Opera is claiming a large $3.4 million in damages in the lawsuit, and they point to a video with Hansen talking about some of the innovations behind a prototype web browser for the iPad, called Junior. Hansen talks about some the features used in the browser that Opera claims that they were, or are, working on.

Hansen refused to comment about his work history with Opera, but he said that he is working with lawyers to prove that he did nothing wrong. As for Opera’s side of the story, they believed that Hansen “acted contrary to his contractual and other legal obligations towards Opera, among other things, the duty of loyalty and his contractual and statutory confidentiality obligations.”

The court hearing is set to take place sometime in late August, and the dispute is currently pending, so there’s not a lot of details to go around just yet, but we’re sure that come August when the hearing takes place, we’ll find out which party gets the win, but in the meantime, it seems Hansen will receive a lot of grief over the summer.

[via The Next Web]

Kovacs joined Mozilla in October of 2010 and he has helped the company make its way towards the mobile landscape, and he’s even credited with being the leader behind the development of Firefox OS, which was just recently unveiled this year. The next CEO for Mozilla, which is currently being searched for as we speak, certainly has some big shoes to fill.

Kovacs says that he’s proud of the company, and now that Mozilla has a “solid foundation and a strong team in place,” Kovacs decided that this is “the right time” for him to hand the role to someone else willing lead Mozilla even further. However, Kovacs still plans to “guide Mozilla’s impact on the future of mobile,” so this certainly won’t be the end for Kovacs.

The company’s next big project is partnering up with Samsung to develop a whole new web browsing engine for Android, called Servo. The engine would be written using an in-house programming language, and the companies are hoping that Servo will be a revolutionary new product that Android will greatly benefit from.

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]

Schroepfer was perviously the Vice President of Engineering for Mozilla, as well as the Chief Technology Officer of Sun Microsystems’ data center automation division. Facebook believes that with Schroepfer’s impressive experience and expertise, he will be able to improve upon many important aspects of the company’s main money makers. Schroepfer will be improving the company’s mobile division, as well as develop more ways to mine user data for better advertisements.

Along with promoting Schroepfer to CTO, Facebook has also announced that it will be supporting hashtags. These moves make it appear as though the top social network is trying to copy Twitter. Just a couple of days prior to Facebook’s promotion of Schroepfer, Twitter also promoted one of their own to CTO. Twitter’s CTO spot, which was vacant since 2011, was filled up by Adam Messinger, previously the Vice President of Application Development. And the hashtags feature, as well all know, was popularized by Twitter.

This could all be a coincidence, but it wouldn’t be too surprising if Facebook really is looking at other social networks to see how it can improve its own user experience. With Schroepfer working on improving Facebook’s data mining and mobile experience, Facebook’s support for hashtags, and all of the other changes the company has planned in the past few weeks, Facebook is hoping to dramatically increase its advertising revenue.

[via Wired]

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]

Adobe stated that the two Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) were labeled CVE-2013-0643 and CVE-2013-0648. They were targeted by hackers and used to trick users into clicking on links that redirected the user to a website carrying malicious Flash content. What’s strange is that these two CVE’s were designed specifically to target only the Firefox browser, and no other web browser.

This security exploit comes only a few weeks after Adobe’s last security exploit. On February 8th, hackers exploited a couple of security flaws in the Adobe Flash Player that allowed them to hijack users’ computers. In one scenario, users were sent Microsoft Word documents that when opened, would unleash malware on the user’s computer. In the other, users were, like this recent exploit, tricked into opening a link that brought them to a website with malicious flash content.

Adobe wasn’t the only company to suffer from these malicious attacks. Oracle also had to distribute a few emergency updates of its own for Java recently when hackers exploited the bugs contained in the software. For those of you who have not yet received the update, you can get it through this link. Hopefully this ceases the malicious activity for a while.

[via Computerworld]

Sony’s Xperia Z and Tablet Z are getting a lot of buzz among consumers. Both offer beautiful form-factors alongside great specs, making them very appealing to any type of consumer. Both devices are water-resistant, being able to be submerged in water for up to 30 minutes without any detrimental effects. Sony believes that the Xperia Z and Tablet Z will help make it a major competitor in the Android space.

With the Xperia Z and Tablet Z fighting its Android wars for it, Sony hopes that it can also create devices that will make it the top manufacturer of mobile devices for the Firefox OS. Samsung will not be throwing its hat in the Firefox OS ring because it wants to focus all of its efforts on the Tizen OS. With Samsung out of the way, Sony has a really good chance of dominating the Firefox OS space, with its only real competitor being LG.

Firefox OS looks like it will have a very promising future, especially with all of these great backers. Mozilla says that the Firefox OS will have a great app base, with many popular apps like Facebook and Twitter already available for the platform. Because of the HTML5 platform, it will also be easier for web developers to create apps for the OS. Mozilla promises that the Firefox OS devices will have affordable price tags, making them even more appealing in the eyes of the consumers.

[via The Next Web]

Firefox OS offers in-depth searching that brings search results from both apps and the web at the same time. For example, when you search for your favorite music artist, you’ll get search results for the artist, as well as places to purchase their music, stream their music, and options to purchase their concert tickets. You can also create a download app from a search term, allowing you to easily and quickly grab the information you want when you want it.

The Firefox Marketplace will offer a good selection of apps at launch. Firefox OS runs HTML5 apps, and there are many apps currently available, ranging from the most popular apps to local/niche apps. There is AccuWeather, Airbnb, Box, Facebook, Twitter, Disney Mobile Games, EA Games, Pulse News, SoundCloud, SporTV, and more. Mozilla believes that having apps built around web technologies will make app developing much more easier, and will enable more innovation, control, and opportunity for both developers and consumers alike.

There isn’t a specific launch date for the Firefox OS devices. Mozilla just says that they will launch “later this year”. However, if you want, you can view the Firefox Marketplace in Firefox for Android Aurora just to get a feel of what apps will be available at launch. The Firefox OS devices will offer good performance, ease-of-use, and personalization at an affordable price tag.

[via Mozilla]

The project is led by Mozilla, and is being developed by the W3C WebRTC working group. PeerConnection, getUserMedia, and DataChannels are all chiming in as well to make sure that the new feature runs both seamlessly and securely. PeerConnection enables security for your calls, getUserMedia lets developers (with your permission) capture data from your video camera/microphone, and DataChannels combined with audio/video chat can send data to any web browser it has access to. All audio/video communcations are encrypted for safe and private calls.

If you’re a Firefox Aurora user, you can test drive the WebRTC features right now. Mozilla believes that implementing this new feature in its web browser is very innovative. If you come across a news story, sale, or any web page that interests you, you can easily drag and drop the link into a video call that you’re in. Mozilla also believes that this could change the way that online customer service works. Currently there are customer service web chats available with many services, but in the future, customer service reps could video chat with you and show you a demonstration of their products.

Mozilla will be demonstrating its WebRTC features at Mobile World Congress this week, and we’ll get you more scoop on that. Mozilla is also planning on showing a demonstration of its Firefox operating system that its hoping will make it a major competitor in the mobile market place. You can also check out some of the other innovative technologies introduced at Mobile World Congress here.

[via Mozilla]

The built-in PDF viewer in Firefox is fairly interactive as well, and can do most of the basic stuff that external PDF readers are capable of, such as changing the size view, searching the document for certain words, viewing page thumbnails, printing PDF documents, saving the PDF to your computer, and even bookmarking it in Firefox for viewing later on.

Firefox 19 comes more than a month after Firefox 18, and this newest update also includes remote debugging, a handful of bug fixes, CSS improvements, as well as your general performance enhancements that are always welcomed. The PDF viewer is built on HTML5, so it’s fast and secure. However, there’s no pinch-to-zoom support on the Mac, which is a slight bummer. Hopefully they’ll add it in the future.

Of course, Google Chrome users have long been enjoying a built-in PDF viewer, so it actually took Mozilla a long time until they finally introduced the feature. Nonetheless, avid Firefox users (which seem to be dwindling in numbers lately), finally get to throw out those annoying PDF reader plug-ins for a handy default solution.

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]

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.

According to Mozilla, the vulnerability could potentially allow a malicious website to pinpoint the websites users have visited, and gain access to the URL or its parameters. Per the notice Mozilla published, the company has received “no indication that this vulnerability is currently being exploited in the wild.” Users who have already downloaded Firefox 16 are encouraged to either rollback to version 15.0.1, or to avoid using the browser until after the fix is released.

Firefox 16 offers several new features, most of which are aimed at developers. One such feature is the Developer Command Line, which provides keyboard control over the Developer Tools. Other features include CSS3 Animations, Image Values, IndexedDB, Transitions, and Transforms.

New features for the average consumer includes VoiceOver support for Mac OS X users and web app support for all three operating system versions of the browser. The Firefox app for Android will include a new reader mode, which allows users to hide browser elements for distraction-free reading. You can check out all the release notes here.

[via Mozilla]

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.

Mozilla say that the speed improvements are the real star of the show, and from using the Beta version, we have to agree. Initial load times are “lightning fast”, and the company says that the browser was created against a new benchmark called Eideticker, something it claims helps achieve performance that’s twice as fast as the stock Android browser.

The new “Awesome Page” displays your favourite websites in addition to the most recently visited tabs, and the URL bar has been tweaked to display the most recent searches and visited websites to cut down on awkward typing time. Desktop users will also be able to sync bookmarks between the regular Firefox and mobile version. Tabbed browsing has been tweaked too, allowing users to easily switch between open windows without too much fuss.

The new Firefox update doesn’t seem to have quite the Play Store just yet, but Mozilla say it will definitely land today. Keep an eye out in the meantime, and definitely give it a try.

[via Engadget]

There have also been some tweaks made to tabs and the general user interface. Instead of the lone Back button on the current version of Firefox, you’ll now find both Forward and Back. The physical size of tabs has also been reduced, allowing for more to be crammed onto the bar before you run out of real estate.

Start Page and Bookmarks can still be found on the right hand side of the browser, but are now part of the background instead of being boxed into traditional buttons. It’s definitely a more appealing and cleaner interface than previous versions of the browser, although Chrome’s influence seems clear.

If you want to test out the nightly for yourself, Caschys Blog has the portable version available for download. As is often the case, there will probably still be lingering bugs, so maybe hold off on using it as your daily browser.

[Thanks, Sascha!]

Mozilla argues that the proposed browser plans for Windows RT are anticompetitive, and it looks like those complaints haven’t gone unnoticed. Senator Herb Kohl, an aide Chair of the Antitrust Subcommittee, has confirmed that the Committee will be looking into the allegations, but there are no formal plans to launch an antitrust investigation right now.

Mozilla took to its blog last week in order to detail its exact complaints with the system. “On ARM chips, Microsoft gives IE access special APIs absolutely necessary for building a modern browser that it won’t give to other browsers so there’s no way another browser can possibly compete with IE in terms of features or performance.” Internet Explorer would gain access to both desktop and Metro APIs, while other browsers would be restricted to just Metro.

Despite this, Mozilla has committed to creating a Metro version of the Firefox browser for Windows RT, and Google has confirmed it will be doing the same with Chrome. Whether the two companies will be able to hook into those crucial desktop APIs remains to be seen.

[via Neowin]

If you often browse the web with tons of tabs open and find it a pain to wait for all the tabs to reload when you restart Firefox, you’ll be happy to hear that Firefox 13 will only reload tabs on demand. Firefox will only restore the tab you currently select without restoring background tabs, which will make restarting the browser much faster.

Firefox 13 also brings a new design to the New Tab and Home Page, offering a customizable page with links to your most recently and frequently visited sites, similar to what Opera and Chrome offer. The default Home Page now has Bookmarks, History, Settings, Add-ons, Downloads, and Sync Preferences links.

As for the SPDY protocol, Firefox 13 now enables it by default. The SPDY protocol improves on HTTP by significantly reducing page load times, while ensuring all traffic is encrypted.

[via Wired]

Starting with Firefox 12, you will no longer need to approve the update, wait for it to install, and then restart your browser. The process has now been moved completely to the background. Previously, the update also downloaded in the background, but installation happened on start-up, which meant users experienced delays in starting up Firefox.

Now, the update downloads and installs in the background while Firefox is still running. It will still require a restart to take effect, but it will happen so quickly that users won’t even notice it. The update also brings improvements to new built-in dev tools such as Web Console, Scratchpad, Style Editor, Page Inspector, Style Inspector, and 3D Page Inspector.

[via WebMonkey]

Still in its early stages, the app looks very basic and only allows calls to be made between two users that are signed in with BrowserID, or also known now as Persona. The video chat can be started directly in the browser and a buddy list of currently signed-in users is displayed in the sidebar.

The video chat app runs on a modified version of Mozilla’s Firefox desktop web browser that includes simulations of various APIs that are still being standardized. It also supports WebRTC, which Mozilla plans to introduce to Firefox in the next few months.

[via Wired]

What Mozilla Chief Technology Officer Brandan Eich said this week was that “B2G is partnering up” and to look for “more at MWC.” We expect to see at least some hardware partners, but perhaps a whole lot more on the software side of things. If you take a peek at what they’ve got set up thus far for preview, you’ll note that Facebook and Google Maps are already integrated, but it may just be for demonstration’s sake. Having just seen the user interface for the B2G system thus far, we’re excited to see the whole operating system in action.

Earlier this week at the newest unveiling of a set of Mozilla products, Jay Sullivan, Mozilla’s vice president of products of the plan, had the following to say of B2G:

“A truly Web-based OS for mobile phones and tablets would enable the ultimate in user choice and developer opportunity, both from a technology and an ecosystem point of view. Boot to Gecko is a project to build a OS that runs HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS directly on device hardware without the need for an intermediate OS layer.” – Sullivan

Would you consider using a web-based software on your mobile device? What this would mean is access to the local files you’ve got now potentially, but mostly a cloud-based experience not all that unlike what Google is doing with their Chrome OS. We’ll be getting a much better look (we hope!) at Boot to Gecko sooner than later. Until then, cross your fingers it comes to fruition!

[via Brendan Eich]

This whole setup is being created by teams at Mozilla to one day perhaps tie the entire mobile operating system world together with one basic system. Most of the components you’ll see in the B2G environment are able to be made and work in a basic web browser – be it desktop, smartphone, tablet based or whatever you like. Because of this, its very possible that we’ll see this so-called operating system fully functional in what Mozilla says could be the second quarter of 2012!

That’s a “product stage” in Q2 of 2012, so says Mozilla, and we’re convinced they can do it. What we’re not quite convinced of yet is Mozilla’s ability to convince the world that it makes more sense to use their open-sourced system when there’s already several mobile operating systems well in effect: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Symbian to name a few. What we’re sure of is the idea that the gigantic batches of technical information on the back end of the browser that Mozilla has listed for developers will fall on deaf ears if presented to consumers as interesting in the least.

Instead what Mozilla will have to do is present the ultra simple to understand components of the Gaia user interface as they exist today. The images you see above and below are Gaia. You might say the look a bit familiar if you’ve ever used an Android or an iOS device in the past. Getting past the opening screen is quite similar to an LG or Samsung device in that you pull up the Gecko-laden clock like a garage door. At the moment this is all just a face to put with a body that will be developed in a much more grand sense in the very near future – a lot of this doesn’t do a whole lot yet, but certainly will soon, especially given the fact that it could have a massive impact on the mobile world and Mozilla is already in the non-profit market and does quite well for itself and has for some time.

We’ll certainly be seeing more of Boot2Gecko in the near future – for now you can try out the Gaia user interface by heading to this GitHub repository, downloading the files as a zip file, opening them up and opening the homescreen.html file inside the folder you get with your Firefox browser. Again not a whole lot works yet, but it’s interesting to see!

Also note that when you open up the Map app, it immediately directs you to Barcelona. You know what that means! Mobile World Congress 2012 action is in order – we’ll see you there!

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]

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]

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!

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!

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]

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]

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]

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]

Firefox 4 has had one of the longest development cycles out of all the Firefox versions, having gone through 12 betas before reaching the release candidate version last week and now readying for the stable release next week.

“Firefox 4 RC1 has received a very warm welcome; it’s time to make a decision to ship,” said Mozilla’s Damon Sicore. “As of now, there are no known issues that would stop us from shipping RC1 as final. At the conclusion of our regular 11:30AM triage session on Wednesday, 16 March, release drivers will decide whether to ship RC1 as Firefox 4.”

[via Pocket-lint]

“What we want to do is get the power into users’ hands more quickly,” says Mozilla VP of product, Jay Sullivan. He gives the example of the video tag, which was ready since June but has yet to be released to users and will be part of the Firefox 4 update. “We’re moving on web time now, and we’ve been shipping a little bit on desktop time. It’s not necessary, so we’re undergoing some process changes, and we’ll do smaller bundles more quickly.”

Google’s Chrome has taken up a large market share, pumping out a few key features almost every six weeks. They are already working now on Chrome 10 beta. Should Mozilla adapt this model, we’ll likely be seeing Firefox 5, 6, and 7 within the next year. Firefox 4 is currently on its 12th beta, with the Release Candidate version expected to arrive within a few weeks.

[via Electronista]

During last year’s contest, Google Chrome was the only browser undefeated but with this additional cash prize and added publicity it is likely that more hackers will seriously take this to task. Details of the Google Chrome contest are as follows:

On day 1, Google will offer $20,000 USD and the CR-48 if a contestant can pop the browser and escape the sandbox using vulnerabilities purely present in Google-written code. If competitors are unsuccessful, on day 2 and 3 the ZDI will offer $10,000 USD for a sandbox escape in non-Google code and Google will offer $10,000 USD for the Chrome bug. Either way, plugins other than the built-in PDF support are out of scope.

Other web browser targets for this year include the latest release candidates of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. Each browser will be installed on a 64-bit system running the latest version of OSX or Windows 7.

[Via ZDNet]