Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve had the chance to experiment with early versions of Firefox OS for awhile — just not in Firefox the browser, where you’d nearly expect it to have shown first. At least one person appreciates that seemingly natural fit. A new Firefox OS simulator add-on, r2d2b2g, lets us try Mozilla’s upcoming mobile platform from within the company’s own browser for everything that doesn’t depend on native hardware, including the browser and Firefox Marketplace. The goal is ostensibly to let developers test truly optimized web apps, although the simulator is also a good excuse for the curious to try Firefox OS without the hassle of a dedicated client or a real smartphone. If you can get by the early state of the simulator and the Xzibit jokes that come with putting Firefox on your Firefox, the extension is already providing a glimpse of a web-focused mobile future to Linux, Mac and Windows users at the source below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile

Firefox browser add-on lets us try Firefox OS in an all-Mozilla universe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Social integration is a big thing these days, and today Mozilla is ready to begin beta testing its new Firefox Social API. The end goal for the Social API is to eventually have integration with a number of different social sites, but today, the only thing the team has ready to go is Facebook Chat integration. If you’re ready to see what Firefox will look like in the not-to-distant future, then Mozilla wants you to help test this new feature.

With the Social API, you can have a number of Facebook features at your fingertips and ready to go without ever having to visit the actual Facebook site. Of course, you won’t have full Facebook functionality when using this feature, but there is quite a bit you can do. For starters, you can get the chat and news feed list right there in your browser, allowing you to see who’s online and available for chat as you surf the Internet.

The sidebar stays present as you go from page to page, and you can also share the page you’re currently viewing to your Facebook with just a “single click in the address bar.” The Facebook chat sidebar will also let you know when you have notifications waiting for you, and naturally, you hide the sidebar if it’s time to stop chatting and get back to work. If you want to give it a test spin, you’ll need to download the latest Firefox beta and then visit Facebook when you’ve got the beta installed. Once you’re there, Facebook will ask if you want to allow Firefox integration, and after that you’re one click away from getting started.

Mozilla assures that more social sites will be added later on, but for now, these beta tests will only be focused on Facebook integration. If you’ve got a lot of social profiles to keep track of, Mozilla’s Firefox Social API should be like a gift from the heavens, provided the full release later on goes smoothly. Are you going to give the beta test of Mozilla’s Social API a spin?

Firefox wants you to help test its new Social API is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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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One day after Firefox 16 was made available, Mozilla has had to pull the software over security fears. If you upgraded, you might want to roll back until it’s fixed. More »

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.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.