internet

Chrome 25 review: Talk to the Web app

Google Chrome has matured from a lightweight and fast browsing alternative into an innovative, standard-bearing browser that people love. It's powerful enough to drive its own operating system, Chrome OS. The browser that people can use today, Chrome 25, offers highly competitive features, including synchronization, autofill, and standards compliance, and maintains Google's reputation for building one of the fastest browsers available.

Chrome 25 represents a major milestone for the browser, but those expecting to see dramatic changes in major version-point updates will be disappointed. For a while now, Google has been pushing features over what it calls milestone … Read more

Speed things up on your smartphone with Internet Accelerator

High-speed Internet doesn't always feel like high speed. If you want to browse and surf more quickly on your phone, you can use Internet Accelerator. Just don't expect it to actually work. While it claims it can make your surfing faster, it's more likely to just annoy you with never-ending pop-ups.

The app hits you with a "rate our app!" pop-up before you get to actually test the speed. These pop-ups happen any time you load the app and can even launch your browser and do all sorts of other shady stuff. The program itself … Read more

Apple's Safari challenged by rival mobile browsers

Apple's Safari is still by far the dominant mobile browser, though its competition is eating away at some of its popularity.

Safari grabbed 55.4 percent of all mobile-browser traffic captured by Web tracker Net Applications in February. That proved a hefty drop from January's 61 percent share and last July's 66 percent share.

At the same time, the stock Android browser, which is found on older Android devices, chewed up 22.8 percent of the mobile browser traffic last month. Though its numbers were higher last October and November, the Android browser has sliced off an … Read more

Vint Cerf sees an 'Interspecies Internet' to talk with animals

Vint Cerf has a vision of the Internet one day being used as a medium for communicating with other species and even those from other planets.

The man widely regarded as the father of the Internet has teamed up with musician Peter Gabriel, MIT physicist Neil Gershenfeld, and cognitive psychologist Diana Reiss to propose an "Interspecies Internet," a new platform that would facilitate communication between humans and animals.

Cerf and his partners took to the stage at the TED conference today to describe exactly what they are envisioning.

"All kinds of possible sentient beings may be interconnected,&… Read more

Chrome 25 for Android review: Finally, an update

Review: Google sure took its sweet time getting its redonkulously popular browser onto its well-received mobile operating system, but there's finally a version of Chrome for Android. It comes with a number of caveats, the biggest being that there's a really good chance that you're not going to have a compatible device for a while.

Installation Chrome for Android installs like any other Android app, and is freely available from Google's Android Market, Download.com, Amazon, and other Android marketplaces. If you have more than one Google account synced, it will ask you which one you … Read more

Watch international video stations with SopCast for Mac

Despite the Internet's ability to connect Web sites and other content across continents, finding video content from other countries can be difficult. SopCast for Mac allows users to view channels originating in many countries from one program on their computer.

Available as freeware, the program's channels are also viewable at no cost. The program is small, downloaded quickly, and easily installed. In terms of functionality, SopCast for Mac allows you to watch from a list of channels organized by country of origin. There is also a menu allowing you to directly paste links to other SopCast channels not … Read more

New Avast features roll out to fan legions

The new version of the Avast security suite focuses on repairing the past mistakes of Windows. Debuting today exclusively with CNET's Download.com, Avast 8 addresses some of today's most pressing security concerns but leaves at least one other growing problem unresolved.

All told, Avast Free Antivirus 8 (download), Avast Pro Antivirus 8 (download), Avast Internet Security 8 (download) and the new top-tier suite, Avast Premier 8 (download) command upwards of 170 million active users, making Avast the most popular consumer security suite by a long shot.

Although the suite leaves privacy in the cold, the rest of … Read more

Buy your ticket for the new Titanic (no iPads, thanks)

Tempting fate is a very human pastime. We know it will all end badly sooner or later, so why not see whether we can skirt the edge of disaster and experience how it feels?

Such an impulse will surely drive many to book an early ticket on Titanic II.

No, this is not another Donald Trump project. It is, instead, the idea of Clive Palmer, an Australian mining tycoon known for his dreamy qualities.… Read more

Home networking explained, Part 4: Wi-Fi vs. Internet

Editors' note: This post is part of an ongoing series. For the other parts, check out the related stories.

Wi-Fi and Internet are two very different things.

With the popularity of wireless networking, the term Wi-Fi is often synonymous with access to the Internet. In fact, our seasoned editor Scott Stein compared how fast the new iPhone 5's 4G LTE Internet speed was with his "home Wi-Fi," which is a skewed comparison at best. To be fair, most of us use "Wi-Fi" as a shortcut to mean our home broadband Internet connection, and Scott just … Read more

IE reborn: Internet Explorer 10 arrives on Windows 7

Internet Explorer 10 debuted on Windows 8, and until now was only available to people who bought into Microsoft's big Windows redo. That changes today, as Redmond rolls out IE 10 for Windows 7 (download).

The update brings enormous changes to the browser, and mostly for the better. Internet Explorer 10 is not only faster and more stable than the current IE for Windows 7, version 9, it's also far more standards-compliant.

"Gone are the days when developers aspire to build for the lowest common denominator. The way the Web becomes like an application is when you … Read more