Author: batteryforpc

Google Chrome v76 is getting a new security feature to fight popup spam.

Google engineers are planning to change how the Escape key works in the Chrome browser, and it’s all being done as part of a security-focused change meant to make it harder for shady sites to open popups.

The feature is expected to ship with Chrome version 76, scheduled for release at the end of July 2019.

The general idea is that starting with Chrome 76, pressing the Escape key on your keyboard will not “activate” a page and prevent it from running JavaScript code — like it did until now.

“Browsers prevent calls to abusable APIs (like popup, fullscreen, vibrate, etc.) unless the user activates the page through direct interactions,” Google said earlier this month.

“Not all interactions trigger user activation. For example, clicking on a link or typing in a textbox does, but swiping fingers on a screen or hovering with the mouse cursor doesn’t.”

Google will now classify pressing the Escape key in the same category as the above-mentioned actions.

“Since users never intend to interact with the page through the ESC key, it should not trigger user activation,” Google said.

ABUSED IN THE WILD

According to Google, there is at least one malware campaign that is abusing Escape key-generated popups to spam users.

This demo page shows how current versions of Chrome will open a new page/popup for the example.com domain. But when opening the same page in Chrome Canary (v76), the browser will block the new page/popup using Chrome’s built-in ad-blocker tool.

Firefox already includes a similar feature.

In the previous months, Google has rolled out similar security-minded features to protect Chrome users from spammers and malicious advertisers.

For example, in Chrome v73, Google added a security feature that would prevent malicious code loaded in iframes from initiating a download on a user’s device.

The company also fixed an “evil cursor” bug abused by tech support scammers and banned extensions using obfuscated code from the Chrome Web Store.

Would you buy any product that limited your access to Google’s services?

The dust-up between the U.S. and Huawei has pushed the idea of how dependent on Google a phone manufacturer can be. Huawei is one of the biggest companies in the world, and having access to Google’s services is what drove its smartphone market share into the sky — now nearing 20% globally, above Apple. Watching consumer reaction as that access is revoked gives a feeling that any future growth has ground to a complete stop and Huawei is in a heap of trouble as far as Western markets are concerned.

I’m not here to ponder the legitimacy of the U.S. claims or play armchair quarterback and decide if the restrictions are valid or not. National security is one of those things where anyone who can voice an opinion isn’t really qualified to do so. You may like the decision or hate it, but like me, you can’t do anything about it. The restrictions are in place, Google has to abide by them (as do Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and others) because it is a U.S. based company. Huawei and Google may try to remind us that not everything is horrible, but it really is. For now, at least.

Google is Android; Android is Google

This all shines a light on how much value Android has without Google. Should this most recent ban last forever, Huawei will have no problem building phones that run the latest version of Android and keep them updated with security patches and new platform versions. This is because of the open-source nature of the operating system itself and if a handful of dedicated enthusiasts can do it, so can a giant mega-global corporation the size of Huawei. But building phones that nobody will buy isn’t all that useful; you wouldn’t want to use a phone that could only include what’s open when it comes to Android.

Imagine if you picked up your phone and all of Google’s apps and services stopped working. Would you want to use a web browser (but not Chrome) to access your Gmail or check Google Maps? Have you ever tried to access your Google Drive storage on a mobile web browser? Even making a phone call probably depends on access to your contacts through a Google service. Forget access to Google Play for a moment — as much of a blow as that is, it can be circumvented easily enough as we’ve seen from Amazon — your Android phone is tethered to Google in so many ways that it can become almost worthless without it.

A vehicle for services

This all started long before Android. We can look back as far as the first iPhone and see it. Apple is a tech fairy tale come true. At one time the company was about to go the way of the Dodo, but now it’s the most valuable company in the world, the number two (or three) smartphone maker globally, and manufacturer of the best selling mobile device ever built. And you could say the iPhone owes much of its success because of how easy it was (and still is) to access your Google services like YouTube and Gmail. I certainly wouldn’t disagree, and a lot of other people would say the same. This holds true for more than just phones, too. When it comes to the PC market that doesn’t include mobile devices, would you buy a new laptop if it limited your access to Google’s services? A laptop that couldn’t install Chrome or visit the Google Maps website? 10 years ago, maybe, but today the answer is a resounding “no.”

It’s easy to see how much dominance Google holds over the mobile computing ecosystem as a whole, but companies that make Android phones are particularly screwed if access is cut off or made more difficult. We’re partially to blame because we use and rely on Google’s services. Companies like Samsung and Huawei are partially to blame because they can’t, for myriad reasons, offer a compelling second choice.

But mostly, Google is to blame because it likes to be successful and push its services into Android. Android without Google’s services and infrastructure can be successful — every Android phone sold in China, roughly 25% of which are made by Huawei, has none of them — but people in the West would never enjoy being weaned to WeChat as a service provider. We only buy Android phones because of the value Google adds through services. If every Android OEM was cut off today, most everyone here would buy a Pixel or an iPhone as soon as they could afford it.

A slippery slope

This is a problem for all of the companies involved in making and selling Android phones. It’s why we see Samsung invest time into the Galaxy Apps store and Bixby, or why LG builds webOS televisions with ThinQ, and why Huawei spent so much money on its own AI system and Chinese-specific ecosystem for mobile devices. The company that has the most to lose, though, is also the company that holds all of the cards: Google. It’s already under antitrust investigation(s) concerning Android, and when we see something like the decimation of Huawei’s hopes of continuing to sell phones outside of China because Google has to pull its services from the company those investigations become more and more interesting.

If you were to ask for my opinion on all this, I would reach for a cold beverage and say it’s yet another stunt from Washington that will blow over once it’s purpose has been served, Huawei will soon regain access to everything Google, and we’ll all forget about it when the next bit of tech drama arises. (How much lasting damage there is to Huawei in the end will depend on the length of time that passes.) We’ll also be a little savvier when it comes to how Google uses Android to further its business interests and how quickly it could cripple a partner if it were to revoke access to the Android we all love. And who knows, it might even play out that way.

Rolling out to phones via an app update.

Over the last few months, Google’s been steadily adding an official dark mode to more and more of its apps. Following the likes of Google Messages, News, Contacts, and others, Google’s now announced dark modes for Calendar and Keep.

In the next few days, you should receive an update for both the Google Calendar and Google Keep Android apps that will add the new dark mode functionality. To enable dark mode in Calendar, you’ll go to Settings -> General -> Theme. If you’re using Keep, the process is Settings -> Enable Dark Mode.

Dark mode for Google Calendar will work on devices running Android Nougat or higher, whereas Keep’s dark mode works for Android Lolipop and above.

If you don’t see an update for either app in the Play Store right away, don’t worry. Google started pushing out Calendar’s dark mode update on May 16 and Keep’s began making its way to users on May 20. In both cases, Google says it can take up to 15 days for the updates to reach everyone.

Huawei has relied on the Google-developed Android operating system to power its popular range of smartphones.

Google has dealt a major blow to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei by blocking the firm from using critical apps and services like Gmail and YouTube on its range of smartphones, according to reports.

Just like other major smartphone makers including Samsung and LG, Huawei relies on the Google-developed Android operating system to power its mobile devices.

But, amid a US crackdown on Chinese technology companies due to ongoing security concerns, Reuters and The Verge report that Google has suspended business with Huawei and in doing so hugely undermined its lineup of handsets, which are among the most critically-acclaimed and best-selling on the market.

Existing products will no longer receive Android updates, which bring new features and security improvements, and future releases will lose access to the vital Google Play Store, through which users download new apps.

Huawei will instead be restricted to using a public version of the operating system called Android Open Source Project, which does not include standard Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps, Google Photos and YouTube.

Although Huawei smartphones are banned from the US, enormous sales figures in China and impressive growth in parts of Europe has seen the company overtake iPhone maker Apple in terms of market share.

The Verge reported earlier this month that Huawei was now only behind Samsung when it comes to global smartphone sales, with 59.1 million shipments in the first quarter of 2019.

But the intervention from Google could cripple hopes of further expansion.

While a custom Huawei-built operating system would cause little issue in its home market, where most Google apps are banned anyway, it would likely be rejected by Western customers.

Google apps and services are a critical part of Android devices, and Huawei owners in Europe and the UK may now be forced to seek alternatives to what the Chinese company has to offer.

Huawei has not commented on the reports, but has continued to insist that its products pose no security threat.

Last week, its UK executive vice president Jeremy Thompson told Sky Newsit is willing to go the “extra mile” to reassure countries its technology is safe.

His comments came after Prime Minister Theresa May came in for criticism over a National Security Council decision to back the use of Huawei technology in “non-core” 5G network infrastructure in the UK.

That was despite a warning from the National Cyber Security Centre and the US government that the company could not be trusted.

Donald Trump has declared a “national emergency” over the perceived threat posed by Chinese companies and imposed severe sanctions on Huawei, with US companies barred from using telecommunications equipment made by firms deemed to pose a national security risk.

The US commerce department has also added Huawei and 70 affiliated companies to a blacklist banning it from acquiring components and technology from US firms without government approval.

Google has not responded directly to the reports, but said it was “complying with the order” issued by the US president and was “reviewing the implications”.

A widely-covered report out of France this week said that the blue light in LED lighting can damage the eyes. Dell, seeing the writing on the wall, isn’t taking any chances.

Blue light can damage the retina and disturb natural sleep rhythms, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) said in a statement, according to a report* from France24.

“Exposure to an intense and powerful [LED] light is ‘photo-toxic’ and can lead to irreversible loss of retinal cells and diminished sharpness of vision,” the agency said. LEDs are often used for home lighting and in offices.

Importantly, the agency “distinguished between high-intensity LED light, and ‘chronic exposure’ to lower intensity sources,” according to the report.

LEDs on cellphones, tablets and laptop screens “do not pose a risk of eye damage because their luminosity is very low compared to other types of lighting,” an ophthalmologist and head of the expert group that conducted the review, told reporters, according to France24.

(The French agency also called into question the effectiveness of some “anti-blue light” filters and sunglasses.)

Dell isn’t taking any chances

There is still a concern, however, about prolonged chronic exposure to device screens.

“We want to reduce the risk of blue light damage. The science is still being put together,” Frank Azor , VP and General Manager, Alienware, Gaming & XPS at Dell, told me in an interview this past week.

Dell is doing this “on several of our products and rolling out more into our portfolio in the future,” he said. “As we continue to invest in higher quality, brighter displays with better color gamuts, the unintended consequence is that blue light emissions have been increasing over time.”

“A lot of research is going on in this area. There are already solutions that reduce the light but they’re software based solutions,” he said. “That often compromises the color gamut of the screen in order to reduce the blue light,” Azor said.

Software-based solutions on smartphones and PCs typically give a yellow tint to the display.

“We’ve made a considerable investment in bringing up a hardware solution that allows you to reduce blue light to unharmful levels and it does it without any compromise to the display quality and the color gamut,” he said.

Azor said Dell has partnered with Eyesafe, which is helping Dell design the solution and certify it.