News Byte

Maxthon Partners With Android Chipmaker to Preload Mobile Browser in Emerging Markets

Maxthon announced today that, via a new partnership with RollTech, the mobile version of its alternative Web browser will be preloaded onto more than 100 million smartphones in 2014. RollTech is a subsidiary of MediaTek, the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer that claims to be the third-largest global supplier of chipsets for Android devices. Maxthon hopes to build inroads with customers in emerging markets where Internet penetration is currently low but improving thanks to the increasing affordability of mobile devices.

Yes, Spotify Is Headed to the Web. No, Spotify Isn’t Cutting Its Prices.

Spotify isn’t planning on cutting the price of its mobile, ad-free service now or in the forseeable future.

Voices

Google’s iPhone Tracking

Google Inc. and other advertising companies have been bypassing the privacy settings of millions of people using Apple Inc.’s Web browser on their iPhones and computers — tracking the Web-browsing habits of people who intended for that kind of monitoring to be blocked.

Going Back to Internet Explorer

Walt answers a reader’s question about security holes in Web browsers.

Focus! No Willpower Required.

Here’s a look at a few methods to help you avoid distractions while on the computer. These range from Web browser tools to computer software programs to controls built into the operating system.

Google Unveils a Laptop With Its Brain in the Cloud

While Google’s Chromebook, a radical new laptop entirely dedicated to cloud computing, may be the future of computing, it’s too buggy today to be relied upon by mainstream users.

A Social Web Browser

Katie tests the iPhone app for RockMelt, a new Web browser for the serious social network user.

New, Lean Firefox 4: Re-Built to Play Catch-Up

Mozilla’s new Firefox 4 Web browser is a sleeker and faster improvement on previous editions, but most of its new features are nothing new in the field.

Voices

Microsoft Adds Do-Not-Track Tool to Browser

A new version of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer to be released Tuesday will be the first major Web browser to include a do-not-track tool that helps people keep their online habits from being monitored. Microsoft’s decision to include the tool in Internet Explorer 9 means Google Inc. and Apple Inc. are the only big providers of browsers that haven’t yet declared their support for a do-no-track system in their products.

Nokia Noshes Novarra

Google Uncrates Chrome