Brave Software officially launched version 1.0 of its Brave web browser on Wednesday, November 13. The first version launched in January 2016 and has since gained more than 2.8 million active users daily and eight million active users monthly. It’s based on Google’s Chromium browser and relies on Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) to generate revenue.
The idea behind Brave’s BAT system is to reward content creators using cryptocurrency. It doesn’t generate virtual coins in the background, but rather provides means for readers to tip 300,000 participating Brave Certified Publishers. These include The Washington Post, The Guardian, MarketWatch, and more.
To enable this feature, users can activate Brave Rewards and the associated Brave wallet during the browser installation. The triangular Brave Rewards icon resides next to the address bar, where users can add funds to their virtual wallet. Users can then send a tip as they read an article or establish a more reassuring monthly payment.
“Brave is built on top of the first global private ad platform, designed from the start to value users’ attention and privacy,” the company said on Monday. “Brave has pioneered a new blockchain-based advertising model that reforms the current system with privacy by design and 70 percent revenue share to users in the form of Basic Attention Tokens (BAT).”
To earn BAT, Brave surfers can opt-in to view specific ads that aren’t linked to a worldwide advertising platform. They’re “privacy-preserving,” the company claims, from brands you know well like Pizza Hut, Home Chef, and Intel.
In addition to Brave Ads, the latest Brave browser automatically blocks third-party ads and trackers. Called Brave Shields, the feature resides as a shield icon next to the address bar and displays the number of “cross-site trackers and other creepy things” it identifies and blocks. Click on the icon to get additional details or change the browser’s ad-blocking settings.
JavaScript creator Brendan Eich co-founded Brave Software in 2015 after resigning as Mozilla’s CEO in 2014. Eich said in a 2016 interview that his new open-source browser blocks ads, their tracking cookies, and related pixels by default. It does not take fees “to let some through as top ad-blocking browser extensions do.”
The intent, however, is not to completely block ads and crash the internet. Instead, Brave puts more control in the readers’ hands.
Brave v1.0 is now available on Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.