Samsung’s browser with and without Ad Block Fast. GIF: Ad Block Fast

Google has pulled an ad-blocking plugin for Samsung’s Android browser just days after it made its debut. Ad Block Fast promised to deliver faster web browsing by removing unnecessary content, but Google says the app violates its Play Store policies.

Opera Mini on the Gear S. Image: Opera

There are lots of things we shouldn’t use a smartwatch for — such as gaming or browsing the web — but we do it anyway because we can. And it’s pretty neat. Bringing a web browser to Samsung’s Gear S smartwatch sounds like a silly idea, then, but Opera went ahead and did it because it knew we’d use it anyway.

Opera’s new web browser based on the WebKit rendering engine is now available in beta form for users with Android devices. The beta gives us a taste of Opera’s first WebKit browser, which comes after the company announced earlier this month that it will be dropping its own Presto rendering engine this year.

Lookin’ good, Opera.

In an internal video released today by web browser company, Opera, the initial programmer of the new concept showed off a beta of the new Opera browser scheduled to go live for iOS and Android in February of this year.

The video, posted on Pocket Lint, shows a browser that looks to redefine the typical mobile browsing experience, with icons instead of tabs and gestures instead of buttons. The focus is on the user and using rich web applications, like Google Maps.

Following Apple’s Google’s leap into 3D mapping technologies, Amazon has acquired a 3D mapping startup of its own. The online retail giant today sealed a deal to purchase UpNext in a move that could signal the company’s intentions to bring 3D maps to its Kindle Fire slate without any assistance from Google.