Internet

Google is adding specially crafted panels at the top of search results related to COVID vaccines. The panel will give information about specific vaccines available in the searcher's country along with details of rollout programs. The aim is to use ... official and credible sources and counter less reliable information including misleading or unfounded claims about the vaccines. Using the panels could overcome the risk that pages with misleading information either game Google's system or "naturally" find their way to the top of the search results list for a particular user. The first panels are ... (view more)

Comcast is to impose a 1.2TB monthly data limit on its broadband customers in all locations across the United States. The move affects 12 states that weren't already under the cap. Customers will be able to get unlimited data, but will have to pay a ... fee of $30 a month above their current charges. Those who don't "upgrade" will face an overage charge of $10 for each 50GB they use, with a maximum overage charge of $100. (Source: stopthecap.com ) The company already had the cap in 27 of the 39 states it served. Many of the remaining 12 covered markets where Comcast had competition with Verizon, ... (view more)

Google is making Chrome extension publishers give users more details about the data they collect. They will also have to promise to follow a new policy limiting the way they use the data. Extensions are third-party tools (called plug-ins or add-ons ... with some browsers) that interact with a web browser to provide a useful function. Examples include password managers that automatically fill in log-in details on a site, and an official Amazon plug-in that can send a copy of a long web page article direct to a Kindle e-Reader. One of the main concerns about extensions is that they inherently need ... (view more)

Google says its latest browser update is "the largest gain in Chrome performance in years." It claims the browser will now be significantly faster, drain less battery and be more useful. Unlike many software updates, the majority of the changes in ... the latest version of Chrome are behind the scenes and affect performance rather than add new features. For example, Chrome will now devote more resources to "active tabs" (the ones that have most recently been used) rather than give the same attention to every open tab. It says on average this will reduce CPU usage by "five times" and add an extra ... (view more)

A mobile broadband service that uses low-orbit satellites to reach areas with neither fixed-line or cellular service is proving a hit with some early testers. Starlink is the work of the private company SpaceX, better known for running commercial ... delivery services to the International Space Station. The company plans to eventually launch more than 40,000 miniature satellites which will orbit at around half the distance from the Earth as most satellites. The idea is to be able to offer service anywhere in the world with users simply connecting to satellites as they pass overhead. (Source: ... (view more)

A couple have reportedly named their daughter after an Internet company in return for 18 years of free mobile broadband. Perhaps fortunately the girl now only has "Twifia" as a middle name. The couple took up a promotional offer from Swiss company ... Twifi. It made the offer to any parents who named their child with Twifia or Twifius. It's not clear why the offer covers these variations rather than the brand name itself. The deal requires a parent to upload a photograph of the birth certificate with one of the names on it and await verification. They will then get 18 years of service for the ... (view more)

Review site Yelp is to highlight businesses that have been accused of racist behavior. Critics argue the policy is open to malicious abuse. Yelp says over this summer it has noticed a surge in reviews which warn users of racist behavior. However, it ... believes many of these may be written by people reporting to social media or news reports of such activity, rather than from their own experience of using a business. According to Yelp, it needed to change its policy to deal with two issues. The first is that its rules only allow reviews based on first-hand experience. The second is that it ... (view more)

Google is doubling the top speed of its Fiber broadband service to 2Gbps, though it will cost $100 a month. It also says the speed will be available through its 'wireless' service for businesses. The original idea for Google Fiber - at least ... according to the company - was to use its buying power and technology to offer an alternative high-speed service in areas which either had no serious broadband available or were served only by a single company that exploited its monopoly. The problem is that while the service itself has had good reviews, Google doesn't offer it in many places. Only a ... (view more)

The new record for fastest Internet connection is quick enough to download everything on Netflix in under a second. It's safe to say the average home user won't see such speeds, but the techniques used to achieve the speeds could benefit everyone. ... The transfer was done over a fiber-optic cable between computers 25 miles apart. It reached a peak speed of 178 terabits per second. That's around 20 percent faster than the previous record and five times the speed of the fastest connections currently in regular use, namely cables running between machines in data centers. University College London, ... (view more)

Google is experimenting with a way to make Chrome use less power when a laptop battery is starting to run out. But it will rely on website owners to make it happen. The test is of a "Battery-Savings Meta Tag" which can be added to a website's code ... and will include battery saving recommendations specific to that site. These would then kick in whenever the computer is at a particular battery level. The idea is to avoid having Chrome itself simply take blanket measures that might not be appropriate for all websites. Video Frame Rate Lowered One of the examples Google gives is for a tag to say ... (view more)