Chrome is now the most popular web browser

Nearly four years after Google Chrome became the most-used web browser according to StatCounter, rival metrics firm NetMarketShare has come to the same conclusion.

Both firms now say that Chrome is more popular than Internet Explorer, though their respective percentages vary greatly. According to NetMarketShare, Chrome captured 41.66 percent of desktop browser usage in April, compared to 41.35 percent for IE. StatCounter shows 60.47 percent for Chrome, versus 13.25 percent for IE. (This actually puts Microsoft’s browser behind Mozilla Firefox, which captured 15.62 percent in April.)


Why the discrepancy? As we explained way back in 2012, StatCounter merely samples raw page views across a network of sites. NetMarketShare (also known as NetApplications) measures unique visits, and weighs its data against Internet traffic by country, so areas that are more active on the Internet are better-represented. Both metrics have pros and cons, but Microsoft has unsurprisingly favored NetMarketShare’s data, which for years has maintained that Internet Explorer was the leader.

In fairness, Microsoft itself is now deemphasizing Internet Explorer in favor of Edge, its new browser for Windows 10. But as ZDNet notes, NetMarketShare’s figures for Internet Explorer include usage for Edge, which by itself stands at 4.39 percent. Even worse, data from StatCounter and Quantcast shows that people are abandoning Edge shortly after trying it.

Meanwhile, it looks like Chrome is picking up the slack. Although Google’s browser stands at a crossroads in terms of features and direction, the masses have yet to find an alternative worth adopting.

Why this matters: Edge has gotten better lately, and the arrival of extension support later this year could make it a more practical replacement for Chrome and Firefox. But the latest metrics show that replacing Internet Explorer with a new browser isn’t going to be a cakewalk for Microsoft. Perhaps that explains why Microsoft is forcing the issue, and preventing its Cortana search bar from linking to other search engines and web browsers. 



Source: PC World

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Chrome Is Now Faster And More Stable On iOS

Google's Chrome browser has a loyal following on iOS, but it's certainly not for the speed or reliability -- it has long used a second-tier iOS web rendering engine (UIWebView) that isn't nearly as polished as what you get in Safari. At last, though, it's catching up.

The latest iOS version of Chrome now uses a newer engine (WKWebView), giving it performance much closer to Apple's own browser -- it's "significantly" faster, particularly when it comes to JavaScript. You'll be glad to hear that it's much more stable, as well, with a crash rate that's a whopping 70 percent lower.

And don't worry, desktop users, you're getting some updates of your own. There's a new Data Saver extension that compresses websites, helping you get that much more web surfing out of a slow connection or a capped data plan. Also, Chrome itself now puts the icons for your extensions right next to the address bar, so it's easy to spot and remove a rogue add-on. Both the iOS and desktop upgrades should be available today, so you won't have to wait long to give the new features a shot.

 Source:  Engadget

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Google Chrome update can drop data consumption by 70 percent

Internet usage is becoming increasingly prevalent on smartphones, and last January Google helped out its users on a bandwidth budget by introducing a Data Saver mode. Now, following competition from fellow browser Opera, it's beefing up its compression capabilities.

The Californian electronics behemoth announced on Monday that it's updating Android's Chrome Data Saver mode, which can now decrease user data consumption by up to 70 percent.

Google achieved this by "removing most images when loading a page on a slow connection," product manager Taj Oppenheimer said in the blog post. If Chrome detects a weak connection, it'll load a page without images, leading to faster speeds and less data expenditure. Users can then opt to load all the pictures, or they can touch individual pictures to load.

Though no specific time frame was announced, these updates will first roll out in India and Indonesia, with more countries to follow. While there is a glut of cheap and reliable sub-$150 smartphones available in India and Indonesia, telecommunications infrastructure is still more dated, with some parts of both countries relying on 2G Internet. There was no mention on if the improved functionality will come to Chrome's iOS app.

Data compression is big business in India and parts of Asia, with Norwegian company Opera last month announcing a deal that will see its Opera Max data saving app come pre-installed on smartphones from Samsung, Xiaomi, Acer, Hisense and more. South Korean giant Samsung was among the first to run with the app, launching and promoting its On series in India around the data-compression technology.

The Data Saver function was first introduced to Android and iOS Chrome apps by Google last January. This March, over a year later, the company extended the feature to its desktop and laptop browser.

Source :CNET 

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Chrome's next update makes it less resource hungry

A big part of what's won Chrome a lot of converts is how much faster it is over the competition. That speed comes at a price, though: The web browser is notoriously a resource hog (especially if you have a dozen or so tabs open at once) and it dramatically cuts into battery life. As Google tells it, the latest version of the browser will help absolve those sins a bit. New tweaks include restoring only the most frequently used tabs should it detect that your machine is precariously low on resources, and a way of detecting when a page isn't busy with something else and using the free processor cycles to clean up idle memory.

That, coupled with pausing crap like auto-playing Flash ads can free up somewhere around 10 percent of memory usage on average, with a Gmail tab using a whopping 25 percent less memory. There's video below in case you wanted proof. Mountain View says that it'll activate these new features as default over the next few weeks. Something tells me that this probably still won't stop Apple from crowing about how much battery life you can save by using Safari anytime soon.


Source :Engadget

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