Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, is working on a new Web browser called Scout. Unlike its current bowser, Scout will be created with accessibility in mind, enabling users to access content using voice commands. The company describes Scout as an exploration at this point, having revealed it at an event today.
Facebook just can't seem to catch a break and has become everyone's favorite scapegoat for privacy problems. Sometimes, however, it's not exactly Facebook's fault. Case in point is a recently reported and, fortunately, fixed vulnerability that allowed malicious third-party sites to glean Facebook information like a user's profile picture and name. And that vulnerability, ironically comes from a standard Web feature that was introduced way back in 2016.
The nascent VR market has more or less settled into two camps, Oculus and Vive. Four and a half if you count Oculus-powered Gear VR, Google Daydream, and Windows Mixed Reality. Needless to say, there's a bit of fragmentation going on, especially when you factor in prices and system requirements. WebVR, and particularly Mozilla's new Firefox Reality, promises to democratize VR by making experiences available on all VR platforms and devices. And its first actually usable application is Hubs by Mozilla, a VR chat world where you take on the appearance of a clunky, floating robot.
There is a great deal of focus being put on privacy lately thanks to the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, but the social network is hardly the only culprit. Countless websites track users' online activity, mostly for ads, and web browsers often help them in exchange for a cut. Mozilla has always prided itself on not being beholden to such a business method, though it did try and fail a couple of times. Now Mozilla is taking a bold step that could antagonize advertisers and retailers by turning on Firefox's Tracking Prevention by default on iOS.
Just in time for the AR explosion, Mozilla revealed their first version of Firefox Reality. That's a Firefox web browser for VR and AR platforms - mixed reality, in other words. This is a web browser made to appear in virtual reality, augmented reality, and in a way that allows simple VR and AR control.
It’s almost pointless by now to keep track of the version numbers of web browsers, considering the biggest ones like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have passed the number 50 mark way back. Of course, it’s still just as interesting as ever to keep track of the features that these releases bring. And version 59 of Firefox has such treats for almost all its users, from desktop, to Android, to enterprise, and, yes, to Amazon Fire TV.
Advertising is the business model of the Web, Mozilla concedes. But the non-profit foundation behind the Firefox web browser has so far been unable to adopt that. It has tried, of course, and got no small amount of backlash because of its standing in the open source and privacy-conscious community. Despite setbacks, it’s trying again, this time with a little help from save-for-later service Pocket. Which, by the way, Mozilla owns since February last year.
Back in November, Mozilla introduced Firefox Quantum, a new "really fast" version of the Internet browser. Today the company announced an update for Firefox Quantum, adding new features while improving speeds and offering a smoother rendering experience. In addition, Firefox for Android is on the receiving end of some new capabilities, not the least of which is better Progressive Web Apps support.
Firefox creator Mozilla confirmed Meltdown and Spectre flaws could be used to extract login info from users online. The chances of this happening to the average user are slim, but still most certainly significant. This adds to the already-massive set of devices and situations in which either Meltdown or Spectre could have effects on computer users.
The back and forth between Google and Amazon has become both entertaining and also frustrating for consumers. It is the common folk who get caught in between the clash of the titans and, at least for Amazon Echo Show and Fire TV users, that meant being deprived of the time-wasting joys of YouTube. While peace negotiations are supposedly on the way, hope comes from a new, outside source. Mozilla has just announced that the Firefox web browser is now available on Amazon’s Fire TV platform and, yes, it can play web videos, including YouTube.
This week the folks at Firefox released Firefox Quantum, an update to their web browser that makes the internet seem faster. It actually is a little bit faster for the end user, as it were, and Mozilla's efforts make for the biggest update since the first version of the Firefox web browser. It's actually pretty impressive.
It isn't time yet for Firefox's biggest update, but Mozilla is serving up some small features as an appetizer. While not yet Project Quantum fast, the latest version of Firefox is still faster because it removes the need for convoluted processes and workarounds just to perform some of the most common tasks you do on the web, like filling out forms, taking screenshots, or sending links to your future self.