Tech News Weekly: Issue 36
Firefox and Chrome updates, security issues patched, malicious Chrome extensions discovered
News
Operating Systems
Microsoft announced this week that it will remove the Cortana app from the Microsoft Store and thus from Windows in late 2023. This marks the end of the standalone Cortana service.
Cortana is still found in some Microsoft products, but the company is focusing fully on AI now.
Microsoft has found another location on Windows to show ads to customers. The Get Help app is now showing promotions for Microsoft Teams.
The next Windows 10 and 11 updates will be released next Tuesday. The Windows 11 update will include the Moments 3 update features, which I talked previously about already.
Mobile
Apple announced the next major version of iOS this week, promising that it would make iPhones “more personal and intuitive”.
NewPipe’s development team is planning to release a “new, modern and stable” version of the YouTube viewing app. It is still early, but the developers want to address issues in the current version that include “spaghetti code, outdated UI, bad design choices and instability”.
Browser
All Chromium-based browsers are affected by a security issue that is exploited in the wild. Google, Microsoft and Brave have released updates, Vivaldi will release an update tomorrow.
Mozilla released Firefox 114 Stable this week. It is a security update that patches 4 different security issues in the browser. The aggregate severity rating is high, and Mozilla makes no mentions of exploits in the wild.
Firefox has a new section in Settings to configure Secure DNS settings. It is available under Settings > Privacy & Security > Enable secure DNS.
There are also some smaller usability changes, including a new menu entry under Bookmarks to search across all bookmarks, and a new option to search the browsing history only. None of these are new, but the options are.
Firefox users who see the search term in the address bar may want to check out my guide on disabling this, if they want to restore the URL there.
Microsoft released Edge 114 Stable, and with it the Workspaces feature. This feature allows users to display a set of tabs in browser windows. Workspaces are saved, and they support collaboration with other users. The feature is Enterprise-only at this point. Edge is also fixing security issues, two of which browser-specific, the rest Chromium-specific.
Brave Browser 1.52 introduced support for vertical tabs. It is not the first Chromium-based browser to support this, but it is still a welcome option, especially on widescreen monitors.
Privacy and Security
Security researchers have discovered malware in the Chrome Web Store (again). At least 50 Chrome extensions with over 75 million installations have been detected. Google has removed the majority of them from the Store, but Chrome users need to remove the extensions manually from their browsers.
I have published the list of known extensions here.
A new version of the password manager KeePass addresses security issues discovered recently.
A critical vulnerability was discovered in Gigabyte motherboards, that can be exploited to download malware and infect systems. Gigabyte has released firmware updates according to this official press release.
Millions of .ga domains, belonging to the state of Gabon, will be deleted, after the Gabon government announced the decision to take back control of the .ga top level domain extension from controversial registrar Freenom.
Freenom, which controls five top level domain extensions, has been the center of top level domain phishing. Back in May it became known that Meta, parent company of Facebook, had taken Freenom to court over the registrars failure to do something against the dominance of phishing domains at the registrar. Domains dropped significantly as a result.
Gmail’s newly introduced blue checkmark security feature, which is a verification system to limit spam on the platform, is already abused by scammers, according to a report by 9to5Google.
Software Releases and Updates
Gaming and Entertainment
Twitch announced new branded content guidelines for the platform. Twitch Streamers need to disclose branded content when they stream, and this support page provides answers to frequently asked questions on the matter. Also on Twitch, simulcasting is no longer allowed.
Amazon has announced that it is shutting down the Windows and Mac applications for the cloud gaming service. It wants customers to use modern web browsers instead to play games.
Other
Microsoft is rolling out Bing Chat support to non-Microsoft browsers. It is experimental at this stage, but it looks as if the Microsoft Edge requirement is finally going to get lifted.
Intel has unveiled two new GPUs: the Arc Pro A60 and A60M GPUs are designed for professionals according to Intel. Both GPUs offer 12 gigabytes of VRAM, support up to four display with HDR and Dolby Vision.
Intel Arc Pro A-series graphics offer a new option to the workstation GPU space. Compared to existing Intel Arc Pro products, the Intel Arc Pro A60 and A60M offer double the number of PCIe lanes with 16, twice the memory bandwidth at 384 gigabytes per second, twice the dedicated AI Xe Matrix Extensions (XMX) engines with 256, and twice the number of ray tracing units with 16. They also feature full media encode and decode support, including AV1. These make Intel Arc Pro GPUs ideal for computer-aided design and modeling (CAD/CAM), AI inferencing tasks and media processing in dedicated business environments.
The Intel Arc Pro A60 GPU will become available in the coming weeks, the Intel Arc Pro A60M GPU, designed specifically for mobile devices, will become available in the coming months.
As always, it is a good idea to wait for third-party benchmarks and reviews before buying any products.
Article(s)
How to save audiobooks from Audible on Windows PCs
Audible customers may use free open source software to download audiobooks from their library to the local system. The particular software reviewed in this guide converts the files to m4b format, which most media players on all major platforms support.
While it is perfectly fine to use Audible apps to listen to audiobooks, Audible is not available everywhere. Mp3 players, portable or in cars or elsewhere, do not support Audible.
Saving audiobooks to the widely used format gives users the option to listen to their audiobooks on platforms that Audible does not support.
All that is required is to download the latest version of BookLibConnect. It is an open source application that display the Audible library in its interface and includes options to download some or even all of the audiobooks to the local system and convert them to m4b format in the process.
Once installed, BookLibConnect requires that users sign-in to their Audible or Amazon account on the official website. The app itself remains unaware of the credentials using this method.
Note that you may need to restart the application once before the download option becomes available.
The main interface is simple to use. Select Download to display the list of available audiobooks in the user’s library. You may select some or all, then “add selected” to add them to the download query. Click OK to go back to the main interface and hit the Run button to start the download process.
That is all there is to it. You may then transfer the audiobooks to other devices, so that you may listen to them.
Reddit is trying to get rid of third-party apps through ridiculous API pricing
The best way to access Reddit, a popular hang-out for millions of users who are looking for advice, post news articles, unite in tasks, or share adult images, is through a web browser, preferably with uBlock Origin or a similar content blocker enabled, or through third-party apps.
Reddit’s main appeal is the wide range of communities that have established homes at the site. Some say that it is the last place to get answers by real humans on almost any topic imaginable, but this goes to far. Still, search engines like Brave Search have started to display Reddit threads prominently, because they offer non-SEOed content.
Reddit has its own application. On Google Play, Reddit’s official app has crossed the 100 million downloads mark and has accumulated more than 2.8 million reviews. The 4.2 star rating is not bad, but it is not excellent.
Third-party applications like Apollo for iOS, or Boost and RiF for Android, offer features that Reddit’s own app does not support. These range from offering a better design or accessibility, to new features, such as filters, custom layouts for individual subreddits, or different views for posts on Reddit.
The future of most third-party apps for Reddit is grim. The company has recently made changes regarding access to its content. Previously, third-party apps could access Reddit’s APIs for free. APIs allow developers to integrate Reddit into their products using officially sanctioned methods.
The main problem with the change is that the pricing is astronomically high. The developer of Apollo, for instance, calculated that he would have to pay Reddit $20 million U.S. Dollar per year for access to its API.
A dropping of the free version would not cut it either, as current Apollo subscriptions cost $2.50, which is less than what Reddit would charge the developer under its new API pricing.
If that would not be bad enough already, Reddit is also limiting NSFW content to its official app and website. Third-party applications can’t be used anymore to view this content once the changes take effect.
Reddit plans to switch to the new Data API terms on June 19, 2023.
Reddit’s main intention appears to be to drive third-party apps out of business, in hope that users will start using the official app or website instead, and not stop using Reddit altogether by switching to different services.
Reddit is earning money through advertisement and Reddit Premium subscriptions.
Options and Reddit alternatives
A list of available Reddit alternatives is available, on Reddit. Some of these are relatively popular already. It remains to be seen if the death of most third-party Reddit apps will drive enough users to these platforms.
It is possible that a new alternative will open up that will gain traction quickly. Reddit users who want to keep on using the platform may want to start using web browsers to access the site. All desktop browsers support content blockers, which gets rid of most annoyances on the site. On mobile, a browser like Firefox, with uBlock Origin installed, or a browser with a built-in content blocker, like Brave, works well, even though they do not offer the same level of customization options as third-party apps.
Tech in less than 150 words
DNS
DNS, which stands for Domain Name Server, is a cornerstone of today’s Internet. Computers and other electronic devices use DNS to turn domain names, such as ghacks.net, into IP addresses, which computers use for communication.
Domain names make it easier for humans to access Internet sites and services. A DNS provider offers the service. The default provider is usually the ISP, but users may change DNS servers on their devices to use other services, which may offer better privacy and performance.
Recently, secure DNS, e.g. DNS over HTTPS, has been integrated into browsers and operating systems.
DNS traffic is unencrypted by default, which means that the ISP and anyone monitoring traffic on the local network, know every destination that a computer use accesses. This ends with encrypted DNS, as the data is protected by encryption.
Links
Dell in hot water for making shoppers think overpriced monitors were discounted
Google’s AI-powered search experience is way too slow
Lung cancer pill cuts risk of death by half, says ‘thrilling’ study
Next-Generation CAMM, MR-DIMM Memory Modules Show Up at Computex