Technology - Google News

Google wants to get rid of URLs but doesn't know what to use instead
You really shouldn't be excited about Samsung's first foldable Galaxy phone
Canon's impressive EOS R proves that mirrorless is the future of photography

Google wants to get rid of URLs but doesn't know what to use instead

Posted: 05 Sep 2018 07:17 AM PDT

Article intro image — Enlarge / This is how a Chrome 57 displays https://www.xn--80ak6aa92e.com/. Note the https://www.apple.com in the address bar.

Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), the online addresses that make up such an important part of the Web and browsers we use, are problematic things. Their complex structure is routinely exploited by bad actors who create phishing sites that superficially appear to be legitimate but are in fact malicious. Sometimes the tricks are as simple as creating a long domain name that's too wide to be shown in a mobile browser; other times, such as in the above picture, more nefarious techniques are used.

It's for this reason that a number of Chrome developers want to come up with something new. But what that new thing should be is harder to say.

Browsers are already taking a number of steps to try to tame URLs and make them less prone to malicious use. Chrome's use of "Not Secure" labels instead of showing the protocol name (http or https) replaces a piece of jargon with something that anyone can understand. Most browsers these days use color to highlight the actual domain name (printed in black type) from the rest of the URL (printed in grey type); Apple's Safari goes a step further, with its address bar suppressing the entire URL except for the domain name, revealing the full text only when the address box is clicked. Microsoft's Edge (and before it, Internet Explorer) dropped support for URLs with embedded usernames and passwords, because their legitimate uses were overwhelmed by malicious ones.

Even aside from their security implications, URLs are structured a little strangely; as the domain portion is read from left to right, it goes from specific ("arstechnica" is a specific website) to general ("com" is used for a wide range of commercial entities). The location after that, however, tends to go from general to specific ("gadgets" to denote the way we categorize our content; "2018/09" to narrow it down to a particular year and month, then "google-wants-to-get-rid-of-urls-but-doesnt-know-what-to-use-instead" to indicate a specific article).

In 2014, Google did experiment with a more Safari-like URL presentation called "origin chip," but this effort was abandoned amid complaints and its own set of security concerns.

Google is keeping tight-lipped on its ideas for future URLs and is aware of the enormous uphill task ahead of it. URLs are ubiquitous, and any major change will inevitably be resisted. For now, the Chrome engineers are working to better understand how URLs are used in various contexts before making a new recommendation. After all, sometimes URLs are explicitly typed by users; other times they're opaque and hidden behind hyperlinks. Some URLs are good for sharing, others aren't. Sometimes they're shown on devices with abundant screen space, other times they're so cramped that only a fragment of the URL can ever be seen. For now, we're left with the patchwork of browser features to try to make these important addresses a little easier to understand and a bit safer to use.

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You really shouldn't be excited about Samsung's first foldable Galaxy phone

Posted: 05 Sep 2018 04:45 AM PDT

Samsung is mere months away from announcing the most exciting new Galaxy smartphone we’ve seen in years. After a year full of uninspired, iterative updates in its Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines, the company will more than make up for its boring upgrades. The phone in question will have an exciting new all-screen design that pushes Samsung’s beloved design identity to new heights. It’ll be crammed full of cutting-edge technology and intriguing features, like an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor. It’ll also be packed with as many as five cameras, offering a mobile photography experience the likes of which we’ve never seen before on a widely available flagship smartphone.

It will indeed be Samsung’s most exciting new Galaxy phone in years. In fact, it might be Samsung’s most exciting Galaxy phone ever. But no, we’re not talking about the foldable Galaxy smartphone Samsung confirmed yet again earlier this week, which has been referred to as the “Galaxy X” and more recently, the “Galaxy F.” We’re talking about the Galaxy S10, which Samsung fans should be looking forward to much more eagerly than the foldable phone Samsung is about to unveil.

As we reported yesterday, Samsung’s mobile boss DJ Koh confirmed that the company plans to announce its first foldable smartphone this year. We don’t know exactly when the phone will be unveiled, but Koh said that it would happen in 2018. Samsung and Huawei have been racing to become the first smartphone maker to unveil a production device with a foldable OLED screen, and it now looks like Samsung is about to win. That race, by the way, is the first red flag that tells us we really shouldn’t be too excited about this upcoming new Galaxy F.

When Samsung rushes products out the door, they’re almost always awful. This has been happening less frequently lately, but it used to happen all the time. Remember when Samsung rushed out its first TV with voice control solely because rumors were swirling that Apple was about to announce a Siri-powered “iTV”? It might have been the most frustrating TV ever, and that’s just one of many examples.

Even in 2018, Samsung still hasn’t caught on to the idea that being first isn’t always a good thing. It’s funny, Samsung’s success in the smartphone market is thanks in large part to its willingness to blatantly copy Apple devices and its strategies, and yet Apple is famously almost never first to market with a new product or feature. Apple doesn’t do things first, it does them best.

Samsung has been working on a foldable smartphone for years, and it has run into all sorts of problems with the device’s design. First Samsung said its folding phone was supposed to launch in 2017, then it was pushed back to 2018 before being delayed yet again to 2019. Samsung has been all too quiet about its foldable Galaxy phone lately. In fact it wasn’t until Huawei began making claims that it would be first to market with a folding smartphone of its own that Samsung began talking about the device again. That’s another huge red flag: Samsung appears to be more concerned with announcing its folding Galaxy phone than it is with finishing and launching it.

Even when it finally does hit store shelves though, we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Why? Because Samsung is famously terrible at first-generation products. The company’s strength is refinement. Just look at its current Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphones. Early models were cheap-feeling piles of plastic that were shameful compared to Apple’s iPhones. Now the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note have what is perhaps the most gorgeous design on the market. It took years for Samsung to refine its designs and get the Infinity screen just right. Remember how awful Samsung’s first phone with a curved screen was? It was stupid and useless, and it never should have existed.

Wait, we’re not done yet — there’s something else you need to know about the Galaxy F, or whatever Samsung ends up calling its first foldable Galaxy phone: it’s going to be insanely expensive. Rumors suggest it could end up costing close to $2,000 when it’s finally released. Samsung charges as much as $1,250 for a Galaxy phone with almost the exact same design as last year’s Note 8, so a foldable phone with a price tag approaching $2,000 certainly doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility.

Our own inside sources have raised even more red flags, but we can’t report on most of what was said behind closed doors. We can say we’ve been told that the phone will be in very short supply when it’s released, though. We can also say we’ve been told that prototypes of the folding Galaxy phone have been “uncomfortably thick” when folded, which is another reason to wait; future generations of foldable Galaxy phones will be much thinner and more compact overall.

It would be great if we’re wrong. We’d love to see a foldable Galaxy smartphone with a great modern design. We’d love to see a phone isn’t being rushed out the door by Samsung executives eager to claim “first” like a troll in the comments section of a blog. It doesn’t seem like that’s the case though, so we suggest Samsung fans do their best to maintain perspective and not get their hopes up too much.

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Canon's impressive EOS R proves that mirrorless is the future of photography

Posted: 05 Sep 2018 05:27 AM PDT

With today's announcement of the full-frame Canon EOS R, together with Nikon's own recent reveal of the Z6 and Z7, it's official: mirrorless cameras are no longer the preserve of second-rate companies who couldn't compete against Canon and Nikon's DSLR duopoly, but a crucial part of the future of high-end photography. Canon and Nikon are late to the game, to be sure, but no-one can doubt that both companies' new products are serious, wholehearted efforts to develop credible and wholly modern camera systems.

The question is, how late is too late? Well, after using the EOS R today in Tokyo, I think Canon might have showed up just in time.

The EOS R doesn't look revolutionary — in fact, it's even more DSLR-like than the Nikon Z7, and feels as reassuringly chunky in your hand as you'd hope. But the control scheme in particular shows that Canon has worked hard to rethink what a digital camera should be when it's no longer bound by the constraints of a flipping mirror box.

That unmarked dial on the end? It's actually just the on-off switch. The monochrome secondary screen on the top? It's not just for passive display of information, but a critical part of the camera's UI, working in tandem with a button-dial combo. Those control rings on the lenses? Taking advantage of the new electronic lens mount, they give satisfyingly clicky feedback and are likely to prove indispensible. And who even knows what uses people will find for the customizable touch strip on the back?

It's impossible to pass judgement on a product like this after using it for such a short period of time, but Canon appears to have designed an appealingly minimalist yet flexible control system that makes the EOS R feel like a completely new sort of camera. The easy route would have been for Canon to simply remove the mirror from a DSLR and call it a day — I'm glad it didn't.

And goodness, the lenses. Has a mirrorless camera system ever launched with such an immediately desirable lineup? The 28-70mm f/2 alone is unprecedented and would cause countless DSLR shooters to get their wallets out for an EF-mount version. Okay, it is gigantic. And $3,000. And 24mm at the wide end would have been nice. But still. For that wider angle you'll need to get the 24-105mm f/4 kit lens; by comparison, Nikon just has a 24-70mm f/4 right now and a f/2.8 version coming next year.

As for primes, the 50mm f/1.2 is surprisingly bigger than its EF-mount equivalent, but it's an extremely versatile option to have right from the start. Nikon's Z system only has a 50mm f/1.8. And while both systems have a 35mm f/1.8, Canon's doubles as a macro lens.

Of course, this is nowhere close to a complete system. But every one of these lenses should be a great option for professional work in a wide range of situations. The real question is how quickly Canon can build up the rest of the line-up — the company announced new EF and even an APS-C M lens today, too, and it's hard to see three separate lens mounts remaining sustainable for long.

EOS R is likely to be the future of Canon, however, and the EOS R camera looks to be an impressively mature first attempt. There are definitely question marks; Nikon's Z6 and lenses undercut Canon on price and should be very competitive, while Sony has several years more experience with the technology and a big head start in the lens lineup. There are all manner of ways in which the EOS R could disappoint when it ships — video appears to be somewhat of a weak spot, and it'd be surprising if Canon could deliver DSLR-level autofocus performance on its first attempt. You should absolutely wait for real-world reviews before buying this camera.

Overall, though, the EOS R is an exciting product that sees the biggest dedicated camera company in the world willing to throw behind much of its legacy to try something truly new. I think it will sell. And at long last, everyone can now agree that mirrorless cameras are here to stay.

It only took a decade.

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