Chrome 61 Progresses With WebUSB API & More

Written by Michael Larabel in Google on 10 June 2017 at 07:39 AM EDT. 42 Comments
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With Chrome 59's stable release this week, Google's attention is shifting to Chrome 60 that is currently in beta and then Chrome 61 that is in development.

On Friday, Google released a Chrome 61 dev channel update for Windows / Linux / macOS.

Among the new material we can look forward to in Chrome 61 include more security improvements, WebUSB API support, a Network Information API to return information about the network connection, an "Embedded Enforcement" Content Security Policy, and various other developer improvements.

The WebUSB API provides a way of exposing USB devices to the web in "safe" and "secure" manner. Cross-platform JavaScript SDKs can be written for USB devices via the WebUSB API. WebUSB is currently available as an editor's draft. Google has also published some WebUSB details. With Chrome 61 this is expected to be present on the Chrome desktop builds.

Chrome's Network Information API has been present in Chrome Android since v38 while now is working its way to the desktop for exposing more details on the underlying network connection. This API can tell whether you are using WiFi, a cellular connection, or other types as well as basic speed details.

Chrome 61 should be released as stable around mid-September while Chrome 60 will go stable in early August.
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Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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