CHROME BROWSER SURPASSES FIREFOX IN USAGE

Google’s Chrome web browser surpassed Mozilla’s Firefox in global browser market share for the first time ever in November. Research firm StatCounter found that Chrome’s market share during the month was 25.69%, up 4.66% from last November, and that Firefox’s share was a hair lower at 25.33% during the month. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer maintained its lead with 40.63%. ”Our stats measure actual browser usage, not downloads, so while Chrome has been highly effective in ensuring downloads our stats show that people are actually using it to access the web also,” StatCounter CEO Aodjan Cullen said. Internet Explorer remains the top browser in the United States with a 50.66% share. Firefox is the second most popular browser in the U.S. with a 20.09% share, down from 26.75% in November last year, and Chrome is the third most popular browser with a 17.3% share, up from 10.89% last year. Net Applications, another research firm, published similar results on Thursday.

ORANGE UK OFFERS 3MB ROAMING OPTION FOR TRAVLERS

No longer are Orange UK subscribers chained to absurd per-MB roaming charges or unnecessary monthly plans. Instead, they can shell out £3-a-day (about $5) for 30MB of data -- which is plenty for checking e-mail and doing some light browsing. If you don't use any data then you don't get charged, but go over that limit and you're back to the normal £3.07-per-MB rate.

It's a perfect option for the traveler who only spends a week or two abroad at a time, and it closes the gap with fellow UK provider Vodafone, which offers a £2-per-day, 25MB option. Now, if only others (especially our friends here in the US) would offer sensible roaming plans of their own.

AT&T DSL AND U-VERSE CAPS BEGIN TODAY...MAYBE

Today is the day that AT&T starts imposing data caps on DSL and U-Verse Internet, and begins tallying up overage fees. At least, that was the plan on March 18th -- when the company formally announced 150GB DSL and 250GB U-Verse caps -- but even if you're a paying customer who chows down several hundred gigabytes in a month, you may not have to worry about paying extra right away.

AT&T specified that users will have access to an online tool to self-police your usage before the company even begins to calculate the cost of your formerly all-you-can-eat bandwidth buffet, and as you can see in the picture above, the tool isn't quite ready for public consumption across the entire country.