Hasta La Gadget!

There are whispers going around that ZTE has plans for a new smartphone that will be released in Europe, and what sets apart this particular device is the operating system. No sir, the rumored ZTE smartphone will not jive to the tunes of Windows Phone 8 and neither will it bow down to the demands of Google’s Android, but rather, it is said to run on Mozilla as the operating system of choice. In other words, this will be the first Firefox OS-powered smartphone assuming all goes well in the talks with an unknown European carrier.

Cheng Lixin, Chief Executive Officer of ZTE USA, is the one behind this particular bit of news, and the success of such a smartphone would largely depend on demand and interest. Lixin said, “If that is ready and if consumer studies support that data, then we may launch one in U.S. also this year.” Just how will a Firefox OS smartphone end up in real life remains to be seen, but you cannot deny that our curiosity has been piqued.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: ZTE Grand S Coming To The U.S. Later This Year, Tethercell Gives You Power Over Any AA Battery-Powered Device Via Smartphone,

Earlier today, Mozilla released Firefox 18, which brings with it a host of new features and improvements, including Retina display for Mac support. Thanks to the IonMonkey JavaScript compiler, Web games and apps are up to 25-percent faster, while Android Firefox users now get search suggestions while typing. You can download the latest release from the Firefox website.

IonMonkey follows the previously-used TraceMonkey and JagerMonkey Javascript compilers, and optimizes scripts before generating the executable code. Preliminary support has been added for WebRTC (Web Real Time Communication). The biggest change is support for Retina displays for Macs running OS X 10.7 or higher.

As far as improvements go, a new HTML scaling algorithm is in place that improves overall image quality, while tab switching has also been given a performance boost. MozTouch has been swapped out with support for W3C touch events, HTTPS pages will no longer load insecure content, and the issue with poor response when using proxies has been corrected.

In addition, a new version of Firefox for Android has been rolled out featuring some new changes that will make mobile users happy. Specifically, it has made somes changes to help keep users secure by implementing the malware detection desktop users have already enjoyed. When visting a URL that has been blacklisted, users will get a “Reported Attack Page!” warning. You can nab the app over at Google Play.

[via Mozilla]

Firefox 18 offers Retina support for Macs, speeds things up with IonMonkey is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We took a look at Mozilla’s mobile OS at the final pre-proper CES event yesterday, and little did we know the official release of its Firefox 18 browser was dropping today. The update adds the new Javascript compiler IonMonkey, which is said to make wep apps “perform up to 25 percent faster.” Mac users who will settle for nothing less than high-res browsing will be happy to know Retina display support has been implemented, as long as you’re on OS X 10.7 or above. Preliminary support for WebRTC has also been added. The upgrade is available now, but if you’re reading this on FF, you’ve probably got it already.

The Android version of the Firefox browser has received a little TLC alongside its computer-based counterpart. The IonMonkey compiler is also new to this version, the Google Now search widget has been integrated, and Mozilla suggests mobile browsing has never been safer. Head to the source link for the release notes for both versions.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile

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Source: Mozilla (1), (2)

Mozilla is finally making it official. Without an word from Mozilla about the beta version of its Firefox Facebook integration feature which we covered last week, the company is now announcing that Facebook Messenger For Firefox is officially available for its users. Built on a new social API for the web, Facebook Messenger for Firefox lets users chat with their friends while keeping them connected with the latest updates wherever they are on the Web, without having to open a new window or tab.

To use Facebook Messenger For Firefox, you will need to get the latest Firefox version. Then, head over to the Facebook Messenger for Firefox page and click the “Turn On” button. Once the feature is enabled, users can now view the nifty Facebook social sidebar on the right side of every page on the browser. Users can also receive notifications for messages and friend requests right from the Firefox toolbar. Mozilla says that the Facebook integration is just the start of making Firefox more social. “We’ll soon add support for more features and multiple providers,” it said. You can try Facebook Messenger for Firefox here.

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This is rather odd. Mozilla has reportedly discontinued the 64-bit version of Firefox for Windows. The 64-bit version of the browser was available for Windows computer users in testing. The announcement was made by Mozilla via one of its Google Groups titled “Turning off win64 builds.”

As for why Mozilla is ending the development of this particular flavor of Firefox, despite the fact that reports indicate is much is 50% of testers were using the browser, Mozilla offered some specific reasons. One reason was that many plug-ins were available in 64-bit versions of the browser. One Mozilla manager also said that many of the plug-ins that were available didn’t work correctly in Firefox because certain features hadn’t been implemented.

Those features including things such as windowproc hooking, which made browser hanging more common. Mozilla said that any crash reports submitted by users of the 64-bit browser weren’t going to receive high priority because Mozilla is working on other things. Mozilla also noted that its crash-status report doesn’t distinguish well between 32-bit and 64-bit browsers.

Mozilla admits to ignoring a set of nightly “topcrashes” because they were specific to 64-bit browsers. In the end, Mozilla simply decided to disable Windows 64-bit nightly an hourly builds for the browser. The developers consider the “discussion closed” unless critical new information is presented. There will reportedly be a custom update that moves 64-bit browser users over to 32-bit builds of Firefox.

[via The Next Web]

Mozilla kills 64-bit Firefox browser for Windows despite lots of users is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.