Chrome will get new updates every two weeks to minimize real-world attacks
Smaller, incremental changes should also make it easier to track any issues
Other major browsers are also shifting to two-weekly release cycles
Google has confirmed that Chrome has officially moved from a four-week Stable release cycle to a two-week one, with effect from September 8 2026 with the launch of Chrome 153.
Besides adding new features, the main objective is for Google to give us performance and security fixes more promptly in an era of increased complexity and heightened vulnerabilities.
And it's exactly those security concerns that pushed Google to want to double Chrome's update frequency in the first lace, with the company now having to deal with a higher volume of patches than ever before.
Chrome will get updates every two weeks
Together with a higher volume of attacks in general, Google has also benefitted from AI-powered vulnerability discovery tools, giving developers more work to do than before. "With automated AI discovery tools and community bug reports generating higher patch volume, shorter release cycles make managing security fixes significantly simpler," the company wrote.
Crucially, the faster cycle reduces the time between a fix landing in Chrome's public codebase and it actually reaching end users, making it less likely for a bug to be exploited in the wild.
Chrome has been adhering to a four-week cycle since 2021, but the world is a very different place in the space of just half a decade.
With the higher pace of releases, Google also anticipates a smaller scope of changes, which could actually be a good thing because it could be easier for developers to identify what went wrong in the event of any issues.
Desktop, Android and iOS versions of Chrome will all be impacted by the change, with Chrome 154 already slated for a September 22 release.
More broadly, Google says Chrome isn't the only browser getting more frequent updates. Microsoft, Mozilla and Brave are also making similar changes, and they're all undergoing those changes right now.
TP-Link has unveiled two new Wi-Fi 8 routers at IFA 2026
The Archer 9 Ultra is a traditional router with a smart design and coverage of up to 3,600 square feet
The Deco 8 Ultra is a mesh system, and a 3-pack is good for a home of up to 9,800 square feet
TP-Link has revealed the world's first Wi-Fi 8 routers at IFA 2026, with two models arriving in the form of a standard router and a mesh Wi-Fi offering.
These are the Archer 9 Ultra router and the Deco 8 Ultra, the latter being the mesh Wi-Fi system. Both are built around TP-Link's Wi-Fi 8 StabilityEngine.
With the Deco 8 Ultra, you're getting a tri-band (including 6GHz) Wi-Fi 8 mesh system offering a speed of 22Gbps (19Gbps in Europe). A 3-pack of these cylindrical routers can cover a home of up to 9,800 square feet, with support for 200+ devices.
The Archer 9 Ultra boasts a tri-band speed of 19Gbps and bristles with 18 antennas, delivering coverage of up to 3,600 square feet in your home (or 3,000 square feet in Europe).
TP-Link underlines three key benefits of these routers thanks to Wi-Fi 8. First, they are more reliable with a greater number of devices hooked up, and they also cope much better with interference. Finally, Wi-Fi 8 allows for a better wireless connection at the edge of the system's effective range.
Handling devices more reliably is facilitated by Dynamic Sub-band Operation (DSO) and Non-Primary Channel Access (NPCA) tech. The former ensures every connected device gets only the bandwidth it needs — so more is open for other usage — and NPCA opens a second channel if the main one gets too busy. Or as TP-Link puts it, "Every device gets its own fast lane."
New modulation technology in these routers helps to deal with interference from other devices or nearby networks (like your neighbor's Wi-Fi), and boosts performance at longer distances from the router.
There are also Enhanced Long Range (ELR) and Distributed Resource Units (DRU) features with these Wi-Fi routers, which further strengthen the wireless signal at the edge of its reach.
TP-Link notes, "ELR extends the router's usable range, while DRU concentrates a device's limited uplink power into a narrower band so it can be heard clearly from far away. Uploads, calls, and camera feeds hold where they used to stutter."
Both routers benefit from a smart and contemporary design, with a minimalist and streamlined look. TP-Link argues that it needs to make its hardware look good so it won't be hidden away in a cupboard or under a table.
Gary Chang, Lead Industrial Designer at TP-Link, commented, "We stopped building a piece of networking equipment and started designing for the home. When a router's design becomes something people want to display, it ends up exactly where it performs best."
Analysis: ready for the future of Wi-Fi
(Image credit: TP-Link)
Wi-Fi 8 doesn't deliver any speed boost over Wi-Fi 7, at least not in terms of raw performance — but it does aim to improve performance by delivering a stronger signal when you're further away from the router, and a more reliable connection overall. Part of that strategy is to better deal with interference from other wireless networks (or appliances in general), and as TP-Link observes, this is a big part of the puzzle here.
We don't yet have a release date (or price) for the Archer 9 Ultra or Deco 8 Ultra, but the expectation is that these routers will ship later this year. Of course, to get the benefit of a Wi-Fi 8 router, you'll need devices that support the new wireless standard, too — and they won't be here for a while yet.
Indeed, the Wi-Fi 8 standard itself is still a draft and not finalized, and the likes of smartphones and laptops won't arrive with Wi-Fi 8 support until next year (and there probably won't be very many of them, either, to begin with).
That said, your Wi-Fi 7 (or earlier) devices will still run just fine on a Wi-Fi 8 router, because as ever, the new standard is fully backwards compatible — you just won't get the benefits that Wi-Fi 8 phones and laptops will (when they arrive).
That said, some of the improved traffic management and interference reduction tech in these routers will still help with devices that don't support Wi-Fi 8. However, buying a Wi-Fi 8 router later this year when these TP-Link models (and others) emerge is more about future-proofing than anything else for now.
Lake Ontario is now Lake America in the US via an executive order
Google Maps has updated its maps to reflect the change
Viewing the map from outside the US still shows the original name
Some 18 months on from the controversial renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, another edit has been made to Google Maps at the behest of US President Donald Trump: Lake Ontario, spread across the US-Canadian border, is now Lake America.
Or rather, it is if you're viewing Google Maps from inside the US (via Gizmodo) — the rest of the world will still see the Great Lake labeled as it has been since at least the 17th century. The name Ontario most likely comes from the Iroquoian word Kaniatarí:io or Oniatarí:io meaning "lake of shining waters" or "beautiful lake", as per Wikipedia.
The name change is the result of an executive order from the White House, as President Trump bickers with Canada over trade tariffs. In response, Canadian authorities have installed a large new sign at the lake (via the BBC), reading 'Lake Ontario. Now and Always'.
Reactions on Reddit are calling the switch "beyond ridiculous" and "braindead", though some commenters are pointing out that Google is obliged to follow the lead of the US Board on Geographic Names (part of the United States Geological Survey).
Google responds
New York won’t be calling it that. https://t.co/FJQonEk8tIAugust 27, 2026
For its part, Google has also chimed in to say that it has to follow "official government sources" when it comes to place names, saying that "these updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now".
"People using Maps in the US will see 'Lake America', those in Canada will continue to see 'Lake Ontario', and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names," according to the official blog post from Google Maps on the matter.
However, not everyone is towing the line on this: New York State Governor Kathy Hochul took to social media to declare that "New York won't be calling it [Lake America]", so there are going to be some pockets of resistance regarding the change.
As yet the change hasn't rolled out on Apple Maps, but presumably it'll eventually have to comply with the official government, and start renaming Lake Ontario depending on where in the world you're viewing the map from.
Researchers just encoded data into a beam of high-speed light
The data arrived intact, despite significant heat and wind
It could transform the internet, communications and more
Transmitting data through the air often comes with a key problem: under a barrage of turbulent atmospheric conditions like wind and heat, the data can become distorted and corrupted, requiring great effort to piece it back together. It’s a big obstacle for long-distance internet and communications providers, yet a team of researchers think they’ve just solved this puzzle — and it could have massive implications for how you send data to and from your devices.
Researchers from Wits University in South Africa and the University of Bordeaux in France conducted an experiment that involved shooting a beam of light through the air. The light was encoded with optical data, and when they recovered it at the destination site, they found it had arrived with over 98% fidelity, only dropping to 86% fidelity in “the most severe conditions tested.”
How did they do it? According to a paper the team published in the journal Science Advances, the data was encoded into magnetic structures within light called skyrmions. These acted as a form of protective shielding that enabled the data to travel with the light, all without being altered by the surrounding environment.
It worked because the data was encoded into the light’s topological profile. Professor Andrew Forbes, Head of the Structured Light Lab in the Wits School of Physics, likened it to the comparison between a donut and a coffee mug: they both contain a round hole, and this factor remains constant if you reshape one into the other. In the same way, the light could be warped by heat and noise without garbling the data it was carrying.
Massive potential
The technology could be used to help improve satellite communications. (Image credit: Shutterstock)
This test wasn’t limited to short distances — the beam of light involved was transmitted over hundreds of meters, with plenty of heat, noise and wind present at the time. That means it therefore has a degree of applicability to real-world conditions.
Open air data transmissions have previously had to include constant real-time monitoring and correction of distortion, but if this latest research becomes usable on a wider basis, that might not be necessary for much longer. This technique could drastically reduce both the difficulty and cost involved in this kind of communication and has particular utility for space missions, where infrastructure like fiber-optic cabling is clearly not feasible.
High-speed satellite communications and quantum computing could also benefit from this technical advancement. And on a more prosaic level, it could improve communications without needing to build out costly fiber-optic networks. Think high-speed internet being beamed from the sky Starlink-style to rural communities that have long been underserved by traditional carrier systems.
“We envision that our results will pave the way towards seeing and transporting information through distortion by harnessing light’s innate, invariant properties for fast, reliable, and efficient communication,” the researchers concluded.
United’s new Airbus A321XLR begins service soon, and it’s packed with tech
It’ll mostly serve international, transatlantic routes with free Starlink-powered Wi-Fi
The big surprise? Two Economy Plus rows with no middle seats
Just a few months back, I got to go inside United’s next-generation Boeing 787 Dreamliner, complete with a high-tech new interior, spacious seats, and some notable upgrades for Economy.
The 787 is a wide-body aircraft built for United’s biggest and longest routes, and now, the airline is bringing that same design philosophy to a much smaller plane and experimenting with something I’ve never seen on a United aircraft before: an Economy Plus row with no middle seat.
I’ve been inside United’s brand-new Airbus A321XLR, a single-aisle aircraft that’s designed to bridge the gap between narrowbody efficiency and widebody distance capabilities, and it’s a pretty fascinating look at where the airline’s cabins are headed.
There’s a new Polaris business-class seat with closing doors, a spacious Premium Plus cabin, 4K OLED screens at every seat, Starlink Wi-Fi from day one, and, yes, those two-seat Economy Plus rows, designed to give you a little more space without the dreaded middle seat.
And after spending time in all four cabins, I think United might be onto something.
Let’s start with the new Polaris business-class product. The A321XLR is a single-body aircraft with 20 Polaris seats, complete with closing doors on either the left or right side of the aircraft. They are pretty spacious, though a bit smaller than the Polaris seats on the 787 Dreamliner. Still, you get an ample seat with an electronic touchscreen control to let it lay flat, kick out the leg rest, or adjust many facets of the experience.
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
There are plenty of power ports, including two USB-C ports that top out at 60 watts, a standard wall plug, and a wireless charger. At the center of the experience is a 19-inch 4K OLED screen that’s touch-enabled and, with a button press, slightly pushes out from its base and lets you pull it forward for the perfect view. You’ll also find plenty of storage and a sizable tray table that I wish was a bit larger — still, it should fit a 14-inch laptop very comfortably.
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
That’s the most premium experience on board the A321XLR. The middle option of United’s three class offerings is Premium Plus, which features a very spacious recliner that rivals those in domestic first class on smaller single-body aircraft.
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
It boasts a 16-inch 4K OLED screen that can tilt and matches the size of the screen on the original Polaris product still in use on some aircraft. You’ll even find a wireless charger tucked under the armrest — a unique spot, but helpful. There’s also a standard wall plug for each seat — remember, Premium Plus is a 2x2 configuration — and a USB-C port tucked at the bottom of the OLED screen.
The tray table is pretty close to the size of what’s in Polaris and can be a good mini-desk for working in the sky, or, let’s be honest, enjoying whatever meal United is serving.
Finally, we move into Economy, which has a total of 118 seats split into 84 standard Economy and 34 Economy Plus extra-legroom options, including two with the middle seat removed.
(Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
With any of these seats, you get a punchy, vibrant 13-inch 4K OLED that’s touch-enabled; across the board, United is knocking it out of the park with the displays here. An intuitive interface offers plenty to watch, including Apple TV in the sky, plus access to music and podcasts from Spotify. A crisp, vibrant screen in each seatback will certainly elevate the experience everywhere.
United began the process of reintroducing screens on aircraft without them, and making them a key part of the ‘United Next’ cabin, back in 2021, and now the airline has close to 800 aircraft with screens in every seat, and should have a quarter of a million seat-back screens across its fleet by the end of next year.
Peter Wolkowski, United’s Head of Product Marketing, told me, “In our post-flight survey data, we just see kind of huge increases in satisfaction across the board when customers fly on an aircraft with screens versus one without.”
There’s a standard headphone jack and USB-C port built into every Economy and Economy Plus seat, meaning that every seat, even in Economy, gets at least one power source — that’s excellent. You also get two standard wall plugs per row, but those are shared.
Economy Plus with open middle seats is where the experimentation comes into play — it was my first time seeing these, and especially for a transatlantic flight, which are the routes the A321XLR will primarily be flying, if the price is right, it could really be worth the upgrade.
The main appeal is no one next to you in the middle, and for couples flying, this is pretty nice. You get plenty of elbow room, and the middle seat essentially has a metal table bolted across it, with two indents for cupholders and a padded rear.
I’m very curious to see pricing for these, and how much of a premium they command over standard Economy Plus.
United is starting with only two of these rows on the aircraft, but if they prove popular, I wouldn’t be surprised if the airline expands this offering. Peter Wolkowski, United’s Head of Product Marketing, told me, “There’s a lot to love about this aircraft, but just having the ability to kind of test new concepts is really exciting.”
“We’re really eager to see how customers respond to [the open middle seat option], and if it is something that kind of performs well and customers love it, we’re going to look at more ways of doing that type of thing on other aircraft.”
I hope we continue to see this kind of experimentation with new seat types, and at affordable price points, rather than airlines just prioritizing the top end.
Rounding out the United A321XLR offering is 'Starlink from the start', meaning the plane is equipped with the right antennas and routers, as well as the proper certification, to offer Starlink Wi-Fi from its very first flights.
This means that any MileagePlus members can get free, fast Wi-Fi for as many devices as they bring, and in my testing, both on media flights and regular ones, it really improves the overall flying experience. No longer is there a concern about not being able to connect, whether that’s when you’re sending a text to a loved one or friend, or something else that requires a connection.
The A321XLR also features mood lighting, which United can split up by cabin — i.e., Polaris, Premium Plus, or Economy — to help set the mood for different parts of the flight, but also to potentially help combat jet lag.
So when does the A321XLR begin flying, and where is it headed?
Alongside the launch event at a hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport, United also announced new routes, and the A321XLR is a key part of them.
Starting September 1, 2026, the A321XLR begins with domestic flights, but later this year, the aircraft formally kicks off its international routes. In total, United announced 10 entirely new international destinations and 13 new routes for 2027.
The new routes are San Francisco to Okinawa, Japan; Washington Dulles to Toulouse, France; and several for Newark. The latter includes Newark to Luxembourg City; Marseille, France; Ibiza, Spain; Valencia, Spain; Terceira, Portugal; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Olbia (Sardinia), Italy; and Catania (Sicily), Italy.
If you like the idea of a flight on the Airbus A321XLR, it’ll be headed to Luxembourg from Newark, Washington, DC; to Toulouse from Newark; to Ibiza from Newark; to Valencia from Newark; and to Marseille from Newark.
We're used to this kind of thing in Windows 11, mind, and I'll come back to Bing later, as this is an apparent plan that hasn't kicked into action yet. However, the latest Edge scheme is active, and as Windows Latest reports, it's offering financial incentives to get people to use Microsoft's web browser.
This is happening on the mobile version of Edge where users are being offered a referral scheme. If you can get a friend to switch to Edge via a referral link, you'll receive 500 Microsoft Rewards points (with the ability to accumulate up to 7,500 points per month if you're feeling ambitious).
The person you invite can't be an existing Edge user (they must never have installed the mobile browser), and they will also earn 500 points for signing up. However, your invited friend must sign into Edge and use the browser for at least two days (web searching on Bing, too) within the first two weeks of being referred.
Windows Latest observes that there's no way to access this referral scheme should you be interested — you'll just have to keep using Edge mobile and wait until it's presented to you.
As well as the promotion of Bing in that offer (in terms of the requirement to use the search engine for a couple of days), there's a more brazen initiative to push Bing usage that Windows Latest also spotted.
This was highlighted in a post on X by leaker Xeno who discovered a small app called 'Microsoft Recommended Search' which has one sole and simple purpose: to change your default search engine to Bing.
When run, it offers up a simple slider to set Bing as the default engine, and if you allow this, the app switches to Microsoft's search engine across some of your installed browsers. That means Chrome and Firefox, and also apparently Brave and possibly others, via extensions which are added to these browsers. Apparently the experience is rounded off by sending the user to the Microsoft Rewards page.
Where is this app exactly? Thankfully it isn't something that's being deployed to Windows 11, and Windows Latest notes that it's just a standalone application hosted on Microsoft's official download servers (download.microsoft.com) — for the time being, anyway.
Analysis: an ominous sign?
(Image credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock)
Does this mean that the Bing switching application is something Microsoft intends to pipe out to Windows 11 at some point? That's the obvious worry, because you've got to wonder why Microsoft built this mini app in the first place. I'm guessing that this is something for use in testing, though, and not active deployment — although it could come to Windows 11 in theory (or something similar could).
I really hope not, and given that Microsoft is doing its level best to get everyone to appreciate its desktop OS this year, it's obvious that anything along these lines would be highly counterproductive to that goal.
However, there's plenty of suspicion on Reddit about Microsoft's intentions here, and chatter from those who've already switched to Linux, pointing out that this kind of thing is exactly why they migrated. As one Redditor put it: "Every day is a Microslop news day, I'm so glad I quit Windows a while ago." There are quite a few others in that thread who see this as another reason to defect to Linux, despite the fact that nothing has happened with this Bing app yet.
As for the referral scheme to promote Edge, this isn't the first time Microsoft has effectively offered lowkey bribes to get people to switch to the browser. Indeed, the likes of million-dollar prizes have been thrown around recently (and the same has been true of Bing in the past). Not that there's anything wrong with this idea in principle, except it does show that Microsoft's getting rather desperate in its efforts to recruit folks to use Edge and Bing.
The most baffling part of all with Edge is that it's a good web browser which stands on its own merits, and I think it would benefit from not being promoted so much (as that activity only makes people suspicious, or determined not to use Edge as a reaction to being constantly cajoled about it).
Firefox’s iOS app comes with a new built-in ad blocker
It stops all kinds of ads, but there are some exceptions
The move could convince me to finally switch from Safari
I’ve been a loyal Firefox user for 20 years now, but that’s only been true for the desktop app. Despite Firefox being one of the best web browsers around, I’ve resolutely stuck with Safari on my iPhone — but a new Firefox feature could finally convince me to make the switch on mobile.
In a support document, Firefox developer Mozilla explains that its browser now comes with an “experimental” ad blocker that is based on the EasyList filter, allowing Firefox to “block many ads before they load.”
The ad blocker puts a stop to a variety of advertising types. That includes third-party advertising networks, ad-related trackers, third-party ads served on websites, and more intrusive formats such as pop-ups and overlays.
The feature is being rolled out gradually and is disabled by default, but you can enable it by opening Firefox, tapping the '…' button, then selecting Settings. From there, go to Browsing and enable the toggle next to Ad Blocker. Alternatively, you can enable it by opening the app menu when browsing a web page.
It’s worth noting that there are a couple of exceptions to what the feature blocks. For one thing, it won’t stop sponsored content on the Firefox Home or New Tab pages, nor will it block search engine ads, as these are both sources of income for Mozilla.
As well as that, Mozilla warns that some ads might slip through the net because “some websites serve ads in ways that are not covered by the current filter list".
Finally making the switch
(Image credit: Mozilla)
Although Safai on iOS can block website pop-ups, it doesn’t have a built-in ad blocker and requires you to use a third-party extension if you want to shut down annoying ads. With Firefox gaining this functionality natively, Mozilla has given its browser a leg up over the competition — and has given me a strong reason to switch.
And since I’m a strong believer in user privacy — its robust privacy stance is one reason why I’ve stuck with Firefox for so long — this is exactly the type of feature that appeals to me. Given how invasive ads and trackers are, blocking them is a priority for me.
I’ve long stuck with Safari due to inertia. I have a lot of tabs open on Apple’s browser and don’t want to lose most of them. But with my beloved Firefox adding a built-in ad blocker on iOS, tab hoarding feels like a bad reason to stick with Safari.
Now could be the time to finally kick that inertia and make the switch. If you hate website ads and want to look out for your privacy, Firefox just gave you a great reason to give it a try.
