Samsung Internet Browser Now Available On PC Via Microsoft Store

If you have a Samsung smartphone of any kind, chances are you’ve at least noticed the default, preinstalled browser, if not used it straight up. On the flip side, you probably have not hoped that there’s a PC equivalent. But if you have, then it looks like your prayers have been answered. Samsung Internet is now available on PC, and you can get it via the Microsoft Store.

For the most part, the PC version of the Samsung Internet browser behaves just as you’d expect from most other browsers. The basics like dark mode and an incognito mode equivalent are all there, plus some extras like a built-in ad blocker, which seems to work reasonably well from limited testing.

That being said, some quirks from the mobile version does carry over. One example is when changing video resolution on YouTube for instance. This sees the video stop abruptly as the browser buffers the video in the new quality rather than gradually changing.

One reason someone would use the Samsung Internet browser is probably so that they can sync their bookmarks and browsing history from the mobile version. Though it’s worth noting that this is not the only way to do it, as you can already to this with an extension for both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

Ultimately, the addition of the PC version of Samsung Internet is another browser alternative that has been made available. Competition is, as they say, good. Though it remains to be seen if this can make anyone move from their mainstay browsers. If you want to give it a try, you can hit the link below, as it may not appear when you search for it on the store itself.

India Resorts To Internet Cuts Once Again As Angry Farmers Stage Massive Hunger Strikes

Indian authorities have shut down mobile Internet services in three areas around Dehli in response to a massive hunger strike staged by tens of thousands of angry farmers, BBC News reported. Authorities defended the move as necessary to “maintain public safety”.

Farmers have camped out around Delhi for over a month, protesting new agricultural laws that erode the government protections they’ve long enjoyed (like assured prices for their produce) against the free market. Given that many of the protesters have used social media to voice their discontent and raise support for their cause, they predictably responded very poorly to the Internet shutdown.

But this certainly isn’t the first time that India, the world’s largest democracy, has resorted to shutting down the Internet when things heat up. In fact, India shuts down the Internet more frequently than any other country in the world according to multiple reports such as The New York Times and VICE News:

In 2019, when people protested a controversial new citizenship law, state authorities in northeast India shut down the Internet. Then when the Indian government revoked the autonomy of Kashmir, an Internet shutdown was also imposed – at the time, said to be the longest in any democracy. In India, Internet shutdowns are also used, weirdly enough, to prevent students from cheating on exams.

India is hardly alone in its willingness to press the ‘off’ button though. Iran did it when faced with protests over fuel prices. Governments in Africa are doing it regularly and closer to home, culprits include Indonesia and Myanmar. But there is a price – internet shutdowns cost India US$2.8 billion (~RM11.3 billion) in 2020, according to one estimate.