Chrome 76 blocks Flash by default and stops websites detecting Incognito Mode

Chrome 76 has been released today on all platforms, and it’s brought with it a number of security patches, bug fixes and handy features to help with your browsing.

The most notable change for most users will be how Google is choosing to handle any Flash Player content that’s still lingering around the web. While the move to kill off Adobe’s archaic format has been in the works for a few years, Chrome will now officially block Flash by default.

Since 1996, Flash content has allowed web users to view and interact with media online, but since the launch of standards such as HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly, it has become redundant and something of a potential security hazard.

For now, users can still enable it manually every time they want Flash media to be played but, considering that Adobe will be discontinuing the format entirely next year, this feature will be relatively short-lived.

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As we reported earlier in July, Google is also plugging a loophole that allowed websites to easily detect when a user is browsing in Chrome’s Incognito Mode, something that was particularly problematic for people in political or social situations that warranted them to conceal their web activity.

Previously, websites that employed a metered paywall (one that offered a limited amount of free articles) would use this method of detection to stop those browsing the web from avoiding detection and exceeding the metered limit.

A side effect of this loophole being plugged is that, these websites will no longer be able to tell when you’re browsing Incognito, and users will now be able to reliably bypass these paywalls.

• Google to plug Chrome loophole that exposes Incognito status to sites

Outside of these two major improvements, Chrome 76 implements a total of 43 security fixes, offers a variety of minor tweaks, and a host of developer-facing improvements – the full rundown of which can be found here.

Chrome 76 is currently rolling out for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.

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Facebook's futuristic mind-reading wearable is one step closer to reality

It began with a simple question: “So, what if you could type directly from your brain?” 

That was something Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerburg asked on stage during the company’s annual F8 conference back in 2017. Since then, Facebook has been funding research into a brain-computer interface (BCI) that it could use in augmented reality wearables, like its long-talked about AR glasses.

Looks like the mind-reading interface could be one step closer to reality with Facebook releasing the first significant update on the project, with researchers now able to “decode a small set of full, spoken words and phrases from activity in real time”.

This breakthrough, published in the journal Nature Communications, came about via an algorithm that was able to read the thoughts of participants suffering from brain injuries.

Mind reading

When the project was first announced in 2017, the goal was to “decode silent speech”. 

In this experiment, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco – backed by Facebook Reality Labs – were allowed to implant electrodes into the brains of three epilepsy patients.

The participants were asked questions which they needed to answer aloud. This helped them identify activity and patterns in parts of the brain associated with understanding and producing speech in real time.

The readings from the electrodes, according to the researchers, were accurate 61% of the time, demonstrating it is possible to decode speech “in an interactive, conversational setting” to help people suffering from brain trauma to communicate.

Back at Menlo Park

Facebook, however, is willing to be patient as the research progresses to where “real-time decoding speed of 100 words per minute with a 1,000-word vocabulary and word error rate of less than 17 percent” becomes possible… even if it takes a decade.

In the meantime, the company is working on a “portable, wearable device made from consumer-grade parts” that monitors oxygen levels in the brain. This, the social media giant claims, could be a way for a BCI device to read people’s minds without the need for invasive surgery.

The device is “currently bulky, slow and reliable” but, if or when perfected, could be used as a basis of Facebook’s AR glasses, allowing us – at some point in the future – to communicate without the need for smartphones.

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The best cheap laptop deals in July 2019: prices start at just $129

If you're in the market for a cheap laptop deal, now's a great time to find a good price, regardless of whether you're shopping for work, school, or home. To make finding the machine that's right for you easier, we’ve collected the cheapest prices and best deals of the week in addition to a selection of some of our perpetual cheap laptop favorites. This week features an assortment of workhorses, versatile machines, and basic configurations perfect for students.

We know that shopping for a new laptop can be an often arduous task of comparing storage, memory, processing power and features, but our guide below will help you find the best laptop deals and get the most for your money. From huge names like Dell, Asus and Lenovo to lesser known brands, you’re sure to come away happy with these bargains.

If you're a gamer, you'd be better suited checking out our selection of cheap gaming laptop deals, as the models on this page are not usually built with gaming in mind. We've also rounded up a fine collection of cheap laptop offers in the UK too.

The best cheap laptop deal of the week

More top cheap laptop deals of the week

Where to find the best laptop deals in the US:

We've compared prices on some of our favourite cheap laptops and run through the details on why we recommend them further down this page. But if you'd like to browse the latest laptop deals directly from your favorite retailers we've included a list of the most-recommended stores directly below. 

• Walmart
• Amazon
• Newegg
• Sam's Club
• Jet
• HP

The best cheap laptops of 2019

Here we have one of the few budget laptops with a processor nearly equivalent to a MacBook Pro from a couple of years back, that is, if you opt for the Intel Core i5 configuration. The best part? It’s roughly half the cost of its Apple-branded rival. Now given that it sells at a range of different prices, the Acer Swift 3 can be an obtuse purchase, but lucky for you, the midrange model will get you by just fine.

Read the full review: Acer Swift 3

This convertible laptop has always been about function over form. For one minuscule transaction, you’re getting a tablet equipped with an included keyboard and even a fingerprint scanner for more secure logins. Along with reliable performance and a magnesium-alloy chassis, it’s built to last – not to mention, one of the best Asus laptops you can buy when you're on the budget.

Read the full review: Asus Transformer Mini T102HA

While it may be outclassed by the Pixelbook and the Samsung Chromebook in terms of sheer power, the Acer Chromebook 15 can still pack a wallop while providing battery life that is frankly out of this world. It’s rare that a laptop can truly provide all-day battery, but in our independent battery tests, Acer’s Chromebook lasted an astonishing 17 hours – on top of providing enough power to get your work done online. If you’re looking for a 15-inch Chromebook that will give you the most bang for your buck, look no further.

Read the full review: Acer Chromebook 15 

The Lenovo Yoga Book, and the Windows 10 version of it in particular, is the sort of futuristic fodder you would find in an episode of Black Mirror. It has a keyboard that doubles as a Wacom touch panel and, best of all, it’s cheap as hell. Now, of course, that comes with the caveat of a weak Intel Atom processor, but the rest of the Lenovo Yoga Book should go down in the history books.

Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga Book

With its slick lines and a slim silhouette, the Acer Chromebook 14 makes for a subtle, snazzy laptop. Although its display isn't the most attractive we've seen, it’s still acceptable for full HD. On top of that, the keyboard and trackpad adhere to the principle of ‘it just works.’ The battery life is satisfactory as well despite falling a bit south of Acer's 12-hour claim in real-world use.

Read the full review: Acer Chromebook 14

Not quite what you're looking for? Maybe our other laptop articles will have what you need:

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10 leak points to incredible water resistance and down-graded screen

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 launch date is set for August 7, but at this rate there won't be anything left for Samsung to reveal, as Note 10 details continue to leak online, with a bundle of new information having just hit the web.

First up, a post from Twitter leaker Ishan Agarwal appears to reveal a number of details about the Galaxy Note 10 series of handsets (we're also expecting to see Samsung launch a premium Galaxy Note 10 Plus) including super fast wireless and wired charging, and a main 12MP camera with an f/1.5 aperture.

However, there are a couple of bigger reveals in play here, with the first being the claim that the standard Galaxy Note 10 won't have a QHD display, and will have to settle for a Full HD+ resolution instead.

This would be a huge shift from Samsung, as it has packed a QHD resolution screen into every Note handset since 2014. Its last phablet flagship that came with a Full HD display? The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 back in 2013.

We'd take this particular part of the report with a healthy pinch of salt then, but if Samsung is going to launch two variants of the Note 10 it will need to differentiate between them in a few ways to justify their existence - so this screen resolution change could conceivably happen.

Another interesting nugget from this Galaxy Note 10 leak is the claim that the handsets will come with an IP69 dust and water resistance rating.

The Galaxy Note 9 arrived with an IP68 rating. The '6' refers to its dust protection, and 6 is the highest level a device can achieve, which (according to The Enclosure Company) makes it "totally dust tight. Full protection against dust and other particulates, including a vacuum seal, tested against continuous airflow."

It's the second digit we're interested in though. A '9' for water resistance would provide the Galaxy Note 10 with "protection against high-pressure, high-temperature jet sprays, wash-downs or steam-cleaning procedures."

Just how useful this additional level of protection would be on a smartphone isn't immediately clear, as the commonly used IP68 protection found on many flagship phones already protects against complete submersion in water - handy if you accidentally drop it in the bath.

Again, we'd take this Note 10 leak with a pinch of salt.

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New Galaxy Note 10 color

That's not all though, as a separate Samsung Galaxy Note 10 leak has potentially also revealed a new color option for the upcoming handset.

A render published by WinFuture apparently shows the Galaxy Note 10 in a pink hue, and the shade is said to be coming to the standard handset as well as the Note 10 Plus.

If this Galaxy Note 10 leak is correct, the new color would add a cool additional choice to a range which will also apparently include blue and green variants.

However, you may not get the option to choose from all the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 colors, as in the past Samsung has made some color options exclusive to certain regions and countries.

The good news is there's not long to wait to find out, with Samsung's August 7 Unpacked launch event just around the corner, where all the details will be revealed. We'll be reporting live from the New York launch event to bring you everything you need to know as it breaks.

• Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus confirmed by Samsung itself

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 spec leak reveals it's a truly top-end slate

With the number of leaks surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 it looks likely the slate will arrive alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 on August 7, and a big specs leak today suggests it might even steal some of that phone's thunder.

That's worth emphasizing because Samsung didn't put top-end power in its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4. But according to Ishan Agarwal (a leaker with a decent track record) the Galaxy Tab S6 will have a top-end Snapdragon 855 chipset.

And that’s not the only high-end spec rumored. He also lists a 2560 x 1600 AMOLED screen, a 7,040mAh battery, and a dual-lens rear camera, with both a 13MP f/2.0 main lens and a 5MP f/2.2 secondary one.

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Additionally, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 supposedly has an 8MP f/2.0 front camera with facial recognition (though he’s not sure whether it uses 3D or 2D recognition), and an S Pen with an unexplained ‘Air Mouse’ feature.

That S Pen can apparently last almost six hours with standard use, but only around 30 minutes when using Air Gesture/Air Mouse features.

He also mentions dimensions and weight, saying that the Tab S6 will be 244.5 x 159.5 x 5.7mm and 420g. That would make it smaller in every sense than the 249.3 x 164.3 x 7.1mm Galaxy Tab S4, as well as being lighter.

That smaller size is likely down at least in part to smaller bezels, which you can see in leaked renders shared by the same source. You can also see that the S Pen seems to sit on the back of the slate. The color shown incidentally is apparently Mountain Grey, though we’d expect other shades to be offered too.

Filling in the gaps

These leaks largely tally with other recent information shared by MySmartPrice. The site agrees with the battery size, weight, chipset and camera megapixel counts, though slightly differs in saying that the main shooter is f/1.9 rather than f/2.0.

This MySmartPrice leak also fills in some of the gaps, adding that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 will apparently come with a choice of 6GB or 8GB of RAM (which is another way in which it would more or less be top-end), and 128GB or 256GB of storage, along with a microSD card slot.

The site also claims the screen is a 10.5-inch "likely 2K" one, that there’s an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and that there are four AKG-tuned speakers, along with Samsung DeX support, which would allow you to use the Tab S6 with more of a laptop/desktop interface.

Finally, the site notes that a tablet with the model number SM-T865 – which has been linked to the Tab S6 in the past – has been certified by the IMDA (a regulatory agency in Singapore). That further suggests the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is landing very soon, as this sort of certification usually happens close to launch.

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Windows 10 may get one of the most useful features of macOS – Internet Recovery

Windows 10 could soon allow you to factory reset your PC using the internet – in much the same way you can reset a Mac or MacBook using macOS’s Internet Recovery feature.

This is according to renowned Microsoft leaker WalkingCat, who claims that in a future version of Windows 10, you’ll be able to reinstall Windows from an internet download – rather than an image stored on your PC’s hard drive, or on a USB stick.

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According to WalkingCat, this new feature would be present in Windows 10 build 18950 – which is still some way off from being made available to users. People testing early versions of Windows 10 on the Windows Insider Fast Ring are on build 18945, for context.

A better way to reinstall Windows 10

If this feature does make it to Windows 10, then it will be a welcome addition. Currently, if you want to factory reset your Windows 10 PC or reinstall Windows 10, you do so either from an image stored in the ‘recovery’ partition of your hard drive, or by using an image on a DVD or USB drive.

This isn’t always useful, because if your hard drive becomes corrupted, you won’t be able to use the image stored on it, and some laptop and PC makers either don’t include an image, or limit how many times you can use it.

Using an image from a USB drive means you have to keep it somewhere you can easily find – otherwise you’ll need to use another PC to download the image and turn the USB into a bootable drive if your main PC no longer works. These images aren’t always the latest releases, and may not have the drivers for all your hardware.

If Windows 10’s ‘cloud download’ restore feature works in a similar way to macOS’ Internet Recovery, then you’ll get the latest version of Windows 10 with all the drivers you need.

Internet Recovery is one of the most useful features of macOS – especially if you’re restoring your Mac to sell it on or to fix any problems – so we’re excited to see a similar feature (hopefully) coming to Windows 10.

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