Microsoft’s Internet Explorer remains the dominant player in the Web browser market, but—despite some major improvements with Internet Explorer 8—IE can perhaps best be described as the lowest common denominator of the online world. Internet Explorer might be more secure and pay more attention to Internet standards these days, but it’s still a comparatively poor performer that doesn’t support many of the Web’s shiniest new technologies.
In what might be an unprecedented move, Google is looking to do something about it with its new Chrome Frame, and early stage browser plug-in that actually puts the speedy Webkit-based rendering engine and fast JavaScript engine from Google Chrome inside Internet Explorer. Although the initial release is intended primarily for programmers and Web developers, and for Web page authors and application developers, the implementation is very simple: one tag, and IE will automatically switch to using Chrome Frame, if available.
Chrome Frame doesn’t work using a hack: instead, it operates using the browser plug-in API, a method for extending browser functionality that’s used by Flash and a number of other add-on technologies. Using Chrome Frame, Internet Explorer users not only get the performance benefits of Chrome, but also support for HTML5 technologies not yet supported by Internet Explorer, like the canvas tag, improved CSS handling, offline capabilities.
Internet Explorer users might be concerned that using Chrome via a plug-in might open up new security loopholes, and there is some justification for that concern: security problems with plug-ins tend to remain unresolved for longer periods than outright browser bugs, and the plug-in, in theory, might expose IE users to Chrome security bugs. However, Chrome’s security track record has been quite solid in recent months, and it’s unlikely any vulnerabilities in Chrome would be exploitable from within a plug-in running within Internet Explorer—although the plug-in will run just fine with older versions of Internet Explorer, which are in turn far less secure than Internet Explorer 8.
Although Chrome Frame is sure to appeal to developers, if the technology works out there’s always the possibility Google might leverage the product as a way to get everyday users to try Chrome without actually leaving Internet Explorer—that, in turn, may help Chrome develop some much-needed market share.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
How can ORISA bring deleted AI conversations back?
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.