing lots of them easier
It was but a couple months ago that Yahoo gave its mail service a sprucing, adding some new features while subtracting others. Tabbed viewing was among those pruned, thanks to user feedback that tabs became difficult to deal with in great numbers. Well, tabs are back, with a brand new (for Yahoo) invention: a 'Preview All' feature that lets you see all your tabs at once in tiled fashion. You can also assign the feature to your ESC key to make switching between regular and tiled views a quick and painless affair. Got it? Good. The new functions will be rolling out to users everywhere in the next few days.
Google Chrome now lets you see which tab that unwanted music is coming from
Sometimes you just want to look up a restaurant menu at work without your coworkers knowing you're slacking off. ('Sup, Marc?) Thanks to a new Google Chrome feature, if you click on a site that auto-plays music or maybe a video ad, you can at least silence it quickly. If you download the Chrome 32 beta release, you'll see indicators on tabs that are playing audio. Likewise, it also lets you know which tabs are using your webcam, or streaming to your TV over Chromecast. Additionally, the Safe Browsing features now automatically blocks malware files, instead of advising you to merely proceed with caution. Finally, the Windows 8 Chrome app has gotten a makeover so that the Metro Modern version looks more similar to the experience you'd get on a Chromebook. Curious? The download page is the third site we link to in our sources list below.
Chrome Beta for Android gets a new, simpler tab switcher
Hate the stack of cards-style layout of your open tabs in Chrome for Android? It's time for you to switch to the browser's beta release, friend, because a better tab switcher awaits. François Beaufort, Googler and Chrome dev extraordinaire, has revealed that Android's most recent Chrome Beta update includes a more straightforward (and darker themed) tab switcher intended for use on all those memory-starved phones that'll soon be running KitKat. For folks who like what they see in the screenshots above, the new tab nav can be turned on by heading over to chrome://flags/#accessibility-tab-switcher in your beta browser's address bar.
Apple introduces OS X Mavericks at WWDC 2013
Apple has run out of cat names for its new OS, so it's gone to a California theme. The next OS X will be... ta da... OS X Mavericks. Apple claims the new release, OS X 10.9, will have deep improvements in battery life and finder tabs. Apple is also adding tagging, which will enhance search greatly and will be welcomed by power users. In an on-stage demo by VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, you could see the power of tabs and tagging. Tags can appear in the finder sidebar, making this a very useful addition to OS X. Multiple displays also got a lot of applause from the crowd. Spaces can be shown on any display, and an AirPlay-connected TV can act as a fully independent display. In a demo of the new feature, you could see the ease of moving assets around the screens, and it was impressive seeing an HDTV added as an extra display via an Apple TV. Apple has also put a lot of thought into battery life and other advanced technologies. Mavericks is claimed to "intelligently align" interrupts, so CPUs can get up to a 72 percent boost in performance. Apple has also highlighted "Compressed Memory," a method of improving memory use on the fly. That's just a bit of what is coming in OS X Mavericks. It looks to be a big leap over the current offerings, and seems focused on ease of use and performance. A beta version of OS X Mavericks will be available today for developers, while the final version will debut this fall. You can read more about OS X Mavericks on Apple's website.
Maxthon web browser arrives in bite-sized form for iPhone
Maxthon has long since escaped the days when it was chiefly a customized version of Internet Explorer on the desktop, and nowhere is that more apparent than its just-launched version of the normally WebKit-based browser for the iPhone and iPod touch. All the core features of the app carry over from earlier Android and iPad versions, such as an Opera-like grid of favorite pages, a download manager and a unified address bar, but it's arguably more useful than the iPad edition: conventional browser tabs aren't coming to smaller-screened iOS devices in a future mobile Safari build anytime soon. Bookmark syncing and an optimized reading mode also persist to reduce the chance that Maxthon users drift back towards the official Apple browser, even after iOS 6 rolls around. With that all-important "free" price tag, there's every reason to give it a try -- let others know in the comments if Maxthon is enough to take precedence over comparable iOS alternatives like Chrome.
Apple unveils vew version of Safari that syncs tabs, supports gestures
During its presentation on OS X Mountain Lion, Apple unveiled a new version of Safari that'll improve your desktop browsing experience. The new Safari will have the "fastest javascript engine of any browser on the planet" and "lightning fast page loading," said Craig Federighi during the WWDC keynote. A new scrolling architecture based on Core Animation will deliver smooth-as-silk scrolling. Besides improving the rendering engine, Safari will have a new tab syncing feature that'll show you all the pages you have open across all devices. Apple also added several multitouch gestures (swipe and pinch/zoom) that'll let you move between tabs. And it that isn't enough, there's also a very Chrome-ish smart search field that'll let you search right in your browser address bar.
Google Chrome 19 Stable arrives, shares live tabs across your computers and phones (video)
Google first teased live tab syncing in Chrome 19 beta, and it's now available for all of us who tread the safer path of Stable releases. If you weren't living on the bleeding edge for long enough to try the syncing early, you'll be glad to know that it lets you see and quickly sync all the tabs that are open on any device signed into your Google account. That includes your phone or tablet, if you've got Android 4.0 and the Chrome for Android beta loaded up. Like with the beta, though, you'll have to cool your jets if you were hoping to get live syncing right away: Chrome 19 Stable is pushing automatically over the next few days, but tab syncing will take weeks to be ready for everybody.
Daily Mac App: Tab Launcher
For many people, it's kind of pointless to go searching for a Dock replacement. The Dock itself is one of the most attractive features of OS X and is actually one of the things that lured me into adopting Macs at home seven years ago. But when you have a smaller screen to work with, especially on a MacBook Air, space is a premium. This is where programs such as Tab Launcher come in. Currently on sale for US$.99, Tab Launcher organizes any type of file on a Mac into a tabbed group, then anchors that group to the side of the monitor. There's a number of options available, such as changing the tab's size, color, font and more. You can even tweak the individual icons on TabLauncher. Like the Dock, you can set it to auto-hide as well. If you want to switch away from using the Dock entirely, you can import the contents of the Dock to a new tab in Tab Launcher. You can save your Tab Launcher settings and load them on another computer, useful if you have more than one Mac in your household. Tab Launcher is stable, highly customizable and useful. If you're keen about organizing icons into groups and getting them out of the way to increase your productivity, it's worth dropping the 99 cents to see if this fits your Mac. I wasn't sure at first glance if it would be for me, but so far, it definitely is. %Gallery-142834%
Motorola Xoom tablet gets an Ice Cream Sandwich makeover with 4.0.3
Only a day after Google released Android version 4.0.3, one XDA developer has already installed it on his Motorola Xoom WiFi tablet -- making it the first slate to run the frosty Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. Of course, trendsetting is nothing new for the Xoom, which was also the first to ship with Honeycomb's sweetness back in February. Being first does have its disadvantages, though, as some of the features like the camera don't work, and there seems to be a green overlay on the screen from time to time. If you're willing to overlook these early adopter flaws, head on over to the source to satisfy your ICS-inspired sweet tooth and try it for yourself.
Panasonic's 7- and 10-inch BizPads port the Honeycomb drizzle to Japan's enterprise set
Salarymen, get those contactless employee IDs set to swipe. Panasonic's throwing your overcaffeinated ilk a bone with two Honeycomb-based enterprise slates for release this winter. Coming under the BizPad umbrella, these 7- and 10.1-inch Android 3.2 tablets are ruggedized for the road warrior treatment, offering the clumsy and sleep-deprived alike dust-, drop- and water-proof protection. Both tabs pack a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 16GB of onboard storage, 1GB RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC capability (via its IC card reader), but the shared specs end there. While the larger tab certainly wins out with its higher resolution, digitizer-friendly WXGA 1280 x 800 IPS capacitive display (vs. WSVGA 1024 x 600 resistive LCD display), the more diminutive of the bunch gets the better 5 megapixel camera (vs. 1.3 megapixel) and optional 3G connectivity. No word yet on pricing or an actual launch date, but don't let that stop you from petitioning your IT department right now.
