Featured: We start out today’s round of featured content with Don Reinsinger’s thoughts on the PlayStation Vita. As he puts it, the device will probably be Sony’s last portable. Why? Because of things like the iPhone and iPad, and their instantly accessible games. Games like Monsters Ate My Condo, which we just happened to review today. Also on the review front, check out our look at the Satechi Audio Move SD.

Tablets: Hey, guess what? You know how we’ve been talking about iPad 3 rumors for months on end? It’s time for those rumors to finally be put to rest, as Apple’s iPad 3 announcemenet has been dated. It’s about time. And not to be outdone, Samsung is also pushing its new Galaxy Tab 2, with pricing that we think is set for disaster. Samsung really wants to fight Apple, so this is definitely a clash in the making.

General Geekiness: Among the other stories making news today is we got a look at what Firefox will look like when it becomes optimized for Windows 8. But the story that probably fits the title for coolest one of the day has to go to this one Mattel Hover Board prepped for 2012 holiday release. Oh, yes, the hover board we’ve dreamed of is finally on its way. Well, kind of. Read the story to find out more. And that’s it for now. Check back tomorrow when we post Tuesday’s evening wrap-up.

Similar to what the Microsoft operating system Windows 8 will be doing, this version of Firefox will include two interfaces: one similar to the Windows 7 interface titled “Classic” and another closer to Windows 8 new vision called “Metro.” The update to the Classic interface will be a “simple evolution” while the Metro update will have “a new Firefox front end and system integration points.” According to Mozilla,

“Firefox on Metro, like all other Metro apps will be full screen, focused on touch interactions, and connected to the rest of the Metro environment through Windows 8 contracts. Our UI will need to adjust to show the most relevant content for each size. In order to provide users with access to other content, other apps, and to Firefox from other content and apps, we’ll need integration with the share contract, the search contract, the settings contract, the app to app picking contract, the print contract, the play to contract, and possibly a couple more. We’ll be a source for some, a target for some, and both for some.” – Mozilla

Live tiles may be a possibility in this built, as will the front end being built in XUL, C or C++, or HTML/CSS/JS. In other words, Mozilla hasn’t finalized one whole heck of a lot in this future build, noting that they’ll be focusing also on Boot to Gecko, this being a complete, standalone operating system for the open web. Gecko will likely be completely separate from Windows 8, with our Consumer Preview at Mobile World Congress 2012 set for February 29th, 2012. Seeya there!

[via Mozilla Wiki]

"HTML5 is a compelling technology for developing apps, and is quickly improving. Combined with the freedom to build what you want and distribute it directly to users on your own terms, it has great potential. But just as there are gaps to be filled from a technology point of view, there are gaps to be filled from an ecosystem point of view. The Web lacks standard, consistent ways to find, rate, review, purchase and prove ownership of apps. Mozilla’s goal is to foster an ecosystem that combines the best elements of the Web with the best elements of the app model" Mozilla Foundation

Although it might be the easy - and, given the challenges faced from Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari and Microsoft's Internet Explorer, some might argue sensible - route to make the apps Firefox-only, Mozilla is targeting cross-browser compatibility. The common standards the group intends would "support multiple app stores, direct distribution of apps by app developers, app portability and true end-user ownership of their apps."

As for distributing that software, Mozilla plans to extend its existing web-app Marketplace to cover phones and tablets in addition to desktop users. Apps will be supported in any browser, no matter the device or OS, and developers will be able to release paid as well as free titles.

Part of Mozilla's challenge is opening up broad hardware access to apps created in HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, which currently lack the flexibility of native code. To do that, it's pushing ahead with "Boot to Gecko" (B2G), the web-powered mobile platform for phones and tablets that, while using a trimmed-down Android base layer, will boot straight into a browser-style interface for native support of HTML5 and other web-app coding. Mozilla is aiming for a public product demo of B2G sometime this quarter.

[via CNET]

Firefox 10 will offer smoother delivery of updates by making add-ons compatible by default. New built-in developer tools allow real-time editing of websites within the browser through features such as Page Inspector, which lets developers view a page’s structure and layout without leaving Firefox, and Style Inspector, which gives access to a page’s CSS properties.

The update also introduces the Mozilla Full-Screen API that allow developers to create full-screen websites and Web apps. Richer web-based games, video, and multimedia experiences can be created when combined with Mozilla’s WebGL standard and new Anti-Aliasing support that brings smooth hardware-accelerated 3D graphics.

[via Mozilla]

The current version of Firefox that Mozilla workers are crafting is Firefox 12. Recently, the daily builds showed up with a couple new features that are very reminiscent of Chrome features. Some fans of Firefox will be upset to hear that the features that were added and removed included one that many been waiting for, the new tab page. The other feature was the home tab. While the new tab page wasn’t part of Firefox test build for long, it was up long enough for people to see what it was about.

The page was a three by three grid that showed you little pictures of the most visited websites that you had been to, intended let you just click on the pictures and go to the site. Chrome has had this for a while, but it’s not a feature that many use. The Firefox home tab is a little strip the bottom of the browser that has launchers, in those launchers let you go directly to certain things in the browser such as downloads, settings, apps, and more. Now for the bad news, over the weekend Mozilla pulled the new tab page from Firefox 12 along with the home tab. Honestly, I don’t see either of those two features being anything particularly exciting. Do you think those are important features? If you use Firefox are those two features something you will miss?

[via Extremetech]

Unfortunately, there’s a considerable amount of international users still hobbling along with the ancient browser. If you take out the United States numbers, approximately 8% of computers are using IE6. That’s a drop of less than 2% in the last six months. Still, that’s a far cry from where it was just a few short years ago: when IE7 was introduced in 2006, IE6 had a whopping 80% of the market cornered. Today, the combined share of Internet Explorer 7-10 is just over 50%, with IE8 taking the largest chunk of Microsoft’s users. Firefox and Chrome are duking it out for second place: Chrome recently took the lead over Firefox with almost 20% of the world market.

IE6 has been a headache for IT managers and web developers alike for years, mostly thanks to its many security holes and poor support for web standards. After introducing newer versions Microsoft itself has urged its customers to abandon the older browser in favor of the latest version. Currently the official release of IE is version 9, which had 12% of the total market all by itself as of December 2011. When Windows 8 is release later this year, the gold version of Internet Explorer 10 will accompany it.

[via Tom's Hardware]

Those figures, Microsoft’s IE team claims, suggest that “as of November, IE9 usage share on Windows 7 worldwide was higher than all versions of Chrome and all versions of Firefox – second only to IE8″ and that December numbers look set to follow that trajectory. In fact, Microsoft says it expects that 25.6-percent of Windows 7 PCs will have been using IE9 by the end of 2011, in the US at least.

IE8 remains the top individual browser version in play according to Net Applications, at 28-percent alone, though those figures differ from those released in December by StatCounter which indicated Chrome v.15 had overtaken it. Google has begun an aggressive update push to get users onto Chrome v.16, and Microsoft recently revealed plans to automatically update its own legacy users unless they had previously opted-out.

Nonetheless, Microsoft could find itself dipping beneath the 50-percent market share point come March, Net Applications predicts, if its overall share continues to dwindle at the same pace. Firefox, too, ended 2011 on a sour note, with its 21.8-percent share only slightly higher than that of Chrome.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine was Google’s primary rival in this deal, and the the company’s long-living Internet Explorer is still the top Internet browser on the web, by user count, although Google Chrome is ever so climbing nearer and nearer to take the spot away, potentially in the near future. Yahoo was apparently in the bidding competition as well, but prices were too high for the company, who has its own internal troubles to deal with at the very moment.

Last year, Google paid over $100 million to Mozilla for a deal in providing the default search engine for Firefox, which expired at the end of November. Though even with the new deal with Google, Mozilla still retains current partnerships with other search providers, including Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Amazon and eBay. We can say one thing for certain; Google’s hoping for their own sake that Mozilla’s extravagant sum is worth it.

[via AllThingsD]

Mozilla says on their official blog that “Firefox for Android leverages large tablet screen sizes and optimizes popular features for tablets. The Awesome Screen integrates Firefox Sync and makes it easy to access your browsing history, open tabs, bookmarks and saved passwords across desktop and mobile devices so you can type less and browse more.” Along with the newly revamped UI, you’ll also notice small bug fixes, and also a faster boot-time for the app itself.

Check out the video demonstrating Firefox 9 provided by Mozilla, and if it’s what you’re looking for, check out the download link on the Android Market here. Let us know what you like and don’t like on the newest version of Firefox for Android tablets, and feel free to leave your thoughts below in the comment section.

[via Engadget]

The last agreement made that was announced to be expiring this November was made all the way back in 2008. Mozilla then penned an agreement to have Google be the default web-search sitting in the corner of their browser for three years, until now when, once again, they’ve signed for a further three years. Meanwhile Google maintains that their own web browser Google Chrome’s objective is not to seek and destroy the rest of the web browsers out there, but to improve the web itself, this evidenced by their high popularity and peaceful coexistence with the Fox.

Other options in Firefox for search engines include Microsoft’s Bing, and indeed they did release a version of Firefox 4 with Bing as the default earlier this year, but it appears now that Google is here to stay for quite a while. Now one must ask themselves: what if I want to search with Altavista? Those of you wanting to see the future of Firefox also have the option of switching that up and finding beta versions of the software via their developer-aimed Future of Firefox page, complete with Firefox 9 beta right this second.

[via Mozilla]

For those of you working in Apple’s Mac OS X Lion environment, you’ll now have improved theme integration in-browser. You’ll also have the ability to two-finger swipe inside windows if you’re using Lion, a feature that until now was only available in a stable form inside Safari. You’ve now got improved support for text-overflow and a brand new support for font-stretch.

Stability issues have been taken care of in several hush-hush ways, and you’ll be able to download this new version for Windows, Mac, or Linux, provided your version of any of these is the most recent or nearly the most recent version. You can do so through the Future of Firefox page for downloads and grab all the notes and details on this release on the Firefox 9.0 Release Notes page at Mozilla. On the other hand if completely stable versions of software are more your level of experience, you can still go back to the Firefox latest releases downloads page and hit your icon!

Two of the biggest blows to Mozilla were the loss of a key manager Mike Shaver that left for greener pastures and the loss of a key revenue stream. Mozilla has had a contract in place with Google making the search giant its largest financial backer. A search partnership with Google was the largest source of income for Mozilla. That partnership was set to end in November.

That one partnership with Google was generating 84% to 86% of all the revenue that Mozilla earned. At this point, there is still apparently a chance that the Google search deal will be renewed. Mozilla is paying the situation close to the vest and will only offer vague responses like “We believe that search providers will remain a solid generator of revenue for Mozilla for the foreseeable future.” What do you think, is Firefox done? Does Google even need the Firefox partnership since Chrome is gaining many of the Firefox defectors? Will Google renew the deal to keep Bing or Yahoo from signing up?

[via ZDNet]

What you’ll see here is a mix of old and new, but mostly it’ll be new. I just want everyone to get a grip on what it means to use Firefox in its entirety.

Tabs

One of the coolest features you might never notice if noone had told you about it is the apps tab. What you can do here is the Apps Tab. You have a new option for webpages that you keep open all the time – such as Gmail, for example. What you can do now is pin this page as an App Tab, its representation as a tab then minimized to only the icon that goes with it, it staying in place for when you’ll inevitably need it next.

There’s also a new feature which only has one tab loaded after you’ve restarted with all of your open tabs re-opening. Where before after you quit the browser and re-opened it, each page would have to load on its own, here only one page loads, the rest loading when you first access them from your tab area.

Instant Website ID

The icon sitting to the left of the URL in your Navigation Toolbar now serves a new purpose: it’s a button that leads you to security information on the website. Check out this example from Gmail and know the true truth!

Add-Ons Manager

Two major things have happened with Add-Ons, one of them being the fact that each Add-On is de-activated by default instead of instantly ON when you install it into Firefox. This will help newbie users with the process of avoiding malicious Add-Ons they did not intend to work with. Mozilla programmer Justin “Fligtar” Scott notes the following:

“These add-ons installed by third parties present a number of problems: they can slow down Firefox start-up and page loading time, they clutter the interface with toolbars that often go unused, they lag behind on compatibility and security updates, and most importantly, they take the user out of control of their add-ons” – Fligtar

For those of you not familiar, Add-Ons Manager now sits inside a browser-like tabbed window and looks very much like what we currently recognize as an App Store. This helps and will very likely continue to help promote Add-Ons as such a layout is great for discovery purposes.

Twitter Integration

If you’re an avid Twitter user, you’ll be glad to see that you can switch your search bar to seek Twitter terms. Hashtags optional. You can also search for Twitter usernames if that’s what you’re in to. This feature is available in English, Japanese, Portuguese, and Slovenian at the moment.

HTML context menus

Those of you that love to develop for the web specific to a single browser will be excited to hear that Mozilla have added some fancy HTML options for users who right-click. Context menus now exist for web apps and websites, and with them you can make your online creation much more like a desktop-based design.

Bugs and the rest

Of course there’s a bunch of bug fixes in this release which you can read about in the bug fixes list at Mozilla, then there’s more changes as well like cross-domain textures for WebGL, a master password for the Android version of Firefox, and more fantastic changes are on the way. Firefox is constantly being updated and improved, and Firefox 9 is already in Beta for those of you tired of using the already very, very outdated Firefox 8. Imagine that! Go download the new Firefox now!

The HTML5 Kindle Cloud Reader app is now supporting Firefox. To start reading, Firefox users just need to go to http://read.amazon.com using the browser on their computer or device. This is the latest app from Amazon to use HTML5. It will synchronize the user’s library and track the last page read so you are on the same page no matter the device you use to read.

It will also sync bookmarks, notes, and highlights too. Readers can also use the Kindle Cloud App to buy and browse new books. The Cloud Reader is now available on Safari for iPad, Safari for desktop, Chrome, and Firefox 6.

This newest version of Firefox will be more attuned to how and when an add-on is safe to use in more ways than one. First, add-ons will be set to disabled by default until the user who added them flips the ON switch, this appearing in a one-time dialog box that’ll also allow the user to work in a basic way with previously added add-ons. Twitter is integrated into the mainframe, appearing in the search bar for quick access, plus there’s a few simple updates including a preference to auto-load tabs after one relaunches the browser. There’s also improved WebSocket support, improved tab animations, and added support for HTML5 context menus.

This version adds performance tweaks as well as stability updates, and the first download link is available now. You can head to Mozilla’s FTP area for 8.0 now if you do so dare, but know that you do so at your own risk. You’ve also got the option to wait until Tuesday and have the full download with full safety and many multiple mirrors for quicker download as well. Enjoy!

[via TechnoBolt]

Long-time Firefox users may feel a little strange using the different version. The browser’s “Awesome Bar” and search bar has defaulted to Google for years. Mozilla’s contract with Google, which pays the open-source developer a minute amount for every search that originates from the search bar, is up for renewal next month – maybe they’re looking for a little leverage. For Microsoft’s part, they seem thrilled to offer their services: “We are excited to make it even easier for members of the Mozilla Firefox community to use Bing,” said employee Tor Steiner.

If you’re at the intersection of the Bing/Firefox Venn diagram, you’ll be happy to know that Firefox with Bing works with all current themes and add-ons. You can even – gasp! – add Google or other search engines to Firefox with Bing, if you’d like to try your best to destroy the Internet from the comfort of your laptop. Or you could, you know, just use Internet Explorer. Version 9 is actually pretty okay.

[via PC Mag]

Mozilla was able to reduce Firefox memory usage by as much as 50 percent, which results in faster performance and less chances of the browser crashing. This will be especially welcome to “heavy internet” users that open up a lot of tabs during long browsing sessions.

There are new tools that come with Firefox 7 that will allow developers to create snappier web experiences, including a new version of Canvas that speeds up HTML 5 animations and games. The browser also now supports the W3C navigation timing spec API so that developers can measure page load time and navigation against bandwidth speed, traffic and other factors.

Additionally, there is an opt-in Telemetry tool for users to provide anonymous browser performance data in a private and secure way to help improve future versions of Firefox.

[via Mozilla]

Dutch company DigiNotar is at the center of this controversy, having had what appears to be over 500 digital certificates stolen from them since July, these including certificates for official sites for the CIA, Israel’s Mossad, and the UK’s MI6. The number set at 531 was written by Mozilla developer Gervase Markham, one of a team who has been working to modify Firefox in order to block all sites signed with the certificates now likely in evil hands. The full list of sites possibly affected is not known, but a short list reads like a who’s who of top sites globally: Facebook, Yahoo, Skype, Microsoft, Twitter, and Microsoft’s Windows Update service.

Reports coming from DigiNotar have noted that they’ve already attempted to revoke all fraudulent certificates but had just in the past few days found out that they’d overlooked certain ones that would allow the hackers access to Google cervices across the board. To combat this situation, Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft have stated that in addition to the more than 200 certificates they’d already blocked since DigiNotar originally started releasing information about a month ago, they’d be blocking the whole lot, including those used by the Dutch government, as soon as possible. Google Online Security Blog and Mozilla Security Blog AND Microsoft Security Response Center posted this inside the past few days.

Based on the findings and decision of the Dutch government, as well as conversations with other browser makers, we have decided to reject all of the Certificate Authorities operated by DigiNotar” – Google Information Security Manager Heather Adkins

This will in the end put quite a stopper on DigiNotar’s business as a whole, this echoed through the tweets of infamy this week until the end:

“Effectively a death sentence for DigiNotar” – WhiteHat Security CTO Jeremiah Grossman

Gervase Markham, again one of a team who has been working to modify Firefox in order to block all sites signed with the fraudulent certificates, commented on the idea that there may well have been a bigger break-in than has been widely understood at this point, this building on what Helsinki-based antivirus company F-Secure said, that it had found signs that DigiNotar had been compromised as early as 2009.

“It is at least possible (but entirely speculative) that an initial competent attacker has had access to [DigiNotar's] systems for an unknown amount of time, and a second attacker gained access more recently and their less-subtle, bull-in-a-china shop approach in issuing the [hundreds of] certificates triggered the alarms.” – Markham

Those of you having panic attacks at this point can rest easy, as the set of three (Microsoft, Google, Mozilla) will more than likely ax out the entirety of the fraudulent certificates from ever affecting you. Lucky you, these groups who lead you into the internet on a daily basis really do appear to know what they’re doing and will continue to keep you safe like superheroes.

[via ComputerWorld]

Firefox on Honeycomb will take on the tablet platform’s minimalist design theme but will keep familiar visual elements of Firefox in place. The Awesomebar will use the same tabbed menu for quick access to bookmarks and history but will have the tabs moved to the left to give more space to results.

Tabs have also been tweaked so that screen space is optimized in both landscape and portrait orientations. In landscape mode, tabs will appear in a persistent left sidebar for easy quick browsing. But in portrait mode, tabs will appear in a drop-down menu to save space.

Overall, Firefox for Honeycomb is looking quite nice and efficient, but Mozilla is only showcasing the browser today and has not confirmed when it would actually be released. We’ll be sure to keep you posted and once we get it downloaded we’ll do a hands-on to see how it performs.

[via Android Community]

The official launch date is listed as August 16 for Firefox 6.0. Firefox 7.0 will go into the beta channel tomorrow as well signaling a stable build. At the same time, Firefox 8 will move to the aurora channel. Only the beta channel builds are considered stable, the other two channels have no QC that is found on the other channels.

The new Firefox 6.0 browser will bring some changes to the mix including an address bar that highlights the domain you are visiting. It has a site identity block with a new look, and has support for the latest version of Websockets. It also has a bunch of other updated features including Scratchpad support for JavaScript prototyping. There are a number of other changes as well.

[via Neowin]

This latest update brings over 1000 new features for both desktop and Android versions of the browser. Firefox 5 isn’t a major overhaul outwardly, but does bring a lot of change under the hood that includes performance and stability enhancements as well as privacy improvements and new CSS animations and improved JavaScript support.

Performance wise, Firefox 5 uses new HTTP optimizations that accelerates content and makes it much faster than before. The “Do not track” option that was introduced in Firefox 4 is now more visible to users and appears as an interface item for users to select whether or not they want websites to track them. New CSS animations support will allow for “Flash-like” dynamic content.

[via Datamation]

Older browsers to have their support phased out starting this fall, include Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, Safari 3, and all of their predecessors. Google says that these browsers simply cannot support the HTML 5 needed for new Google Apps to work. For instance, the desktop notifications in Gmail and the drag-and-drop file uploading in Google Docs.

Google will continue to support up to three of the most recent browser versions on a rolling basis for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. Whenever a new version is released, support for the third-oldest version will be dropped.

[via Google Enterprise Blog]

There’s also better spell-checking performance and Linux users should find Firefox 5 integrates better than previous versions. Meanwhile, the much-vaunted Do-Not-Track header system has been moved to a more prominent position, in the hope that more users will take advantage of it.

Interestingly, there’s also now easy switching between Mozilla’s three channels – Firefox Aurora, Beta and Release – so that users can test out the early versions while not giving up on the most stable release. There’s a full list of the changes in Firefox 5 here, and you can download it here.

This service automatically checks websites you browse against Google’s blacklist. It’s integrated into Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. What this feature aims to do is add another layer of defense against malware installations. Google keeps a database of known malware URLs. Every time you click a link, Google checks it out and lets you know if everything’s okay. If it’s bad, you’ll see something like this.

If you use one of these browsers, every page you browse to is checked against Google’s database, and if it finds a match it’ll throw you an error. If you want to turn this service off or on, here’s the way to do it in Chrome or Firefox.

Chrome – browse to chrome://settings/browser

Firefox – Edit > Preferences

[via Chromium Blog]

You’ll notice Firebug, an add-on that helps people make their webpages function faster – oh the irony. Then there’s a slew of oddities that more than likely have been abandoned by their masters to rot in a slowly degrading prison of dead pixels and hashtags. Furthermore, Mozilla wants you to know that it’s these evil brands that are slowing down your Firefox experience, not the browser itself.

They chop the heads off the offenders with a simple “If you think add-ons might be the reason Firefox is lethargic, check the list below for some of the biggest bottlenecks. And remember, for best performance you should disable add-ons that you no longer use regularly.” Firebug and FoxLingo translator and dictionary slow down your Firefox day-to-day by a monstrous 74% – watch out!

NOTE: The most ironic addition to this list is of course FastestFox – Browse Faster. Oh how marketing can take us for a ride…

[via Firefox]

Video demo after the cut

Thanks to Firefox Sync, all your desktop bookmarks, browsing history, open tabs, form data and passwords are pulled across into the mobile app, and vice-versa. There’s also the Awesome Bar, Mozilla’s combination search and address bar.

HTML5 support is baked in, but no Flash support at present. Mozilla is also offering Firefox 4 for Maemo. More information at the Mozilla blog.

What’s New in Firefox for Android and Maemo:

• Streamlined Interface
• Focus on Web content: Features like tabs, one-touch bookmarking and browser controls that stow away when not in use help users focus on the websites they visit
• Browse More, Type Less
• Awesome Screen: Type less with easy access to history, bookmarks and open tabs
• Save to PDF: Capture important websites, like directions or a boarding pass, to view offline
• Share Page: Share websites via apps like email, Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and more
• Add Search Engine: Customize your search engine list
• Private and Secure Synchronization
• Firefox Sync: Access Awesome Bar history, bookmarks, open tabs, passwords and form data across multiple computers and mobile devices with secure end-to-end encryption
• Most Customizable:
• Firefox offers thousands of ways for users to customize the features, functionality and look of their mobile Web browser with Firefox Add-ons
• Cutting Edge Tools for Web Developers:
• Firefox improves existing tools like CSS, Canvas and SVG to enable developers to make exciting Web pages
• HTML5 support in Firefox for Android and Maemo includes Location-Aware Browsing, device orientation, accelerometer, desktop notifications and more
• The JavaScript engine incorporates the new JägerMonkey JIT compiler, along with enhancements to the existing TraceMonkey JIT and SpiderMonkey’s interpreter for faster page-load speed and better performance of Web apps and games

First, Firefox has been redesigned with a new look that places web content on the center stage. App tabs are still at the heart of the interface, but Mozilla has also introduced a cool new Panorama feature which makes it easier to navigate multiple pages. It has enhanced the JavaScript engine to speed up both start up and page load times, up to six times faster than the previous version. Security wise, Firefox provides fortified security features like Do Not Track and Content Security which gives users greater control over their personal data and protect it from being used online.

Firefox also introduces the “Awesome Bar,” which is designed to make it easier to move to another webpage tab without opening duplicate tabs. Panorama takes tabs and drags and drops them into a group interface to manage them with greater ease. The new JavaScript Engine employs the JägerMonkey JIT compiler, enhancements to the existing TraceMonkey JIT and SpiderMonkey’s interpreter in concert to make page for greater speed and performance of Web apps and games. HTML 5 support is native to Firefox as well, with hardware acceleration for enjoying high definition videos on the web, 3D graphics, offline data storage and incorporates touchscreen interface support.

And now, when a plugin like Adobe Flash crashes, users won’t have to restart Firefox. Users can simply reload the page to restart the plugin. There’s also improved support for CSS, Canvas and SVG for web developers who want to keep their web sites on the cutting edge. There are also over 200,000 add-ons available continuing Firefox’s tradition of making the browser fully customizable and a personal experience. Users can download Firefox 4 at GetFirefox.com.

[via Mozilla Blog]

Mozilla believes this is a more inclusive and comprehensive route than maintaining blacklists or cookies, though it does recognize that it relies on sites to fall into line and respect the “Don Not Track” user preference. The approach differs from Microsoft’s strategy for IE9, which will rely on “anti-tracking lists” onto which users can put approved and unapproved sites.

Of course it really depends on the version of Skype Toolbar your using, but furthermore this toolbar uses some methods to detect and re-render phone numbers that will make your DOM manipulation 300 times slower – this effects a large percentage of web content today and is therefor making your whole experience totally crappy. What is Mozilla doing about it?

First, blocklisting the extension: all versions of Skype Toolbar have been added to Mozilla Firefox Blocklist. This is what they call a “soft block” where the extension is temporarily disabled while you the user are notified of the potential problem, at which time you’re able to either choose to continue working with it or to get rid of it entirely.

Bugs associated with this situation are: bug 615799 and bug 627278, and the full blocklist entry will be added sometime in the next 48 hours.

[Via Mozilla]

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Bacteria used to store data by Chinese researchers
Aluratek Bump Boombox with Remote Wireless speaker makes me thirsty
Motorola seeks trademark on Xoom name
Rahul Sood leaves HP and lands at Microsoft
ITC votes to launch investigation into Microsoft Xbox 360
2011 Ford Fiesta owners are first to get AppLink voice control
Space tech used to create headphones for iPhone that can monitor heart rate
NoseDial for iPhone is exactly what you think it is
TuneLink Auto for Android offers wireless tunes in your car coming soon
Sony Ericsson confirm LiveView update in Jan 2011: Bluetooth fixes & more
Google Nexus S arrives in UK: £430 SIM-free or free on contract
India faces 3G data & video call ban over real-time security fears
Archos 70b Android ereader up for pre-order in Europe
Synology DiskStation DS1511+ packs 15TB (or 45TB with booster drives)
Viliv Media Tablet Phone could be 3G-enabled P3 PMP
HTC EVO Shift 4G leaks ahead of 2011 Sprint launch
HTC Incredible HD leak is obviously engineered
Newzoo Projects Gamers Spent Almost $25 Billion on Games in 2010
Call of Duty: Black Ops Passes $1 Billion in Sales Worldwide
Mini iPad Caught in the Wild?
Occipital Finds Augmented Reality Capabilities Within Mobile Safari for iOS 4.2
Elliptic Labs Reveal Touchless iPad via TGUI Stand
VUDU Update to 2.0 Goes Live
Microsoft to Announce an ARM Processor Compatible Version of Windows OS
Instructables Sends Out Free and Ad-Free Hackaday Edition E-Book
Happy Holidays from Blizzard Entertainment
When will Skype be Back Online Today?
Activision Sues Former Infinity Ward Heads AND Electronic Arts (EA)
Sony Buying Back Chip Plant from Toshiba
Salvation Army Kettles Get Wireless Credit Card Terminals
Google Shared Spaces Sneaks Out, Showcases Wave Technology
iPad 3G Available Through AT&T Online Store in Time for Christmas
Westone 4 Headphones Announced, Cost $449
Cyberdyne HAL Exoskeleton to Be Shown Off at CES 2011
HTC Media Link unboxing [Video] [FEATURED]
TalkTorque 2 Robot Will be Happy to Guide You Through a Museum [Video]
The Late Adopter [COLUMN]
Mouse for Men Concept Design Features Flexible Touchscreen
Call of Duty: Black Ops Gets New 1.05 Patch, Continues to Try and Fix Multiplayer
Playbutton Puts Music on a Button, Going on Sale in Early 2011
AUDEO PFE 022 + Mic Earbuds Unboxing and Hands-On [FEATURED]
DIY Exploding High-Five Glove makes hand-slapping geeky [Video]

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

The nearest alternative was Internet Explorer 8, which blocked 90-percent. NSS Labs credit SmartScreen URL filtering, included in IE8 and IE9, for the strong showing; only IE9 has SmartScreen application reputation protection, however, hence the difference in results.

Meanwhile, Apple’s Safari 5 languished with 11-percent of threats blocked, Chrome 6 did even worse with 3-percent, and Opera 10 failed to block any of the downloads. Around 636 URLs were included in the testing, and interestingly – as shown in the following chart – despite both Safari 5 and Firefox 3.6 each using Google’s Safe Browser feed, the two apps seemingly implemented it in different ways.

SlashART
Ever wonder how many floppy disks it would take to install your modern day applications on your desktop? What’s that? You never used floppy disks to install anything before? You kids. Here’s a project that’ll make you appreciate this modern age of USB stick installation: “3.5 Inch Poster” is a set of posters displaying color-coded floppy disks with labels displaying which application they’re going to be used to install. On each disk is a number, for example “iTunes 8 – Install Disk 17/46″ that means it’d take 46 of these hunks of plastic just to install your everyday iTunes 8 update. The other results are thus (and they’re approximate: 358 disk for Adobe Photoshop CS4, 1760 disk for the Sims 3, 12 disk for Firefox 3, 36 disk for Firefox Add-ons. Old programs, old disks! Also, looks like Firefox wins! Or loses? These posters will be available for purchase soon via AntrepoShop. Designed by Mehmet Gozetlik in collaboration with Emre Basak.

[Via Mehmet Gozetlik]

R3 Media Network

Android Community
Angry Birds Update Gets Mod to Optimize Gameplay and Hide Ads [HAPPY BIRDS]
ACCESS Launches NetFront Life Mobile Browser for Android Devices – Free for Download [ALL SIDEWAYS]
T-Mobile G2 Overclocked to 1.9Ghz [FAST]
Australian Sony Ericsson Twitter Releases Android 2.1 Update Info for Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and Mini [UPDATES]
Samsung Galaxy Tab Production Cut in Half, According to Analyst [CHOP]
Panasonic entering the japanese smartphone market in 2011 [WATCH OUT]
Bootlace creators to bring Froyo to iPhone 4 and iPad [STRAP EM UP!]
LG Vortex due Nov 18; 1m Optimus One smartphones sold in a month [LIKE HOTCAKES]
Swedish firm outs world’s first Android TV [WATCHIN STAR WARS]
Aigo aigopad N700 Tegra 2 tablet launches [TABLET ALL AROUND]

SlashGear
SoundFreaq SFQ-01A Review [REVIEW]
A Week with the HTC HD7: Software [FEATURED]
Twitter Launches Push Notifications for @mentions [KNOW ALL]
Phonekerchief Lets Your Date Know They’ve Got Your Full Attention [GIFTABLE]
Google Voice for iPhone Review [REVIEW]
Google Voice for iPhone Launches [LAUNCH]
Samsung Continuum Hands-On & Unboxing [FEATURED]
Beatles hit iTunes as Apple announce gets early reveal [FEATURED]
LG “Star” Tegra 2 Android phone leaks: 8MP, 1080p & HDMI [LEAKY]
Schmidt’s Nexus S tease video now online [VIDEO]
B&N NOOK Color on sale now; new firmware for original NOOK next week [COLOR FOR ALL]
Proporta outs TurboCharger Back Pack battery case for iPhone 4 [PLUGGIN]
Giftmeister makes shopping easy on Android and iPhone [BURGERMEISTER MEISTERBURGER]
Microsoft Kinect sells a million units in 10 days [GO FOR THE GOLD]
PLX Devices XWave brain interface for Apple devices ships [CREEPY FUTURISTIC]
Dell Inspiron Duo hybrid netbook on sale November 23? [FLIPPY SCREEN]

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

For instance, no “beta,” “demo,” “trial,” or “test” versions are permitted, nor apps that change “the native user interface elements or behaviors of Mac OS X.”  Beltzner’s comments prompted an unsurprising retaliation from the Apple faithful, accusing the developer of being paranoid over whether future versions of Firefox would be available on OS X 10.7 (something he denies).

[via The Register]

Amazon also makes a useful tool bar for those that like to shop online and compare prices online without having to keep the Amazon site open. Amazon has had a toolbar for Internet Explorer for a long time now and the massive etailer has finally offered up a version of the toolbar for Firefox users.

The toolbar offers the features that IE users get like instant Amazon searches, the ability to make wish lists, and the ability to see best sellers, new releases and special deals at Amazon. The toolbar is available for download right now for those running Firefox 3.

Video demo after the cut

Electrolysis splits the browser UI process from the web rendering engine process, which apparently keeps app responsiveness high even when there’s plenty of page loading or JavaScript crunching going on in the background.  Meanwhile Layers – which will arrive in the Beta version of Firefox Mobile – will improve zoom, animation, video and scroll performance, including taking advantage of whatever hardware GPU acceleration might be present.

No word on when that Beta might be released, however, so for now it’s the Alpha – as with any such software, it might not be the most stable thing you could install on your smartphone.  You can download the new version of Firefox Mobile here, while the release notes are here.

Firefox Home pulls over the past pages history from the desktop from the last 24hrs, up to 2,000 items, with data re-synced every time the app is restarted.  As for actually showing pages, it uses Apple’s own iPhone browser system (or you can open pages in Mobile Safari); Mozilla insist they have no plans to port Firefox to iOS because of the limits Apple place on the platform.

You can download Firefox Home for iOS here [iTunes link].  Full instructions on how to set up the app – including linking it with Firefox Sync and your desktop browser – are here.

Video demo after the cut

For instance, Mozilla have added sync support across the desktop and mobile versions, which means that you can re-open the desktop tabs on the mobile app.  You can also use the same “Awesome Bar” as on the desktop app to pull in auto-complete results on the mobile client; that should also save you from tapping in long URLs on an iPhone keyboard, since if you’ve visited the page on the desktop it will pull that in too.

Pages will load in the app itself, but it will be a read-only viewer rather than a complete browser; the mobile version of your desktop, rather than a standalone app in its own right.  Mozilla plan to submit Firefox Home for iPhone to Apple for App Store approval in June.

Three different hackers took away $10,000 apiece for hacking the three browsers, despite having no physical access to the machines they were running on. While full details were not made public, the hacks generally required the user access a certain compromised website that took advantage of a hole in Apple, Microsoft or Mozilla software.

As for the iPhone, hackers Vincenzo Iozzo and Ralf Philipp Weinmann created a special website that, when visited on the Apple smartphone, automatically pulled out its SMS database.  However they also claim that the same technique could be used to extract the iPhone’s contacts, email, photo gallery and iTunes media files.  The pair took away $15,000 in prize money.

Video demo after the cut

Described as looking like “a big iPhone” Blump’it adds an on-screen QWERTY keyboard and various applications, and the company have an app store for downloading more titles.  Since it runs as part of the browser, it doesn’t matter what sort of processor or hardware you’re using – Windows, Linux or Mac, x86 or ARM – just as long as you can load up Firefox with plugin support.

Blump’it also seem to be pushing development of their own tablet, though there’s no indication of when that might be arriving on the market nor for how much.  We’re more interested by the potential for making existing touchscreen tablets and devices more finger-friendly; you can register and get access to the free alpha Firefox plugin now.

The SP is an all-in-one media program, and it allows users to take internet videos with them wherever they go, by utilizing their favorite mobile devices. Also, the videos can be uploaded and shared via Twitter and Facebook, which means all of your friends can get pummeled by your latest Miley Cyrus videos, even if you know they’ll hate your for it later. However, out of nowhere, it looks like RealNetworks has a legitimate announcement from the SP’s release. They’re saying that the RealPlayer SP has virtually “universal playback.” RealNetworks says that the videos can be played back on “nearly any device”, including BlackBerries, iPhones, a wide range of Nokia S60 devices, the Palm Pre, and iPods and iTunes. The Xbox 360 is even included in the list. It does all of this by automatic conversion to formats like MPEG-4, Windows Media, QuickTime, and obviously RealVideo.

The Player can download and transfer multiple videos simultaneously, has custom device profiles, and a plethora of settings to optimize video quality. It can create audio-only tracks from videos for playback on audio-only media devices, and sharing on Facebook or Twitter is done with just one click. The Beta was launched back in June, and since then the RealPlayer SP has been downloaded by over four million people and more than 22 million videos have been downloaded using the SP. It’s supported by the latest versions of Google Chrome, IE 8, and Firefox, but not any Safari love (yet?). And you can have all of this goodness for free if you want the basic player.

[via TechRadar]