Opera Mobile 10 lands on Maemo thanks to pro hobbyists

What do you know, even professional coders like to develop things on the side. Opera‘s mobile dev team has been working on a “hobby project” to bring its browser to the Maemo-sporting Nokia N900 and N8x0 devices, and today sees the first fruit of that labor in the form of a “preview build” release. Fredrik Ohrn warns us that there might not ever be a final version, since this is being done just for fun — and particularly in light of the MeeGo future that awaits the platform — but for now it’s yet another option for your versatile mini-computer. Click the source for the download.

[Thanks, Jesus]

Opera Mobile 10 lands on Maemo thanks to pro hobbyists originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla shares tentative vision for Firefox 4

Our first glimpse of Firefox 4 was limited to a few tasteful mockups; this time, Mozilla‘s main man Mike Beltzner has revealed the company’s plans for its next generation web browser in its entirety. While exact features and dates are sketchy, his presentation reveals Mozilla would like to hold the Firefox 4 beta in June, before unleashing a CSS3, partially HTML5 compliant web browser with multitouch support, background updates, geolocation, Firefox Sync (aka Mozilla Weave) and a greatly streamlined UI this holiday season. The presentation has “PLANS MIGHT CHANGE” written all over it in large red letters, so trust us when we say none of this is for sure, but we like the direction Firefox is going and we’ll be happy to see more. Video presentation at our source link, full slideshow after the break.

Continue reading Mozilla shares tentative vision for Firefox 4

Mozilla shares tentative vision for Firefox 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 22:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Safari 4 Beta is Worth a Look

This article was written on February 24, 2009 by CyberNet.

safari 4.jpg

arrow Windows Windows; Mac Mac; arrow
Today Apple kind of took everyone by surprise when they released a big milestone for the Safari browser. The new Safari 4 Beta from Apple borrows some ideas from their competition, and they spiced it up a bit with some fancy graphics. This is most notably seen in the “Top Sites” screen as seen in the image above. It’s a combination of Opera’s Speed Dial and Google Chrome’s most frequently visited pages. Then they added a little glamor to really make it pop.

The Windows version also received a major visual overhaul so that it actually fits in well with the operating system, and for the most part feels a lot like Google Chrome. Especially since the tabs are located along the top on the titlebar… again, like Chrome.

When it comes down to speed Apple has actually managed to squeeze out a bit more. I ran the Mac version of the browser on the SunSpider test against Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 (also Mac), and Safari 4 Beta squeaked out on top. It took Firefox 3.1 a total of 1409.6ms to run all the tests, and Safari 4 was 1276.8ms (lower number is better). It’s not much of a difference, but Firefox 3.1 beat out Safari 3 proving that Apple didn’t focus solely on appearance this time around.

Aside from that here are some of the features Apple pointed out for Safari 4:

  • Top Sites – See your favorite websites at a glance.
  • Cover Flow – Flip through your site history or bookmarks like you flip through albums in iTunes
  • Full History Search – Easily retrieve sites you’ve seen before.
  • Tabs on Top – Manage your tabs elegantly and open a wide window for exploring the web.
  • Nitro Engine – Surf the web with the world’s fastest browser.
  • Windows Native Look and Feel – Vista and XP users will feel right at home.
  • Developer Tools – Access the best suite of development tools ever included in a browser.

I’m diggin’ Safari 4 on my Mac, and despite being a rather dedicated Firefox user I plan on giving Safari a fair shot. I think Google might be able to grab an edge on Safari once they add support for extensions, but until then I think Windows users will, at the very least, be giving the browser a shot.

So what do you think? The number of web browsers and what they’re capable of doing is getting pretty amazing when you think about where this market was just a few years ago. I can’t wait to see what comes next, and what company it will come from.

Haven’t read enough? Here are some more articles worth checking out regarding this release:

Get Safari 4 Beta for Windows or Mac

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Opera wades into Flash debate, says it ‘makes very little sense’ for video

Opera Software already caused quite a stir with the release of the iPhone version of its browser, and it looks like it’s now starting to make itself heard in one of the biggest browser-related debates going. Speaking with Tech Radar, Opera’s product analyst Phillip Grønvold started out with something of a diplomatic approach by saying that “today’s internet content is dependent on Flash” and “if you remove Flash you do not have today’s internet,” and for that reason Opera needs to support Flash. Things get a bit more interesting from there, however, with Grønvold stating that while Flash has its place for things like dynamic content, it “makes very little sense” as a video container given the impact on processor and battery usage, adding that “you can cook an egg on [devices] once you start running Flash on them and there’s a reason for that.” Fried eggs, potatoes — these browsers sure are making us hungry.

Opera wades into Flash debate, says it ‘makes very little sense’ for video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome: faster than a flying potato

Google’s never been shy to make claims that Chrome is the fastest browser on the planet, but it’s truly pulled out all the stops to drive that point home for its latest beta. Rather than rely on some simple benchmarks, Google decided to test Chome against some other things that are fast — namely, a potato cannon, sound waves, and lightning. We won’t spoil all the surprise for you, but you can rest assured that Chrome comes out looking pretty good, and that everything else gets a little messy. Head on past the break to check out the speed tests for yourself, as well as the requisite making-of video.

Continue reading Google Chrome: faster than a flying potato

Google Chrome: faster than a flying potato originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 16:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Internet Explorer market share falls below 60 percent for first time, according to NetApplications

NetApplications has just released its browser market share stats for the month of April, and there is something notable here: Internet Explorer has fallen to a “historic low” of 59.95 percent market share, losing about 0.69 points since last month. Google’s Chrome continues its assault on Safari, reaching a 6.73 percent share (while Safari nabbed 4.72). Of course, Internet Explorer is still so far ahead of the rest of the pack it’s hard to make these losses — however significant — into a tragedy of epic proportions story for Microsoft, so we’re not going to do that. Keep in mind, as well, that NetApplications is not the only measurement of market share — and StatCounter, by comparison, currently estimates IE’s share at about 51.42 percent. Hit up the source link for the full battery of data.

Internet Explorer market share falls below 60 percent for first time, according to NetApplications originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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InstantAction goes live with browser-based gaming model

Remember InstantAction? You know, that startup that debuted at GDC in an effort to take on OnLive and catch the world ablaze with browser-based embedded gaming? If you’ve forgotten the dirty-dirty on this here company, be sure and give our prior hands-on a look; once you’re up to speed, you may be interested in knowing that the company’s first weekend in business (in the consumer’s eye, anyway) is this one you’re living in right now. The new “direct-to-consumer online video game distribution service” has gone live with LucasArts’ The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, enabling gamers to embed full titles into blogs, Facebook profiles and pretty much any other site that’ll handle an HTML embed string. The magic involves a delicate mix of in-browser, thin-client, and progressive downloading technologies, and while this title may not float your boat, the concept could be gold for indie developers looking to reach directly to potential clients. Head on past the break for the full release, not to mention a play-by-play of how to try this thing out.

Continue reading InstantAction goes live with browser-based gaming model

InstantAction goes live with browser-based gaming model originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 09:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview!

We just spent a few minutes playing with the beta version of Skyfire 2.0 for Android that was released today, and we’ll cut to the chase: this is easily the best browser we’ve used on the platform. Clearly we’ll need to spend more time with it to make sure it can handle all the typical sites you’d want to visit while you’re on the road — but loading the desktop version of Engadget is always a great barometer for this sort of thing, and this browser rocked it. Rendering is about as reasonably fast as you can expect it to be (on our Snapdragon-powered Nexus One, anyhow), and everything we saw displayed spot-on perfect (save for embedded Flash, of course), but if you’re in a situation where you don’t need to see the full page or it looks screwy, you can toggle it to send an Android user agent right from the app’s toolbar below the URL field. It works just about as well as Steel and the built-in browser on a G1 we tested, and Flash videos work just fine there as well.

The browser touts compatibility with Flash videos, too, so we headed over to YouTube to try our hand at it; it immediately detected the presence of a video and popped up the so-called “SkyBar” at the bottom of the screen, where you can press the Video button to load the video in a new window. It doesn’t work embedded in the page, but considering how small your phone’s screen is, that’s really for the best — you get the full-screen experience, and in our testing, it looked fantastic. One downside is that you don’t seem to be able to scrub videos while they’re playing, but maybe this is something these guys can get patched up for the final release. Follow the break for our full video!

Update: One annoyance we’ve noticed is that pinch-to-zoom works in “steps” — it’s not smooth, which makes it pretty weird to use, but remember that Opera Mini doesn’t support it at all.

Continue reading Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview!

Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skyfire 2.0 beta now ready to set Android ablaze

We’ve been seeing mobile browsers steadily raising their game lately, so it was inevitable that Skyfire would look to shock and awe us with its first release for the Android platform. Version 2.0 introduces a brand new SkyBar — which ironically sits at the bottom of the screen — providing users with a trifecta of new features. Firstly, the Video link serves as a workaround for those pesky “your phone ain’t got no Flash” missives by doing server-side conversions of Flash video into universally comprehensible formats like HTML5. If implemented well, this should be a major coup for the company, particularly in light of a potential iPhone release as well. There’s also a streamlined sharing feature for social networks, and an Explore function that suggests internet content on the basis of what’s currently on display. We’ll be testing out the usefulness of these shortly — for now, hit the source link to get your own Skyfire going.

Update: Check out our hands-on preview of the new browser right here. Hint: it’s pretty awesome.

Continue reading Skyfire 2.0 beta now ready to set Android ablaze

Skyfire 2.0 beta now ready to set Android ablaze originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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February 2008 Browser Stats: IE Plunging

This article was written on March 04, 2008 by CyberNet.

February was a good month for almost all of the browsers out there except for Internet Explorer, according to Net Applications. From December 2006 to August 2007 Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser was able to maintain a substantial 79% marketshare. In the last 6 or 7 months, however, they’ve been dropping just under 1% each month. Yep, they’ve lost nearly 5% of their marketshare in the last half of a year.

Of course if IE is losing there has to be other browsers gaining, right? Firefox is the one swooping up most of IE’s marketshare loss having increased over 3% in the last year. Last month it hit its all-time high at 17.27%, which is the same time IE hit its all-time low.

Safari took a small dip in February, but Opera has been steadily increasing rolling in a marketshare of 0.69% last month. Opera just announced that last year was a big year for them having increased their number of monthly users to 20 million, which is 55% more than the previous year.

Browser Marketshare for February 2008
browser marketshare feb08

And then there’s the comparison of the operating systems. Naturally Microsoft is going to lead the way with their sheer market domination, but you might be surprised to hear that Windows usage has dropped about 4% in the last 2 years. Apple is the primary cause of the drop in marketshare having gained over 3% themselves in the last two years. And as you can see from this chart the iPhone is even on the board:

Operating System Marketshare for February 2008
os marketshare feb08

In January 2007 the Linux marketshare sat at just 0.35%, and so there has been some significant growth there as well.

It’s becoming apparent from both the browser and operating system stats that users don’t mind turning to other alternatives to get the job done. The vast amounts of content available on the Internet definitely helps ease the transition for users from one browser to another, or from one operating system to another. Microsoft still controls a majority of the market, but given another several more years the tides could really start turning.

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