Hasta La Gadget!

ZTE just can’t get enough mobile OS’s. The manufacturer is all over Android, it’s got Windows Phone 8 coming out of leaky pores, and now it’s revealed plans to launch phones based on the Firefox OS (formerly “Boot to Gecko“) as early as the the first quarter of next year. That’s not so surprising, perhaps, given that Mozilla already told us it was working with ZTE to bring its HTML-5 powered platform to life, but it further emphasizes the fact that Chinese smartphone giants are casting about for a viable alternative to Google.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

ZTE to launch Mozilla-based smartphones early next year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 05:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  WSJ  | Email this | Comments

JavaScript is being used by an increasingly greater number of websites. Mozilla Firefox 18 is set to be a speedier platform for such sites. The Mozilla team is claiming that it is including a new JavaScript technology in its upcoming browser release which will help it load sites using JavaScript up to 26 percent faster.

The new technology that will be a part of Firefox 18 is IonMonkey which is a just-in-time (JIT) compiler. In the past, Firefox has made use of other compilers such as TraceMonkey and JagerMonkey but with this this new JIT compiler, Mozilla is taking a rather new approach. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Firefox 14 launched, encrypts Google searches by default, Mozilla says something big is coming to Firefox for Android next week,

Those of you hankering for another look at the incoming Firefox OS will be happy with this next piece of news. Engadget is playing host to a collection of leaked images that show off the Firefox OS Marketplace, giving us an idea of how we’ll shop for apps using the OS. Of course, we use the term “shop” loosely since all of the apps that appear in the images are being offered for free, but what can you do?

The fact that all of the apps pictured are available for free suggests that Mozilla has yet to work out a pricing scheme (or payment methods) for the Marketplace, but with the OS not launching until 2013, it has time to figure that out. Naturally, a number of apps will be available for the reasonable price of absolutely nothing, but expect to see some paid apps on offer as well.

The Firefox OS Markerplace is obviously geared toward easy searching, and like most app stores, selecting an app you’re interested in will take you to a page that offers descriptions and ratings. The Marketplace looks a little rough around the edges in this early state, but for the most part it also looks like Mozilla has almost everything in place. This suggests that Mozilla is pretty far along in the production of the Marketplace, which is something to get excited about if you’re looking forward to Firefox OS.

That being said, keep in mind that the Marketplace as we see it today could change – perhaps radically – by the time Firefox OS is released. Speaking of that, we don’t have a solid release date yet, as Mozilla is sticking to an “early 2013″ release window for the first Firefox OS devices, which will be coming from Telefonica. Be sure to peruse our story timeline below for more information on Firefox OS!

Firefox OS Marketplace appears in leaked images is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While most of its energy is focused on the XO-4 Touch, the One Laptop Per Child project is swinging into full gear for software, too. The project team has just posted an OS 12.1.0 update that sweetens the Sugar for at least present-day XO units. As of this latest revamp, text-to-speech is woven into the interface and vocalizes any selectable text — a big help for students that are more comfortable speaking their language than reading it. USB video output has been given its own lift through support for more ubiquitous DisplayLink adapters. If you’re looking for the majority of changes, however, they’re under-the-hood tweaks to bring the OLPC architecture up to snuff. Upgrades to GTK3+ and GNOME 3.4 help, but we’re primarily noticing a shift from Mozilla’s web engine to WebKit for browsing: although the OLPC crew may have been forced to swap code because of Mozilla’s policies on third-party apps, it’s promising a much faster and more Sugar-tinged web experience as part of the switch. While they’re not the same as getting an XO-3 tablet, the upgrades found at the source link are big enough that classrooms (and the occasional individual) will be glad they held on to that early XO model.

Filed under: Laptops, Software

OLPC delivers big OS update with text-to-speech, DisplayLink and WebKit originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Sep 2012 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phoronix  |  OLPC Wiki  | Email this | Comments

Firefox 15 is barely fresh off the vine, and we’re already looking at a beta version 16 for both desktop platforms and Android. Mozilla’s test release builds in the first support for web apps that play nicely with the Mozilla Marketplace; as long as titles have a slight amount of extra formatting, they can slot into Firefox without hiccups. More treats exist if you’re running certain platforms: the Android crowd receives a Safari-style Reader Mode that strips out the fluff from pages, while Mac users see the once test-only VoiceOver support flipped on by default to improve accessibility. Even developers get a little something special through a quick-access toolbar and more readily accessible CSS4 scripting. If any of this sounds tempting, there’s a pair of source links waiting for your attention.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software

Firefox 16 beta arrives with web app hooks, Reader Mode for Android and VoiceOver for Macs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Future of Firefox  |  Firefox Beta, Google Play  | Email this | Comments