Tag Archives: MozillaFirefox

Firefox 16 final launches with Reader on Android, VoiceOver on Macs and web app support

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Mozilla Marketplace in Firefox

Mozilla knows how to keep on the fast track. Just weeks after the Firefox 16 beta first showed, the finished version is ready and waiting. Surprises are few if you were an early adopter, although the update still has some welcome changes for the right audiences. Mozilla is most keen to talk about preliminary web app support for the Mozilla Marketplace, but you'll also find device-specific additions like a Reader Mode for the Android flock and VoiceOver support automatically switched on for Macs. More responsive JavaScript and on-by-default Opus audio playback give existing surfers extra reasons to upgrade. Firefox 16 is immediately available through all the usual channels, so hit the relevant source link if you're ready to live on the not-quite-bleeding edge.

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Firefox 16 final launches with Reader on Android, VoiceOver on Macs and web app support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google plays privacy catch-up, adds Do Not Track option to Chrome

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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.

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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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Firefox 16 beta arrives with web app hooks, Reader Mode for Android and VoiceOver for Macs

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Mozilla Marketplace

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.

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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  |  sourceFirefox Beta, Google Play  | Email this | Comments

Mozilla releases Thunderbird 15 with Firefox-like UI, live chat

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Mozilla releases Thunderbird 15 with Firefoxlike UI, live chatMozilla might be scaling back its official support of Thunderbird, but it still has love left for those who yearn for more in their e-mail clients than OS developers can give. The newly-released Thunderbird 15 update's most conspicuous change is a deliberate visual harmony with its Firefox cousin: the company wants its apps to have more in common than just a shared name on the About screen. Under the hood, there's now a live chat feature to skip the wait for e-mail, a Do Not Track option for web searches and the choice of using Ubuntu One cloud storage for large attachments. It's hard to know if future Thunderbird releases will be as substantial once the community takes the reins. For now, though, Thunderbird aficionados can relax.

[Thanks, Keith]

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Mozilla releases Thunderbird 15 with Firefox-like UI, live chat originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Firefox 15 to arrive in finished form on August 29th, promises truly stealthy updates for all (update 2: stand-alone, Android too)

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Firefox 15 to arrive in complete form on August 29th, promises truly stealthy updates for all Mozilla has been keeping to a tight schedule of having a completed Firefox release every five to six weeks, and it's very much on track. The browser team's Ehsan Akhgari has confirmed that a properly polished version of Firefox 15 should reach the download servers on August 29th. When it does arrive, the new release will primarily expand the silent updates that Windows users first saw in Firefox 12: future iterations on all platforms will install themselves in the background and should be truly ready to go the next time the browser starts. Beyond this deliberately subtle change, the finished version 15 upgrade should still support Opus audio as well as clamp down on out-of-control memory use from add-ons. We're looking forward to not noticing the differences very shortly.

Update: Although it's not on the front page yet, both Mozilla, reader Josh and this writer can confirm that Firefox 15 is rolling out sooner than expected -- there's no reason to wait.

Update 2: It's now easier to get a stand-alone copy if you're not updating, since Mozilla just updated the Firefox front page to reflect the new version. Android users are also getting an update through Google Play that brings earlier speed updates to tablets, a personalized start page and a whole host of extra fixes, some of which come directly from the desktop Firefox 15.

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Firefox 15 to arrive in finished form on August 29th, promises truly stealthy updates for all (update 2: stand-alone, Android too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceEhsan Akhgari  | Email this | Comments

Google, Mozilla and Wikimedia projects get Maya language translations at one-day ‘translathon’

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Google, Mozilla and Wikimedia projects get Maya language translations at one-day 'translathon'

Twenty native speakers of Yucatec, Mexico's most widely spoken Mayan tongue, met last Thursday to help bring the language to Google, Mozilla and Wikimedia projects. The event, dubbed Mozilla Translathon 2012, was organized to provide translations for Firefox, Google's Endangered Languages Project, the WikiMedia software that powers Wikipedia and 500 crowdsourced articles, to boot. Finding the right words, however, can often be a tricky proposition. "There are words that can't be translated," Mozilla's Mexico representative Julio Gómez told CNNMéxico. "In Maya, file doesn't exist. Tab doesn't exist." Gómez continues to explain that the group may keep foreign words as-is, or find other terms to represent the same ideas. In addition to software localization, it's believed that the effort could allow Maya speakers to "recover their identity and their cultural heritage," according to Wikimedia México president Iván Martínez. If you'd like to peruse wiki articles in the indigenous language, check out the source links below.

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Google, Mozilla and Wikimedia projects get Maya language translations at one-day 'translathon' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TheNextWeb, FayerWayer  |  sourceCNNMéxico, Wikimedia, MozillaWiki  | Email this | Comments

Firefox 15 beta boasts support for Opus audio format, reduces add-on memory leaks

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Firefox 15 beta boasts support for Opus audio format, reduces addon memory leaksCan't bear to part with your favorite browser extensions, but can't stand to see them devour your system memory? Maybe you should check out Firefox 15. According to Mozilla's Hacks blog, the browser's latest beta should patch up the majority of memory leaks gushing from Firefox add-ons. Also new, is the beta's support for Opus, a free audio format partially supported by Mozilla. The firm hopes competing browsers will pick up the format as well, calling it "as good or better than basically all existing lossy codecs." The blog makes quite a case for the format, citing tests and bitrate information, going as far as giving instructions on embedding Opus players in web pages. Check out the codec of tomorrow for yourself at the source links below.

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Firefox 15 beta boasts support for Opus audio format, reduces add-on memory leaks originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jul 2012 08:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMozilla Hacks (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Mozilla giving Thunderbird the (effective) axe, leaving its fate to the community

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Mozilla reportedly giving Thunderbird the effective axe, leaving its fate to the community

Mozilla's Thunderbird mail client just hasn't enjoyed the same level of stardom as its Firefox cousin. Their developer must be feeling this discrepancy more than most, as the company has confirmed plans to take the organization out of active Thunderbird development. The shift is officially being spun as an adaptation that lets the Foundation center its energy on Firefox OS and the usual browser plans, but when Mozilla proper will only be handling bug fixes and security updates for a client that's "not a priority," we'd say it's putting Thunderbird on ice. Accordingly, leaked details from TechCrunch show Mozilla moving some of the team out of the project at some point; any new features will have to come from the community, which suggests the future upgrade schedule will be more than a bit unpredictable. The writing is on the wall soon enough that existing owners could have food for thought well before a final strategy is due in early September.

Mozilla giving Thunderbird the (effective) axe, leaving its fate to the community originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TechCrunch  |  sourceLizard Wrangling  | Email this | Comments

Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on)

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DNP Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, fresh look, Flash, HTML5 and, er, speed

After a brief stretch in beta followed by some vague teasing, Firefox's native Android app update is finally set to hit Google Play. While there are a raft of bells and whistles -- a new welcome page, curvy Australis tabs, Flash and HTML5 support, for starters -- it's the browser's newfound speed that is getting the MVP treatment. That rapidity is as good a place as any to start a quick hands-on, especially since the native browser lag on one of our older handsets, a Galaxy S, often makes us want to hurl it through a pane of glass. Mozilla claims it built Firefox to a new benchmark it developed called Eideticker, resulting in an overall browser experience twice as fast as the stock Android one. As advertised, initial loading is quasi-instant, and navigation, zooming and tab switching seemed smooth as well, even on the two-gen-old phone.

Feature-wise, preferences and other desktop settings imported easily with Firefox Sync's shared password system, and the unfortunately named "Awesome Screen" is the new home page shown above, from which it's fairly simple to launch your preferred sites. Flash and HTML5 generally displayed correctly despite a few minor rendering bugs, and the curved tabs and other design touches make it one of the more elegant Android browsers we've played with. Unfortunately, many sites display in full because they don't yet detect Firefox as a mobile app, but the installation of the Phony 3.2 add-in lets it impersonate other smartphone browsers, and it seemed to work well. We also didn't like that tabbed browsing now requires two taps to get to another page, unlike the previous version, but we imagine that was needed for the increased speed. Overall, Firefox is a welcome addition to the Android ecosystem -- we bet you're just as eager to start browsing as we are, so stay tuned for the app to hit Google Play later today, or jump past the break for a quick speed demo from the kind folks at Mozilla.

Update: The new version is now available at the source link below.

Gallery: Firefox for Android native browser hands-on

Continue reading Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on)

Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Firefox teases something ‘big’ coming for Android next week

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Firefox teases something 'big' coming for Android next week

There's been a steady flow of betas for Firefox's Android offering and now the official Twitter account promises something "big" on the way next week, along with this image. The size declaration plus a lack of updated features (specifically Flash support) on tablets so far has us looking there for something new, although the image clearly shows a phone with the words "Fast. Smart. Safe." Also curious is an update for the Firefox beta on Android today which the Twitter account also admonishes those looking for an early preview of next week's news to check out. Finally, there's the timing, as Firefox's main browser rival Chrome has been rumored to be taking over as the standard bearer in Android Jelly Bean next week during Google I/O. Leave all relevant speculation or information in the comments below.

Firefox teases something 'big' coming for Android next week originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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