Google is testing a new feature in Chrome Canary, the experimental version of the Chrome browser. As reported by TechRadar, the “PermissionsAI” feature is designed to deal with pop-ups from websites asking you to share your location or consent to notifications.
According to Chromium, the tool will use Google’s “Permission Predictions Service” and Gemini Nano v2 to analyze users’ previous responses to pop-ups and guess how they will respond to new ones. If you’re likely to decline, the feature will block the annoying pop-up that appears in the middle of your screen and instead hide it away in a corner in case you need it later.
As with all AI-powered features, accuracy is everything. In a perfect situation, it certainly would be useful to avoid website pop-ups — especially on mobile where the banners take up half of the screen. On the other hand, if it accidentally hides away important pop-ups and you miss them, it will cause more trouble than it’s worth.
It seems the tool will only make a move if it decides you’re likely to deny a request — which, on the bright side, means you won’t have an AI accidentally agreeing to notifications on your behalf — but it also means you’re left to deal with other pop-ups as normal. The problem with this is that pop-ups are still annoying even when you’re saying yes to them. They’re too big, too noisy, and too distracting in just about every situation.
It would probably be more useful if Google moved them to a smaller, less intrusive UI even when it thinks you’ll say yes. As long as they’re kept in the same place every time, we’ll know exactly where to look to check for popups and exactly where to go if we realize we need to turn on location sharing. As for notifications, I doubt people change their minds about those very often anyway.
Since the feature is just being tested right now, it’s not available to the public yet and we’re not sure when this will change. Hopefully, the company will take all the time it needs to get the feature ready before releasing it.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
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.