The stable build of Google Chrome has updated, introducing seven security patches to the browser. Version 4.1.249.1059 for Windows incorporates four high-priority security fixes and three medium-priority ones.

The high-priority fixes, introduced Tuesday, correct type confusion errors with forums, memory corruption in the V8 JavaScript engine bindings, cross-site scripting vulnerabilities on the Chrome downloads page, and HTTP request errors. The first two corrections earned user "kuzzcc" $500 each in Google Chrome's vulnerability discovery rewards program.

The medium-priority errors involved local file reference through developer tools, cross-site scripting in chrome://net-internals, and the discovery that some external pages could load with the rights privileges of the New Tab page.

Meanwhile, Mozilla has been moving forward with its Firefox 3.6.4 beta 1 for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

This latest Firefox beta test, introduced Friday, incorporates the long-awaited out-of-process plug-in proofing, code-named "Lorentz." The protection is similar to the tab sandboxing that Google uses in Chrome, but it's focused on preventing plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, or Apple QuickTime from taking down the entire browser when they fail. These plug-ins run in a separate memory compartment.

This beta also fixes bugs that had prevented the Lorentz plug-in from working on Macs. Upgrading from Firefox 3.6.3 to Firefox 3.6.4 beta 1 on a Windows 7 computer required a computer reboot for unknown reasons. This seems to be the exception and not the rule, and the majority of users shouldn't experience it.

Your Microsoft Outlook 2007 in-box is one of those apps that's underappreciated and easily overlooked, yet for business professionals and home users alike, it often bears the brunt of most e-mail exchange.

It's time to give Outlook--and yourself--a hand with some free, and free-to-try, add-ons that could very well smooth out your workflow. We've rounded up five time-saving Outlook add-ons for you to take on a spin. Just don't get too add-on-happy, since, as with browser extensions, a surplus of running Outlook extras can drag down the pace.

Five days after Steve Jobs reportedly called the rejection of Mark Fiore's application by the App Store a "mistake," the application is now available to purchase for the iPhone and iPad.

Fiore, if you'll recall, is the editorial cartoonist who last week won the Pulitzer Prize for his work. It was brought to light by the Nieman Journalism Lab on Thursday that "NewsToons," a collection of Fiore's cartoons, was rejected by Apple's App Store reviewers in December because it "ridiculed public figures."

This inspired a fair amount of alarm from journalists and other political satirists that Apple might start policing the editorial content of newspapers' apps that are increasingly beginning to appear on the iPad.

Jobs replied to a customer who e-mailed him out of concern over the implications of the rejection of Fiore's app on Friday, writing, "This was a mistake that's being fixed." Fast forward to Tuesday and the app is now available for sale through the App Store.

In an e-mail interview with CNET Tuesday, Fiore sounded pleased that his app was finally on the store, but he admitted the process was handled "oddly" by Apple.

"When they contacted me to encourage me to resubmit, there was never any mention of why they were contacting me at that time, and no mention of that day's press about their 'ridicules public figures' policy," Fiore said. "It seemed a little bit like an out-of-the-blue Deep Throat phone call--not 'meet me in the parking garage,' but 'you might want to consider resubmitting your app.'"

The end result was good news for Fiore, but potentially depressing for his peers. Will they, too, have to risk getting screened out by individual reviewers enforcing App Store rules that are sometimes unclear?

Fiore is well aware he got special treatment because of his Pulitzer win. "I only hope other people with good political apps, who haven't won a prize and received press attention, can get approved by Apple," he said.

Updated at 1:50 p.m. with comments from interview with Fiore.

Originally posted at Circuit Breaker

With a surprise boost from Microsoft, the promise of rich typography on the Web just got a big step closer to reality.

The software company's involvement emerged Monday with sponsorship of a newer effort at the World Wide Web Consortium to standardize Web-based fonts with technology called the Web Open Font Format (WOFF). It's a fresh indicator of Microsoft's serious engagement with new Web standards--and it's a big boost for designers' attempts to stretch the Web beyond just the few typefaces that today can be expected to be already installed on people's computers.

It's not unusual to see Mozilla and Opera Software as WOFF backers--the two browser makers have been trying to advance the Web state of the art for years. But after years of going its own way, Microsoft has shown new interest in Web standards and now is a powerful ally that's sponsoring the submission of WOFF to be a W3C standard.

"Given the increasing interest in WOFF from browser implementors, tool creators, and type foundries [it] is expected that WOFF will soon serve as that single, interoperable format and that other implementors will add support over time," the W3C's WebFonts Working Group said of the move.

The move was notable enough that Tiro Typeworks' John Hudson used bold italic to spotlight Microsoft's WOFF involvement. Type foundry Hoefler & Frere-Jones opted for ALL CAPS.

Microsoft's IE9, though available only in a half-baked preview edition so far, has sent ripples throughout the browser world as a product that restores Microsoft. It's not yet clear whether IE9 will support WOFF, and Microsoft didn't comment on its plans, but the signs are good it will.

For comparison, Microsoft joined a Web graphics standard effort called Scalable Vector Graphics in January, and a few weeks later, the IE9 prototype emerged with strong support for SVG. And note that hardware-accelerated, high-quality fonts are one of the front-and-center features of IE9.

The W3C chartered a new Web fonts group in March to standardize WOFF. The WOFF standard submission "allows that technical work to commence," the Web font group said.

WOFF is one of a handful of technologies designed to improve typography on the Web. Most Web pages are constructed with a small set of relatively common fonts, but some designers want to add more customization or style by using specific typefaces. Today, that's often done by adding graphics, but that approach is best for limited areas such as logos, and it breaks useful computing features such as the ability to copy and paste text.

Newer browsers let designers invoke many Web fonts these days using the "@font-face" instruction on Web pages, but Web font technologies are inconsistently supported by browsers. Among the other technologies available are Embedded OpenType (EOT) for embedding TrueType and OpenType from Microsoft and SVG Fonts, which thus far are the only Web fonts supported by the iPhone and iPad.

WOFF attempts to address some of the problems of these other font embedding approaches. One is download size, an important consideration for Web developers who want fast-loading pages. WOFF reduces size through compression and by letting Web developers offer only the necessary subset of characters for a Web page rather than the entire font.

Another concern is intellectual property. Font shops, whose designs aren't copy-protected, are leery of making the fruits of their labor available for free download. WOFF accommodates metadata that can include type designer and licensing information, and the downloaded fonts aren't the sort of thing that can be installed on a person's computer. "Web FontFonts come in formats that work only on websites (not in any desktop app), and do so without crippleware or user interruptions," said font foundry FontFont, which began licensing its fonts in WOFF format in February.

There are signs of success. The creators of WOFF--Tal Leming of Type Supply, Erik van Blokland of LetError, and Jonathan Kew of Mozilla--apparently have rounded up significant support from various font foundries, including Adobe Systems, House Industries, ITC Fonts, Linotype, and Monotype.

Mozilla introduced WOFF support with Firefox 3.6. Other major browsers--Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, and Chrome--support @font-face already, paving the way for WOFF support should they choose to add it.

It's not imminent, though. So far, Chrome developers haven't begun tackling WOFF support in earnest, with the feature tracker just listing WOFF support as "untriaged." Chrome and Apple's Safari are based on the open-source WebKit project. But WebKit's WOFF support also is up in the air, with nobody yet taking on responsibility for the matter, according to the WebKit bug-tracker.

But things are moving fast in the browser world these days. WOFF is by no means a guaranteed success, but Microsoft and Mozilla together account for the vast majority of browser usage on the Net today. Their support alone is enough to give WOFF the necessary boost to relevance, once people upgrade their browsers and Web developers learn the new technology.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

The board game Blokus has long been a family favorite in the Broida household, but there's just one problem with it: to really enjoy the game as it's meant to be played, you need four players. Consequently, either everyone plays, or no one does.

Blokus for iPhone adds AI to the mix, meaning you can finally go it alone if you choose. But virtual opponents are just the tip of the gameplay iceberg: you can also play against other iPhone/iPod/iPad users, either locally (via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) or online.

In case you're not familiar with the game, Blokus could best be described as four-player Tetris--except that instead of trying to nestle various block shapes together, you link your like-colored blocks by their corners. The object is to place as many of your own blocks as you can while blocking the other players from laying theirs.

It's a snap to learn, and endlessly fun to play because the outcome is always different. The actual board game does offer two- and even three-player variants, but they're just not the same as squaring off with a foursome.

Interestingly, the app offers similar variants--some of which are a little confusing. For example, "Classic 4" is the standard game, though you're the only human player. Same goes for "Classic 2," in which you take on the role of a second human player. "Duo," its name notwithstanding, is another single-player exercise, but played on a smaller board with just two colors instead of four.

On the multiplayer side, you can invite up to three other local players, or connect to Gameloft Live (you'll need a free account) for online competition. Alas, I wasn't able to test that option, as there were no games for me to join. And when I created one of my own, no other players showed up. But that's understandable: the game's been in the App Store for only two days.

Although there's a helpful tutorial that explains the basic rules of Blokus and shows you how to place your pieces, the built-in instructions don't sufficiently explain the different gameplay modes.

What's more, I was dismayed to discover that the app didn't resume my game-in-progress after I exited and restarted it. That's a bug that needs fixing immediately.

On my iPhone, the Blokus board feels a little claustrophobic. The game all but begs to be played on an iPad's comparatively spacious screen. That said, it's still ridiculously fun, and well worth the $4.99 price of admission--especially considering that the board game sells for upwards of $30.

And speaking of board games that have received the app treatment, be sure to check out Battleship for iPhone, Catan, Triazzle, and Words With Friends. If you know of any others worth mentioning, hit the comments and mention them!

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas