Hasta La Gadget!

Mozilla’s love of web apps is more than obvious; we just haven’t had a real chance to try the Firefox Marketplace that represents a large part of the company’s app strategy. The doors are at last open for a peek, although Mozilla has chosen the unusual path of giving mobile users the first crack: Android users willing to live on the bleeding edge of an Aurora build of Firefox can browse and run those web apps in Mozilla’s store. Everyone else willing to venture into the Marketplace will have to wait until their own Firefox builds receive a matching update, including that rare group with access to Firefox OS. We’re not quite in a rush to try a first wave of apps in an alpha-grade browser. Should you be the sort who thinks that even beta releases are too sluggish, however, your gateway to the Marketplace awaits at the source links.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile

Mozilla opens Firefox Marketplace for Aurora builds of Android, gives mobile a taste of web apps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While you might use Firefox to access your social media of choice already, preliminary support for a new API has been introduced that could integrate key features into the browser itself. The aptly named Social API, will allow developers to embed services into the browser directly, letting you interact with friends and stay updated without having to open new windows, or keep hopping into different tabs. There’s no solid info just yet on how this will manifest itself, or how issues such as security and privacy might be addressed, but with testing beginning soon, we’re expecting the curtain to lift on the finer details soon. Interested developers can head to the source, for the other billion, you’ll just have to wait.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile

Firefox introduces preliminary support for Social API, brings your networks into the browser originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla is still keeping up with their promise for rapid releases of their Firefox web browser, and it actually just seems like yesterday when the company released Firefox 15 to the public. However, version 16 is out today and it comes with some pretty substantial features for several different platforms.

A few of the new features are aimed at consumers, but a significant portion are for developers. The biggest feature seems to be the new Developer Command Line, which Mozilla says “provides easy keyboard control over Firefox Developer Tools and is intuitive, completing commands and parameters for you.” Other new developer-based features include CSS3 Animations, Transitions, Transforms, Image Values, IndexedDB, and Values and Units.

For regular consumers, a couple of new features are coming your way. For Firefox’s Android app, there’s now a new Safari-like reader mode that provides users with distraction-free reading of any kind. Mac users can also now enjoy VoiceOver support, and all three desktop operating systems (OS X, Windows, and Linux) are getting web app support as well.

On top of all the new features are the usual handful of bugfixes and overal performance improvements. The full list of release notes can be found here, and if you’re interested in trying out the new features, Firefox 16 is available now for download.

Firefox 16 launches with new developer tools, Reader Mode for Android is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Browser performance matters a whole lot more than browser aesthetics, but if you’re going to be looking at it all day, why not make it beautiful? Firefox released a preview version of Firefox for Windows 8 today, and it really does look great. The tabs have a bit of a Chrome-y look, but they’re very flat, like most of the Metro UI. Also, bookmarks in colored boxes could help rapid recognition, especially if they’re used every day. Maybe my favorite part of the design is the curve between the new tab button and the existing tab. Also–these screenshots are from the desktop version, not the full-screen Metro app.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: New JavaScript technology will speed up Firefox 18, Firefox for Android gets an update as well,

Google’s had one foot in the web privacy door for a while, offering Chrome users the Keep My Opt-Outs extension in its browser’s Web Store since 2011. Still, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari already offer a Do Not Track option directly in their browser settings. Mountain View is now working to close that gap by bringing that same privacy configuration to Chrome. Do Not Track will let users opt out of tracking cookies and targeted advertising (from ad networks that comply with the standard, that is), and is currently live on Chrome’s developer channel. The option will reportedly be baked into the stable version of the browser by the end of the year.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Google plays privacy catch-up, adds Do Not Track option to Chrome originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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