Google updates all Chrome editions

h-online: Google has updated the Stable, Beta and Developer Channels of the desktop version of its Chrome browser with a number of bug fixes and improvements. The Stable Channel update closes seven security vulnerabilities, three of them rated High, and includes bug fixes. New stable Chrome versions for iOS and Android have also been released and include minor improvements. The iOS version of the browser now supports Apple’s Passbook application. ...

November 29, 2012 · 2 min · 416 words · Omid Farhang

Google Acquires VirusTotal

This is what we read in latest post from VirusTotal in their blog: Our goal is simple: to help keep you safe on the web. And we’ve worked hard to ensure that the services we offer continually improve. But as a small, resource-constrained company, that can sometimes be challenging. So we’re delighted that Google, a long-time partner, has acquired VirusTotal. This is great news for you, and bad news for malware generators, because: ...

September 7, 2012 · 1 min · 152 words · Omid Farhang

Google's New Favicon

Google Operation System Blog: Google has a new favicon that looks like the icon from Google’s mobile search apps for Android and iOS. The same icon was also used for the Google Search app from the Chrome Web Store. Most likely, Google wanted to use the same icon irrespective of the platform so that it becomes instantly recognizable. Here’s the new favicon: ...

August 16, 2012 · 1 min · 164 words · Omid Farhang

Google Wallet now accepts multiple cards

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Google just took your phone a step closer to replacing your wallet in the mobile payment revolution. The company expanded its mobile payments platform, Google Wallet, to accept multiple credit cards. Users can now connect their Visa , MasterCard, American Express, or Discover cards with the new version of Google Wallet. It’s an update from the company’s previous partnership with MasterCard, Citigroup and Sprint. ...

August 3, 2012 · 1 min · 119 words · Omid Farhang

Chrome 21 arrives with new API for video and audio communication

h-online: With the release of Chrome 21, web applications can now directly access the local system’s built-in camera and microphone. Instead of requiring a special plugin, the major stable update to the WebKit-based web browser includes a new HTML5 <a href="http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/getusermedia/intro/">getUserMedia</a> API – currently a W3C Editor’s Draft – to provide web apps with access to the camera and microphone. For security purposes, users will be prompted to grant apps permission to access the hardware. ...

August 2, 2012 · 2 min · 378 words · Omid Farhang

Why Google or Facebook Buying Your Favorite Startup

Time Techland wrote: When I learned this morning, via Twitter, that the small company behind Mac/iOS e-mail app Sparrow was being bought by Google, I almost didn’t need to read the startup’s announcement to know the upshot. Google and Facebook buy itty-bitty web companies all the time. And the acquired businesses typically convey what’s happening in an eerily consistent five-step ritual: ...

July 22, 2012 · 3 min · 484 words · Omid Farhang

Marissa Mayer and Future Relationship of Yahoo!, Google and Facebook

Eric Jackson in Forbes Wrote: There are so many intriguing aspects of Marissa Mayer‘s hiring at Yahoo! (YHOO). However, what intrigues me the most is the what the future strategic direction of Yahoo! will be under her watch and what this means for the company’s future relationships with Google (GOOG) and Facebook(FB) (not to mention Microsoft(MSFT)). ...

July 20, 2012 · 1 min · 128 words · Omid Farhang

Longtime Google Exec Marissa Mayer Is Yahoo’s New CEO

TechChurch: Marissa Mayer, the technology executive who has worked at Google since the search company’s earliest days, has been appointed CEO of Yahoo. The news was first reported by the New York Times. The company has confirmed the appointment in a press release, which is embedded in full below. Mayer’s first day will be tomorrow, which is also when Yahoo’s next quarterly earnings call is slated to take place. ...

July 17, 2012 · 1 min · 73 words · Omid Farhang

Fake Skype app on Android is malware

ZDNet Wrote: A new piece of malware is trying to take advantage of Skype’s increasing popularity, especially on mobile devices. Cybercriminals have created a fake version of the Skype for Android app, designed to earn money from unsuspecting users. Trend Micro, which first discovered the malware, is calling this particular threat JAVA_SMSSEND.AB. The Java in the name should not surprise you, given that Android apps are primarily developed in a custom version of the programming language. Thankfully, this is not a very good fake. The app in question only runs on older (pre Software Installation Script) Symbian phones or Android devices that allow execution of Java MIDlet. ...

July 15, 2012 · 2 min · 248 words · Omid Farhang

Chrome 20 update fixes high-risk security vulnerabilities

Google has published a new update to the stable 20.x branch of Chrome to close a number of security holes in the WebKit-based web browser. Version 20.0.1132.57 of Chrome addresses a total of three vulnerabilities, all of which are rated as “high severity” by the company. These include two use-after-free errors in counter handling and in layout height tracking that were discovered by a security researcher by the name of “miaubiz”. As part of its Chromium Security Vulnerability Rewards program, Google paid the researcher, who is number three in the company’s Security Hall of Fame, $1,000 for discovering and reporting each of the holes. A third high-risk problem related to object access with JavaScript in PDFs has also been corrected. As usual, further details about the vulnerabilities are being withheld until “a majority of users are up-to-date with the fix”. Other changes include stability improvements, and updates to the V8 JavaScript engine and the built-in Flash player plug-in. ...

July 13, 2012 · 2 min · 264 words · Omid Farhang