Hasta La Gadget!

Viruses, trojans, and other malicious pieces of software are nothing new on OS X. While the mainstream consensus is that Apple‘s desktop platform is impervious to such malware, that’s actually not the case. In fact, a new piece of adware is making the rounds that injects advertisements into web browsers after installing a disguised plugin.

The trojan is detected as “Trojan.Yontoo.1” and it was discovered by Russian security firm Doctor Web. Of course, you have to an install a plugin or other piece of software in order for the trojan to activate, but hackers are making it easy for unsuspecting users to take the bait. They’re prompting users to install a plugin before they can watch a mobile trailer, for example.

Of course, we’ve all come across this scenario before, where we don’t have a certain plugin installed in order to view something, so we’re forced to download and install it before continuing. However, it looks like criminals are taking advantage of that tradition by implementing the same kind of system in order to get users to install the trojan.

It’s said that a Windows version of the trojan also exists, but it doesn’t affect Windows 8 users currently. Cross-platform malware isn’t rare most of the time, but this particular one uses its own code to target each specific operating system, as opposed to targeting a universal piece of software like Java, which we’ve heard plenty about recently.

[via The Next Web]

New Mac trojan injects ads into web browsers using plugin is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mozilla stated at SXSW that it is not currently developing a version of its Firefox browser for iOS and it does not intend to do so in the future. Mozilla feels that it can better focus its time and development elsewhere because it won’t be able to build the browser it wants on the iOS platform. As CNET says, it won’t be able to “carry over its sophisticated rendering and javascript engines to iOS.”

The iOS platform isn’t exactly friendly with 3rd party browsers. Users are forced to stick with Safari as their main browser. Other browser companies are still releasing their product to iOS, despite their product not being able to be used as a default choice, because they just want to be part of iOS’s ecosystem. Right now, Safari dominates 55% of the mobile browser market, while Firefox only holds a measly 1%.

Jay Sullivan, Senior VP of products for Mozilla, and Mike Taylor, a Web Opener for Opera, believe that the consumers’ choice in what browser they use is an important part of what makes “browsers, and the Web in general, great.” Many companies see the importance of giving consumers a choice in what web browser they can use. Microsoft especially took notice when the EU demanded them to give consumers more web browsers to choose from instead of its Internet Explorer.

Firefox will continue to work to improve its browser on the Android OS, because it allows them to create the browser it wants. However, despite offering its browser on Android OS, many users will still opt for better alternatives like Chrome. If it hopes to grab more of the mobile browser market, it’s probably going to have to place all of its bets on its upcoming Firefox OS.

[via CNET]

Mozilla will not bring Firefox to iOS is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The OUYA gaming console has attracted the attention of both gamers and game developers, but it’s also attracting the attention of the folks over at Mozilla. The developers behind the Firefox web browser are making a version specifically for the OUYA gaming console, allowing open-source gamers to browse the web using one of the world’s most popular web browsers.

According to a post on the OUYAForum by administrator Ed Krassenstein, a Mozilla developer spoke with Krassenstein on the progress that the team is making bringing Firefox over to the new console. The developer mentioned that there is still a lot of work to do, but he was nice enough to show us a quick photo of the progress so far (pictured above).

The photo was tweeted by mobile platform engineer Chris Lord, and he says that the browser is currently “kinda usable”, but it isn’t anything to look at really. However, it shows that the Mozilla team is serious about bringing their web browser to the open-source gaming masses, and hopefully we’ll hear some updates on the project within the next couple of weeks.

“We’re investigating what we need to do to make Firefox usable on Ouya. It already works and we have some preliminary patches for gamepad support, but there’s still quite a bit of work to be done to make it really usable. Part of this work will be making sure that WebGL and Canvas support performs well on the device, and making sure that the relevant APIs (such as Gamepad API) are also supported.”

The OUYA gaming console is an open-source Android-based console that not only has full access to the Google Play store, but will also have proprietary games specifically meant for the OUYA. Developer consoles have already been shipped out, so while Mozilla has a long way to go, they still have several months before the official OUYA launch to ship a final version of the web browser.

[via TechCrunch]

Mozilla working on Firefox for OUYA is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mozilla has launched its latest Firefox beta for mobile and desktop, bringing a host of new features, including Retina Display support. Also tossed into the mix is W3C Touch Event support, as well as opt-in search suggestions and improved phishing security for Android users. You can nab the latest download over at the Mozilla website.

New features include Retina Display support for OS X 10.7 and higher, as well as preliminary support for WebRTC. A new HTML scaling algorithm is present in the beta release, which provides better image quality than is available in other iterations of the browser. There are also performance improvements when switching between tabs.

A couple fixes have also been included. Insecure content loading on HTTPS pages has been disabled, while the responsiveness experienced by proxy users has been improved. There’s added support for “@supports,” and a faster startup time. Finally, for the designers out there, CSS3 Flexbox, also called Flexible Box, has been implemented.

Of course, as with all beta releases, there are some known issues. Starting up the browser with a locked profile will cause the application to crash, for example. Some users will experience slow scrolling in Gmail, while starting in “-private” mode will return the false message that the user is not Private Browsing. Finally, for those on Windows, using System Restore soon after updating the browser could result in being unable to run future updates.

[via Firefox]

Firefox Beta 18.0 supports Retina Display is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You live a fast-paced life, and you don’t have time to stop your high-speed internet surfing just to check up on Suzie’s latest Facebook update. Mozilla understands your plight, digital denizen, and its “Social API” is here to help — Firefox browser users can beta test Facebook’s Messenger functionality right this minute, should they be able to pause for long enough to get it set up. Thankfully, that setup isn’t too strenuous, requiring little more than the latest beta version of the Firefox browser and an opt-in to the Social API program (via Facebook). Mozilla’s promising more social service integration as the beta rolls on (“soon”), but for now you can more readily stay in touch with Suzie at least, right?

Filed under: Internet, Software

Firefox begins testing Social API with Facebook Messenger, here’s how you can take part originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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