What just happened? Chrome might dominate the browser market, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other, arguably better, alternative products out there. One of these is Vivaldi, which is launching the latest version of its browser today. With it comes several new features, including an integrated tracker blocker and ad blocker.
Launching on Windows (download here), Mac, and Linux, Vivaldi 3.0's built-in tracker blocker is the result of a partnership with DuckDuckGo; it uses the same blocklist as the company's Privacy Essentials browser extension. The blocklist gathers data from DuckDuckGo's Tracker Radar, which identifies new trackers to block across the web. Users can customize the blocking levels on a per-website basis if they wish.
Vivaldi is also adding an updated ad-blocker to its browser. This will be disabled by default as the company believes many users don't want to prevent sites from generating revenue. As with other ad blockers, you can set the blocking levels and mark websites as exceptions.
Other updates include a new clock in the status bar that can be customized and features alarm and countdown functions. Spatial navigation also gets a boost: it's now possible to use the shift and cursor keys to find links with fewer key presses---faster than tabbing through links on a page, one by one.
Elsewhere, after being in beta since September, the first version of the Vivaldi Android app is launching. It comes with many of the desktop version's features, including tracker and ad blocking, data syncing, Notes, switching search engines on the fly, and much more.