Category: News

You can now try Perplexity’s Comet AI browser for free

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

After launching its Comet AI web browser exclusively for paying subscribers, Perplexity has now made it downloadable for everyone. You can download the browser from the official website for testing, even if you do not have a Perplexity account.

However, Perplexity limits functionality of the browser in that case. First, Comet is a Chromium-based browser. That is good on the one hand, as it offers similar performance and compatibility as Google Chrome. It also means that you can install browser extensions that are compatible with Chrome in the desktop version.

You can import your last browsing session from most other browsers on first start, but can skip it as well. Afterwards, Perplexity displays a few options to you, which most users may want to disable. This includes autostarting the browser with the operating system, making it the default browser, or sending telemetry data to Perplexity.

The browser opens and it looks like Chrome for the most part. That is to be expected, as all Chromium-based browsers look pretty much the same. The new tab page displays a few widgets, like the time or Nvidia’s stock price. The star of the show is the text prompt at the top. You may use it to interact with Perplexity’s AI.

Comet Assistant displays a few suggestions when you activate the text field, such as “Find emails from the last 7 days that require replies and draft responses”, or “find top rated noise-cancelling headphones under $300 and open product pages from three major retailers with the lowest prices”.

So, it is basically an AI chat, but this AI has agentic capabilities. It is rather limited for free users, as pro searches and several other features are not available in that case.

The browser displays its results on Perplexity’s website. In fact, you may get similar results when you use the company’s website directly to interact with the AI.

You may also notice that you get constant requests to sign in, if you do not. Open a new tab page, get a request. Similarly, prompts may be displayed on the results page.

If you do not sign-in, you get access to base AI features only. You can’t, for example, change the AI model that the browser uses to process queries. There is also no option to upload files or photos for processing, or run deeper queries.

However, results looked fine in quick tests, even non-Pro searches. Whether the information is accurate is another topic. As is the case with all AI, you should verify important information before you act on it.

Perplexity is Chromium-based. Which is good. You can open chrome://flags to tinker with advanced preferences, and get most of the settings of the browser as well.

Now the big question that I still have regarding all these AI browsers is about the “why” and whether that why warrants paying a monthly subscription fee. Why should I use such a browser? I do not really see the killer-application for it right now. Yes, it can run deep research tasks for you or perform some tasks for you, but how useful is that really, especially if you prefer to stay in control the whole time?

Anyway, you can give Perplexity a try, if you want.

Search image with Google Lens

Firefox is getting visual search capabilities powered by Google Lens

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla is rolling out a new feature in recent versions of the Firefox web browser that introduces visual search functionality. This allows users to run visual searches by right-clicking on images.

Mozilla lists several main applications for the new feature on its Connect website.

  • Find similar products, places, or objects.
  • Copy, translate, or search text from images.
  • Get inspiration for learning, travel, or shopping.

Right-click on any image displayed in the browser and select the new “Search Image with Google Lens” option to start a new search.

The feature is limited to Firefox on the desktop currently and it is rolling out worldwide. Most Firefox users won’t see it right away, but it can be enabled via about:config.

Here is how that is done:

  1. Load about:config in the browser’s address bar.
  2. Search for browser.search.visualSearch.featureGate.
  3. Click on the toggle icon to set the feature to True.
  4. Restart Firefox.

This enables the feature. You can test it by right-clicking on an image in Firefox and selecting the new Google Lens visual search option from the context menu.

Tip: you can turn off the feature at any time by setting the experimental flag to false in about:config. This removes the context menu entry in Firefox.

Here is what happens when you select the option: Firefox redirects the search request to the official Google Lens website. From there it is all Google and you should see similar images and information about the image among other things.

The feature addition will likely see mixed receptions. Some Firefox users may like the ability to run visual searches quicker through the browser’s context menu. Before that, they had to go save and upload the image to Google Lens manually or install a browser extension such as Search on Google Lens.

Others may dislike the additional entry in the context menu, for instance in fear or accidentally sending an image they view in the browser to Google Lens.

To be honest, it is unclear why Mozilla would introduce the feature natively in Firefox if an open source browser extension is already available

Now You: what is your take on this? Useful addition in Firefox or something that you have no use for?

Chrome

Ecosia latest to make an offer for Chrome, sort-of

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google is battling it out with the United States Department of Justice currently. If things go really bad for Google, the company could be forced to sell its web browser Google Chrome or make other changes to its business.

Plenty of companies announced interest in Google Chrome already. Perplexity made a bid, Yahoo is eying the acquisition, and now it is Ecosia that also made a suggestion, according to TechCrunch.

Ecosia is a non-profit organization that is probably best known for its search engine. It is free to use and will spend its earnings on planting trees.

Unlike Perplexity, which bid $34.5 billion in cash, Ecosia is suggesting that it is getting control of Google Chrome for free. Google would retain ownership and the rights to Chrome under the proposal. Google Search would remain the standard search engine and Google would keep all intellectual properties. Ecosia would gain operational control of Chrome and development of the browser in that time.

The non-profit suggests a revenue split furthermore, with 40% of the earnings going to Google. The remaining 60% would be spend on climate projects that align with Ecosia’s general mission.

While Ecosia’s proposal may be a long shot, it would ensure that Google retains all rights and gets constant revenue from the browser.

However, whether Google will indeed be forced to sell Chrome or split it in some way from the company remains to be seen. Until then, it seems highly unlikely that Google will react to any of the offers made or comment on the offers publicly.

AOL discontinues Dial-Up Internet and software

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

AOL announced the discontinuation of its dial-up Internet plan, AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, in a brief support page on its help website.

There, AOL writes:

AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet. This service will no longer be available in AOL plans. As a result, on September 30, 2025 this service and the associated software, the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections, will be discontinued.

From September 30, 2025 onward, AOL customers may no longer use dial-up Internet provided by the company. AOL is also discontinuing the accompanying applications, AOL Dialer and AOL Shield.

AOL says that the change does not impact any other benefits that users may have in their AOL plan, including AOL email. The company does not reveal the number of customers that are affected by the change.

Estimates suggest that about 150,000 US-Americans still use dial-up in 2025. Not all of them rely on AOL for Internet though, but those who do need to find a different dial-up Internet provider or different connection option, such as cable, fiber optic, wireless Internet, DSL, or Internet via satellite.

As for dial-up Internet, Microsoft still seems to offer dial-up access to the Internet. For about $180 per year, subscribers may sign up for MSN Dial-Up Internet access according to this page on the Microsoft website:

Subscribe to MSN Dial-up Internet Access and get Internet access and MSN Internet Software which includes: computer wide security software, advanced phishing filter technology, pop-up guard and multiple e-mail accounts.

Can you imagine using a connection that has a speed between 56 kbit/s and 128 kbit/s?

Microsoft is killing off a highly rated mobile app, wants users to use the Microsoft 365 Copilot app instead

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft maintains a massive list of apps for the mobile operating systems Android and iOS. Microsoft Lens, one of the company’s highest-rated apps, is being discontinued. Microsoft announced the change in a message center note this week.

Microsoft Lens may be used to scan whiteboards and documents, including notes, receipts and more. It makes these readable digitally in PDF, Word, or Excel format, and supports printed and handwritten text.

The Android version has a rating of 4.8 out of 5.0 and more than 50 million downloads. The Apple version has also a 4.8 out of 5.0 rating, but less downloads and reviews.

The scanned data can be saved locally or uploaded to OneNote or OneDrive.

The timeline of the Microsoft Lens discontinuation:

  • Mid-September 2025: New installs on Google Play or the Apple App Store are no longer permitted.
  • Mid-November 2025: Microsoft will remove the apps from the respective stores.
  • Mid-December 2025: New scans can no longer be created.

Microsoft notes that existing scans will remain available in the MyScans folder that the application creates during installation.

The company recommends switching to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, saying that it offers similar functionality. However, Microsoft Lens was free to use and without any ads. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app on the other hand may show ads, as revealed on the mobile stores.

Bleeping Computer reports that Microsoft plans to add some of the missing functionality to the Copilot app.

Would you pay $20 per month to use a browser, or more?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When the Browser Company launched its Arc web browser, it was heralded by part of the media as the evolution that browsers needed. Then, the Browser Company announced that it would discontinue its browser to focus on another. This new browser, called Dia, would be an AI-browser first and foremost.

It was not really clear why, but the recent announcement of a Pro subscription plan could shed some light into the plans.

Dia, which is available in early testing for certain Mac devices only, is free to use. The AI parts have limits, however, and the newly announced Pro subscription unlocks unlimited access to the AI.

For $20 per month, users gain unlimited access. The first commercial subscription plan is just the beginning, as The Browser company plans to introduce additional plans that may cost between $5 and several hundred Dollars per month.

The price of a Pro subscription is just shy of the price of a ChatGPT Plus or Google AI Pro subscription. Granted, Dia appears to offer tighter integration in a browser.

Dia offers integration of a chatbot, but one feature that sets it apart from competing browsers currently is skills. These are shortcuts for repetitive tasks. It also supports cross-tab analysis and content synthesis. Is that enough to warrant a subscription? Only time will tell, but my initial take is that it will be very difficult for the company to turn a profit, unless it bakes something into the browser that is truly useful.

Now You: would you pay for a browser? What is your take on the $20 per month price of a subscription? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Google will keep some goo.gl links alive, after all – but it is messy

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google announced the deprecation of its link shortening service goo.gl almost seven years ago. Created in 2009, millions of Internet users have used the service to create shorter versions of links for sharing and archiving.

Back in 2018, Google disabled the option to create new links using the service, but did not touch existing links. Google revealed last year that it would delete all existing redirects by August 25th, 2025.

These plans have changed to a degree. Google announced that some links will continue to live on while other redirects will still be removed.

The company writes in an update on its The Keyword website:

While we previously announced discontinuing support for all goo.gl URLs after August 25, 2025, we’ve adjusted our approach in order to preserve actively used links.

We understand these links are embedded in countless documents, videos, posts and more, and we appreciate the input received.

Google realized, after six years (!) that some of the links were still used actively and that users who click on these links would not be very happy, if they suddenly stopped working.

The bad news is that Google won’t preserve all links. According to the post, links that show “This link will no longer work in the near future” when activated will stop working on August 25th. However, links that do not show the message will continue to work normally.

While that may make sense from Google’s point of view, it does not really help users or link creators much. You can only find out about a link when you click on it. If you do so right now, you either get the announcement about the links future or you won’t. Come August 25th, some links will stop working while others will continue to work.

To sum it up. The good news is that some links will continue to work after August 25, 2025. The bad news is that you do not really know which, especially after August 25. So, goo.gl links could still work when you click on them or they could return a not found error instead.

If you have used the link shortening service in the past, then you may want to modify these links, if you still have access to the site you posted the link on.

Need another reason why (most) subscriptions are bad for you?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

In the past decade, many services and products have switched from a pay-once model to a subscription-based model. Sometimes, you get a choice, say between the pay-once version of Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365. Even then, companies usually tweak the deals to raise the attractiveness of the subscription-based product. Microsoft, for example, does not add new features to the pay-once version of Microsoft Office after release.

Many companies favor subscription-based services. They generate a steady-stream of income, bind the customer to the service, and make it easier to raise the price or change the deal favoring their side. Amazon did the latter when it introduced ads for all Prime Video subscribers and recently announced that more ads are coming.

Some companies raise the product of their services almost every year. Google, for example, just announced another round of price increases for Nest Aware.

Google Next devices are smart home products, think thermostats, smoke detectors, smart doorbells or speakers, designed to give home owners more control over their homes, even when they are not at home.

A subscription is required to take full advantage of Next devices. Nest Hub Max, for instance, offers basic motion detection only, if you have no subscription. If you want an upgrade to that, which also includes seen and face alerts, smoke and CO alarm and glass break sound detection, and more, you need a subscription.

Google informs subscribers currently that the price of a subscription is going up again this August. The two products, Nest Aware and Nest Aware Plus, will cost $10 and $20 per month respectively, up from $8 and $15, which customers pay right now.

The last price hike happened in September 2023, when Google raised the price from then $6 and $12 per month to the price that it charges currently.

So, the price went up from $6 to $10 and from $12 to $20 per month in about two years. Is it the last increase? Very unlikely.

With hardware products, it is more challenging to switch, as you invested into the hardware already. While you can cancel a Netflix or Microsoft 365 subscription at any time and without much issues, with Nest and other hardware products, you’d either end up with some dumb bricks or hardware that is less efficient or useful.

The only options that we have is to vote with our wallets. Either do not buy the product in first place or end the subscription, if it gets out of hand. Yes, that could mean ending up with products you bought that will be of little use to you in the future.

Now You: do you have subscriptions currently? If so, which and why? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

IT Crowd Turning it off and on again

Have you tried turning it off and on again? Microsoft posts fix for OneDrive Search issue

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

One of the most famous lines of the British comedy series IT Crowd, a show revolving around two IT support geeks and a manager who does not have a clue about “computers”, is “Have you tried turning it off and on again”.

When the crew gets a support call, it is this question that they ask first. Most of the time, it works and the situation is resolved.

If you used computers before, you know that turning the device off and on again can indeed fix issues that you experience. Not all of course. There is a logic behind that, as restarting a system does a number of beneficial “things” in the background that may help resolve issues. Among them terminating apps and thus freeing up memory and potentially CPU performance.

Microsoft’s IT Crowd moment

Last month, Microsoft confirmed that users could run into problems when searching files on OneDrive, the company’s cloud storage service. While the files were still there, OneDrive would return no files in search and show a blank results page instead.

Neowin reports that Microsoft fixed the issue in the meantime. OneDrive users are encouraged to update the client to the latest version to apply the fix.

Microsoft, in the meantime, posted a workaround for affected users. As you may have guessed already, it recommends refreshing the browser or turning the mobile device off and on again.

So, if you are experiencing this issue, have you tried fixing it by turning it off and on again?

PixelUnion: EU-based Google Photos alternative with 16 GB of free storage space

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google Photos and iCloud Photos are two cloud-based tools to view, organize, and share photos and videos on the web. They are the default applications for this type of service on Android and iOS, which gives them a dominating grip on the market.

While convenient to use, not all Internet users may want to allow Google, an advertising company, to store their photos and videos online. There are plenty of alternatives when it comes to photo hosting, and one of the newest is PixelUnion.

PixelUnion is based in the Netherlands. The service promises an ad-free and tracking-free experience that resembles the photo services of Google and Apple. Users who sign-up for the service get 16 GB of online storage with the free account. Paid accounts start at €29,50 per year for 150 GB and €99,50 per year for 1 TB of online storage. Custom plans of up to 20 TB are also available.

There is one caveat though, at least for users who want full control over their photos at all times. PixelUnion does not support end-to-end encryption. Most photo hosting services do not support this. Google Photos does not. But if that is one of your requirements, PixelUnion is not for you.

Main features of PixelUnion:

  • Stored in the European Union by EU companies.
  • Secure and private photo storage.
  • Show photos on map.
  • Full API access.
  • Uses the open source Immich app for mobile access.
  • Option to self-host.
  • Advanced features: facial recognition with privacy, AI object recognition, add users, advanced deduplication, no uploading limits, sharing of photos, detailed image searching.

Signing up for a free account is a simple process. You need to pick a name for your storage, which also is the subdomain (name.pixelunion.eu) for web access and management. You can upload photos via the web interface or via Immich.

You can share uploaded photos and videos as albums with others or keep them to yourself. PixelUnion uses facial recognition to detect people and claims that the machine learning stays in the user’s container. There does not seem to be an option to turn this feature off at this point though.

Closing Words

PixelUnion promises Google Photos-like functionality with better privacy. So, if your pain point is that your photos and videos do get stored on US-based servers, then it may be a valid option. The free plan is generous and the paid plans are user-friendly options to avoid self-hosting an instance.

However, PixelUnion is a new service that does not have a track record. Privacy-conscious users who require end-to-end encryption need to look elsewhere as well, as this is not offered by PixelUnion.

All in all, it could become a good alternative to Google Photos for users who prefer hosting in the European Union and a bit more privacy as well.