Google has tripled the reward for squashing Chrome bugs

Chrome keeps getting more and more secure

Google Chrome has come a long way, and the search company seems intent on making sure it's the most safe and stable browser out there.

For some time Google has offered monetary bounties to users who discover bugs and vulnerabilities in Chrome, and now they're upping the max reward by a factor of three.

Previously bug hunters could earn up to $5,000 (about £3,000, AU$5,700), but they've upped that to $15,000 (about £9,200, AU$17,200) for users who discover new exploits, which at this stage in Chrome's lifespan may be harder than it sounds.

Bonus points - and more money! - go to anyone who can show exactly how a vulnerability could affect other Chrome users, Google says.

"As Chrome has become more secure, it's gotten even harder to find and exploit security bugs," Google wrote in a blog post. "This is a good problem to have!"

Users who discover new Chrome bugs will also have their names added to a new Hall of Fame page.

It should be noted that Google has always reserved the right to hand out as much cash as it feels like to these hunters. As the company points out, it gave someone $30,000 (about £18,500, AU$34,300) in September "for a very impressive report."

Hopeful code sleuths can head to Google's Chrome security hub for more details on exactly how to eke the most cash out of their discoveries.

Via Engadget

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Google tests password generator in Chrome browser

Chrome's experimental and crash-prone Canary build gets a password-generator refresh. Could it make its way to the stable version of the browser? Google

As the entire Internet struggles to build a better password, Google has built a password generator of its own into an experimental version of the Chrome browser.

The feature has been an option in Chrome since 2012, but on Thursday Google gave it some long-overdue attention with a new interface in Chrome Canary, the roughest version of the browser. Though that's no guarantee the feature will find its way into the stable incarnation of Chrome, the new interface indicates that Google might be preparing it for more-popular versions. NetMarketShare reports that Chrome is the second-most-used browser globally, with 19.61 percent of the market.

Chrome watcher and Google employee François Beaufort said on Google+ that the tool uses a C library with the FIPS 181 Automated Password Generator, and it spits out a "strong" and pronounceable password.

To activate it, you must be running Chrome Canary, and then enable two flags: chrome://flags/#enable-password-generation and _chrome://flags/#enable-save-password-bubble. Once you've done that, Chrome will open an overlay and suggest passwords to you when you click on any field that requires a new password. While Chrome Canary won't override your existing Google Chrome, Google does warn that the browser is experimental and sometimes can stop working.

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Chrome OS updated with multi sign-in support, new settings panel

Chrome OS: now with added shine

Google has begun to roll out version 37 of Chrome OS, which introduces a handful of time-saving features.

Highlighted in a company blog post, the most notable is the addition of multi sign-in support. Chrome previously required you to log out of one user account before logging into another, but you can now stay logged into several simultaneously allowing for faster switching.

The feature has existed on Windows and OS X for some time and will prove especially useful if you share a Chrome OS device with family members or friends (or colleagues if in the workplace).

Additionally, v.37.0.2062.119 (to give it its full title) now opens the Chrome OS Settings panel in a new Window, rather than a new browser tab, allowing you to move it around and make changes without losing view of a browser window's contents.

Also introduced is a new App Info view in the Chrome launcher, and it's now possible to upload to Google Drive while using Chrome browser's Incognito mode.

Finally, the update packs the usual bug fixes and security updates. Google pledged to roll out the updates over the next few days, so you should receive notification of an update in the status area when it's available for download.

Interestingly, the update is being rolled out to all Chrome OS devices barring the Acer C7 Chromebook, Samsung Chromebook Series 5 and HP Pavillion Chromebook. We've contacted Google to find out when (or indeed if) they're in line to receive it.

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The Chrome extension for the Pinterest obsessed

Pinterest Tab gives your Chrome new tab pages a new look. Screenshot by Sarah Mitroff/CNET

Pinterest, the social bookmarking juggernaut, unveiled a Google Chrome browser extension today that turns your boring "new tab" pages into a daily dashboard with an oversize Pinterest pin. Meaning, every time you open a new tab in Chrome to search the web or go to a website, you're greeted with a pinned photo that fills the window.

The extension, called Pinterest Tab, runs in the background every time you open Chrome. Once you install it, you can tell the extension what kinds of pins (photos with links) that you want to see, such as Food, Sports, and Photography. Then, when you open a new tab, you'll see a pin that fits one of the categories you've picked. You can change those categories whenever you want, just click the plus sign at the top-right.

Pinterest Tab is a neat way to discover new pins you may never run across on Pinterest's website. With each new tab, you get a new pin, and you can then re-pin it to one of your boards to save it for yourself.

Besides making Chrome look a little prettier, the extension also gives you a daily dashboard of information, including a greeting with your name, weather information (based on your computer's location), and upcoming calendar events.

If you're interested, Pinterest Tab is available now in the Chrome Web Store.

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Google promises speed, security with 64-bit Chrome on Windows

Only those who specifically download the 64-bit Chrome version will get it. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google on Tuesday pushed its Chrome browser into the 64-bit software era -- on Windows, at least, and only for those who specifically download it.

The new version, Chrome 37, takes advantage of the transition over the last decade to PCs with 64-bit processors, which can handle vastly larger amounts of memory and that offer more data-storage slots called registers that can improve performance. Because of plug-in compatibility problems, though, only those who specifically download the 64-bit Chrome version will get it. And 64-bit Chrome for Macs remains a work in progress.

The new Chrome is 15 percent faster at decoding HD videos on YouTube as a result, said Chrome team programmer Will Harris in a blog post.

It also is less prone to crashes in the renderer -- the core part of the browser that interprets Web site programming instructions and paints the appropriate pixels on a screen. And the software can thwart some types of hack attacks.

Faster browsers are important -- people watch more videos, buy more products, and spend more time on Web sites -- so performance is a top Chrome priority along with security and ease of use. The recipe has worked so far: Chrome has seen steadily increasing usage since its launch nearly six years ago.

The new version, though, drops support for 32-bit plug-ins -- software like Microsoft's Silverlight or Adobe Systems' Flash Player that extend a browser's abilities. Chrome has its own version of Adobe's Flash Player built in, which means the most-used plug-in isn't a problem, but others won't work. And the plug-in problem is mitigated by the fact that Chrome is scrapping support for most of them anyway by ditching the older NPAPI interface in favor its the company's own newer PPAPI.

Chrome 37 also brings a substantial change to text display, adopting Windows' DirectWrite technology that permits higher image quality and hardware-accelerated rendering. And another thing for Windows users: support for HiDPI, which means screens such as Apple's Retina models that have high pixel density, measured in dots per inch. It's increasingly common to find Windows machines that use this technology for crisp images and text, but adding support has been more complicated than it was for Macs, which feature a narrower range of models and simply quadrupled the number of pixels during the transition to simplify programming challenges.

And Chrome 37 also closes several security holes -- work for which Google paid $51,000 in bounties to security testers. More than half of that -- $30,000 -- was "a special reward to lokihardt@asrt for a combination of bugs" that could let an attacker run software that evades Chrome's protective "sandbox" system. It was a complicated attack though, using several Chrome subsystems: the V8 JavaScript engine, interprocess communications, the tool for synchronizing personal settings, and Chrome's extensions system.

Updated at 10:41 p.m. PT to add that HiDPI support also has arrived for Windows.

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