TECHGEEK.com.au » Mozilla

Firefox 6 ahead of schedule, hits your updates box next week

Terence Huynh — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 23:50:22 +0000

Despite Firefox 5 being made official to download in June, Mozilla has already started releasing what appears to be a final version of Firefox 6 through its FTP servers – but you wouldn’t have known that unless you did some digging into its servers.

But why jumping from version 5 to version 6? Well, before, Mozilla would have labelled this version 5.1, but now that is considered being to slow to develop as major features, such as full HTML5 support, would have been pushed for the next major edition and not as a 4.x update. That, and Google Chrome is already in version 13, with version 14 and 15 on the works already.

So what can you expect? Nothing major – except apparently speed improvements. It promises to be almost 20 percent faster than Firefox 5. And while some may think that’s a bit gimmicky, but for Firefox, who has a notorious performance problem, it’s good.

Plus, suck it Chrome.

Via: technobolt

Microsoft celebrates the new version of….Firefox?

Chris Southcott — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:15:59 +0000

What a fun world we live in. Whenever Firefox releases a major update to their browser, Microsoft sends them a lovely cake. It’s a funny and positive tradition and Firefox 5 is no exception to it.

Mozilla’s VP of Engineering just tweeted a picture of their latest cake, which is a little smaller than they’re used to, probably because Firefox 5 is a little smaller than we’re used to.

Just received the congrats cake. From all at Mozilla, thank you, Microsoft. We love you, too. :) http://img.ly/5k48

June 22, 2011 6:27 AM via Twitterrific ReplyRetweetFavorite

@damons

damons

For reference, on the release of Firefox 4, Microsoft gave Mozilla this cake:

Very funny guys.

TECHGEEK Weekly 38: That’ll be $78 Trillion, please

Terence Huynh — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 19:00:06 +0000

James Wilson, holding his new partner at the iPad 2 Launch (Image: Stewart Wilson/TECHGEEK.com.au)

Despite the fact that Tom, James and Stewart aren’t on, the TECHGEEK Weekly Podcast still lives on, and we discuss the launch of the iPad 2, talk about the BlackBerry Playbook to come with Android applications and the fact that Duke Nukem Forever is delayed (again!).

We also find out that Tom, James and Stewart really should be on the podcast since Terence is forced to use a crappy free Skype Recorder rather than the professional Skype recording studios from Tom and Stewart. Don’t worry, they are “studying” (code for playing Minecraft).

So enjoy the episode – and just wait for next week. We’ll get much better. Don’t forget to subscribe!!

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Shownotes

iPad 2 released in Sydney, Australia

iPad 2 Sydney Launch Live

RIM opens up BlackBerry PlayBook to support Android apps

BlackBerry PlayBook gets price in US – $499 for 16GB

Court orders Steve Jobs to answer questions in iTunes antitrust case

Mozilla pushes out Firefox 4 – copies Chrome in more ways than one

AFACT brings iiNet case to High Court

Update: Some MacBook Pros Locking Up Under Load

AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion

That was quick: Four lines of code is all it takes for The New York Times’ paywall to come tumbling down

Duke Nukem Forever Delayed. Yes, Again

Banning baby-faces from social site Facebook

Limewire Being Sued For 75 Trillion

Hacker Posts His Crime On YouTube, Lands In Jail

Pwnage Playtime

iPad Gaming in HD on a TV: Game Changer?

New Game Releases

Mozilla pushes out Firefox 4 – copies Chrome in more ways than one

Terence Huynh — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:57:21 +0000

After Internet Explorer 9 got some good press for its revamp look, Mozilla – not wanting Microsoft get all the good goss – has officially launched their new version of Firefox, version 4.0. And it’s kind of obvious where Firefox got their new UI inspiration from – rival Chrome.

While it’s obvious that it looks copied, it does mean a new shift for 4.0. The new UI see tabs now on the top, but that can be switched to the bottom, a “simplified reload/stop button”, a Bookmark Button, and a new “Firefox Button” which replaces the menu toolbar.

Included are new features such as Multi-touch support; App Tabs, which allows you to get to your most frequently visited sites; and Panorama, which makes it easier to drag and drop tabs into groups to save time with many tabs opened. Also integrated in this edition is Firefox Sync, and now no longer needs an additional add-on. Sync will now also sync your passwords and form details for auto completion.

But what has improved is the performance. Firefox has been known to be one of the most memory-hogging processes, but now it appears to have smoothed the kinks. As well, a new Javascript engine, called JagerMonkey, sees the browser perform up to 6x faster – depending on the scores you believe in.

For web developers, the new version includes the new syntax for HTML5 and CSS3, while also includes support for HD-quality video via WebM, in addition to the Ogg standards. It also includes 3D graphics, a new Audio API via Javascript and a web console.

You can now download the browser at its website.

Tip: Sharing links easily with F1

Terence Huynh — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 07:53:13 +0000

Sharing links to your friends, such as a funny auto-correct fail or a news article that happens to claim that Apple is merging iTunes and Safari together, can be a bit tedious as you have to copy the link, open up your email client or a new tab for the social networking profile, and then post it out to your friends. Now, Mozilla has made it a bit simple.

Called F1, Mozilla (via Mozilla Messaging) has made this nifty little plugin to allow you to easily send those links to social networking sites Facebook and Twitter – along with several web email clients, such as Google’s Gmail. The list is a bit short but soon more services will be added – we hope.

The project is part of Mozilla’s Labs initiative in order to create better features for the Firefox brand, with many projects hoping to be graduates such as Personas (its new skinning feature) and Firefox Sync (bookmarks syncing). That being said, it is a Firefox-only feature and it is in beta, so you pretty much should be wary that it may cause instability.

If you are still confused with my explanation, you can see a video below.

You can download the plugin on their website.

TECHGEEK Podcast #22: It’s a series of tubes

Terence Huynh — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 19:00:48 +0000

It’s the second to last show of the year! And we go off with some Wikileaks news, because that has happen to dominate the news, with all the hacking and arrests. Wow. As well, we discuss the new Facebook profile design changes, and the new Chrome OS laptop.

We also find that Tom has had his internet capped, George Lucas is creepy, Steve Jobs has something he wants to say in an email and that Internet Explorer is safer than Firefox – how? Also, what the hell?

Anyway, if you want to get our email addresses, you can get them after the jump. See you next week. Oh, and don’t forget we have a live show on December 18!

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The Top Stories

Fallout begins as 4chan starts defending Wikileaks
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/12/08/fallout-begins-as-4chan-starts-defending-wikileaks/

First arrest made in WikiLeaks revenge attacks
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/12/first-arrest-made-in-wikileaks-revenge-attacks.ars

Julian Assange arrested by UK police
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/12/07/julian-assange-arrested-by-uk-police/

Caving to pressure from supporters, PayPal releases WikiLeaks’ funds [Update: PayPal down]
http://thenextweb.com/media/2010/12/09/caving-to-pressure-from-supporters-paypal-releases-wikileaks-funds/

One button lets you join the pro-Wikileaks parade
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/12/11/one-button-lets-you-join-the-pro-wikileaks-parade/

Facebook reveals profile page overhaul, in public beta
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/12/06/facebook-reveals-profile-page-overhaul-in-public-beta/

An update on Chrome, the Web Store and Chrome OS
http://chrome.blogspot.com/2010/12/update-on-chrome-web-store-and-chrome.html

Google unveils Cr-48, the first Chrome OS laptop
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/07/google-unveils-cr-48-the-first-chrome-os-laptop/

Google Chrome OS gets detailed, first laptops from Acer and Samsung coming mid-2011
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/07/google-chrome-os-gets-detailed/

Google releases 2010 top search results – ChatRoulette, iPad, Bieber top “Fastest Rising”
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/12/10/google-releases-2010-top-search-results-chatroulette-ipad-bieber-top-fastest-rising/

Stewart’s Briefs (1)

YouPorn sued for using JavaScript flaw to spy on users
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/12/youporn-targeted-for-using-javascript-flaw-to-spy-on-users.ars

George Lucas wants to resuscitate dead actors using computers
http://dvice.com/archives/2010/12/george-lucas-wa.php

Google launches eBookstore
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/12/09/google-launches-ebookstore/

Man Sues Rockstar Saying GTA:SA Is Based On His Life
http://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/12/09/1452250/Man-Sues-Rockstar-Saying-GTASA-Is-Based-On-His-Life

TECHGEEK Podcast 16: Limewire R.I.P

TECHGEEK.com.au Team — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 07:30:57 +0000

It’s Halloween and we see the deaths of Limewire and the Walkman. The iPhone 4 White version is either dead or still kicking, and little hackers all over the place thanks to a little Firefox plugin. Yeah. It’s an absolute shambles episodes with only two hosts – with Terence and Stewart.

After having a break of one week, James off on la-la land, Tom in Phillip Island and sick, and Chris is also sick with a cold;

Note: We’re currently trialling a new method of encoding our podcasts, and it should still be the same quality but at a reduced size. Enjoy!

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Show Notes

Lazy Hackers Unite: Firesheep Boasts +104,000 Downloads In 24 Hours
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/25/lazy-hackers-twitter-firesheep-boasts-100000-downloads-faceboo/

Firesheep usage leads to Idiocy
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2010/10/26/firesheep-usage-leads-to-idiocy.html

Mozilla: No ‘kill switch’ for Firesheep add-on
http://www.itworld.com/security/125569/mozilla-no-kill-switch-firesheep-add

Secret Button Sequence Bypasses iPhone Security
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/iphone-snoop/

White iPhone 4 delayed again, hit stores in Spring?
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/27/white-iphone-4-delayed-again-hit-stores-in-spring/

… or is it cancelled? [Apple cancels white iPhone 4?]
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/10/27/apple-cancels-white-iphone-4/

The Real Reason White iPhone 4 Is Delayed (Hint: The Camera)
http://www.cultofmac.com/the-real-reason-white-iphone-4-is-delayed-hint-its-not-discolored-buttons/66224

Microsoft thanks Windows 7, Office 2010, Xbox for record first quarter
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/10/microsoft-thanks-windows-7-office-2010-xbox-for-record-q1.ars

Nintendo posts net loss – first in seven years
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/28/nintendo-posts-net-loss-first-in-seven-years/

Microsoft says Windows 8 roughly two years away
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20020544-56.html

LimeWire Gives Up the Ghost, Shuts Down P2P Filesharing Client
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20101026/limewire-gives-up-the-ghost-shuts-down-p2p-filesharing-client/
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/limewire-riaa-defeat/#more-20311

The PlayStation Phone
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/26/the-playstation-phone/

IDC: Apple passes RIM to become fourth largest mobile phone vendor globally as Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson struggle
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/29/idc-apple-passes-rim-to-become-fourth-largest-mobile-phone-vend/

Taiwanese company sends $1.5b threat to Apple over iPad name
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/28/taiwanese-company-sends-1-5b-threat-to-apple-over-ipad-name/

Sony ends production of the Walkman. (Wait… Sony was still making walkmans??)
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/27/sony-ends-production-of-the-walkman-wait-sony-was-still-making-walkmans/

Stewart’s Briefs

Android Market Surpasses 100,000 Apps
http://mashable.com/2010/10/25/android-100000-apps/

Microsoft’s IE9 ‘nearly finished’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/28/ie9_almost_ready/

Nintendo bringing classic Mario games to the Wii for $30
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/10/nintendo-bringing-classic-mario-games-to-the-wii-for-30.ars

Lady Gaga beats Justin Bieber to YouTube record
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/11626592

Sears (US store similar to Kmart AU) goes Zombie!
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/dap_10153_12605_DAP_Zombie?origin=zeta
http://optimalbranddevelopment.com/blog/sears-caters-undead-zombie-website/

Witness the most epic iPhone costume ever constructed
http://dvice.com/archives/2010/10/witness-the-mos.php

Everest summit wired up with Internet
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqBgetgq7AcFkfBfsmS4Ah0NWs4g

TECHGEEK Podcast 15: TERENCE IS GONNNEEEE LETS PARTY!!!

Stewart Wilson — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 13:00:20 +0000

Yes, that’s right.. Terence is on holidays in Rome! So everyone at TECHGEEK.com.au is partying like crazy. We talk about the new Windows Phone 7, The Android ‘dude’ problem, #newtwitter, the iPhone app that allows you to spy and much much more.

Behold, Episode 15 – the first extremely unorganised podcast to come from TECHGEEK.com.au, oh and we have made the clean tag!

Programming note: Terence & James are not on this week’s episode. Both are representing groups going to Rome.

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SHOW NOTES

Microsoft unleashes Windows Phone 7

http://www.cnet.com.au/microsoft-unleashes-windows-phone-7-339306522.htm

Aussie carriers jump on Windows Phone 7

http://www.cnet.com.au/aussie-carriers-jump-on-windows-phone-7-339306534.htm

Windows Phone 7 apps

http://www.cnet.com.au/windows-phone-7-apps-339306532.htm

Windows Phone 7 will connect to Macs

http://www.cnet.com.au/windows-phone-7-will-connect-to-macs-339306585.htm

Windows Phone 7 Live Messenger official screenshots

http://www.cnet.com.au/windows-phone-7-live-messenger-official-screenshots-339306624.htm

LG Optimus 7 phone specs leaked after accidental posting

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/11/lg-optimus-7-phone-specs-leaked-after-accidental-posting/

Skype 5.0 delivers video-conferencing, Facebook integration

http://www.cnet.com.au/skype-5-0-delivers-video-conferencing-facebook-integration-339306633.htm

Microsoft, Facebook in social search deal

http://www.cnet.com.au/microsoft-facebook-in-social-search-deal-339306588.htm

Telstra unlocks iPhones for free

http://www.cnet.com.au/telstra-unlocks-iphones-for-free-339306621.htm

Geohot releases new jailbreak called Limera1n

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/10/geohot-releases-new-jailbreak-called-limera1n/

TweetDeck Android out of beta

http://www.cnet.com.au/tweetdeck-android-out-of-beta-339306599.htm

Does Android have a ‘dude’ problem?

http://www.cnet.com.au/does-android-have-a-dude-problem-339306623.htm

Sony Ericsson bring out LiveView display for Android

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/11/sony-ericsson-bring-out-liveview-display-for-android/

Everyone has #newtwitter, old design to be phased out

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/14/everyone-has-newtwitter-old-design-to-be-phased-out/

Gran Turismo 5 delayed….again

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/15/gran-turismo-5-delayed-again/

Diabolical app turns your iPhone into a spy camera

http://dvice.com/archives/2010/10/iphone-camera-a.php

Apple holding ‘Back to the Mac’ event October 20

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/14/apple-holding-back-to-the-mac-event-october-20

CTL 2goPad SL10 with Windows 7 starts shipping for $499, arrives looking better than expected

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/13/ctl-2gopad-sl10-with-windows-7-starts-shipping-for-499-arrives/

STEWART’S BRIEFS

PS3 NetFlix goes disk free, 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/15/ps3-netflix-goes-disk-free-1080p-streaming-and-5-1-surround-sound/

New MobileMe Calendar Officially Launched

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/15/new-mobileme-calendar-officially-launched

Is this the new MacBook Air?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/16/is-this-the-new-macbook-air/

AOL looking to buy Yahoo, talking to private equity firms

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/14/aol-looking-to-buy-yahoo-talking-to-private-equity-firms/

Keepin’ it real fake: Magic Mouse and iPhone converge into iPhonc

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/14/keepin-it-real-fake-magic-mouse-and-iphone-converge-into-iphon/

You could buy a small village or this $8 million iPhone

http://dvice.com/archives/2010/10/8-million-diamo.php

Organs status sent to cellphones wirelessly

http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/11/organs-status-sent-to-cellphones-wirelessly/

Google tests self-driving car

http://www.cnet.com.au/google-tests-self-driving-car-339306494.htm

TECHGEEK Podcast 14: OMG! There’s another body!

Terence Huynh — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:00:51 +0000

Yes, apparently Google is into shooting photos of dead people as photos of the dead appeared on Google Street View. Ouch. As well, Motorola gets sued by Microsoft, Facebook lets you download everything you ever uploaded or wrote on Facebook, and MySpace brings out a craptastic new logo.

As well, we bring out a new TECHGEEK Tips episode hosted by Terence and Chris, and the individual episode gets released on Saturday.

Programming note: Terence & James will not be on next week’s episode. Both are representing groups going to Rome.

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SHOW NOTES

Aiming at Android, Microsoft sues Motorola
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20018305-56.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859204575526200991561476.html

With Antennagate over, is Glassgate next for the iPhone 4?
http://gdgt.com/discuss/with-antennagate-over-is-glassgate-next-iphone-ani/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/07/apple-afraid-of-a-shattering-followup-to-its-antennagate-woes/

What did Facebook really just announce?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20018796-36.html

Is your private phone number on Facebook? Probably. And so are your friends’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/oct/06/facebook-privacy-phone-numbers-upload

Apple in talks to launch iTunes subscription music service?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/08/apple-in-talks-to-launch-itunes-subscription-music-service/

New Apple music subscription rumor pegs price at $10/month
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/10/new-apple-music-subscription-rumor-pegs-price-at-10month.ars

MySpace Unveils New, Artsy Logo
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/08/new-myspace-logo/

Internet Explorer falls below 50 percent in browser market
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/05/internet-explorer-falls-below-50-percent-in-browser-market/

LG puts Android tablet on hold, says Froyo not suitable
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/10/lg-puts-android-tablet-on-hold-says-froyo-not-suitable.ars

What Did Microsoft and Adobe Chiefs Talk About?
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/microsoft-and-adobe-chiefs-meet-to-discuss-partnerships/

Android Most Popular Operating System in U.S. Among Recent Smartphone Buyers
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/android-most-popular-operating-system-in-u-s-among-recent-smartphone-buyers/

Trouble In Clever Domain Land: Bit.ly And Others Risk Losing Theirs Swift.ly
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/06/trouble-in-clever-domain-land-bit-ly-and-others-risk-losing-theirs-swift-ly/

Better Clear Some Space For Kinect (Or Move House)
http://kotaku.com/5656638/better-clear-some-space-for-kinect-or-move-house?skyline=true&s=i

Firefox 4 Beta for Android and Maemo is Now Available
http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2010/10/07/firefox-4-beta-for-android-and-maemo/

Bodies in Brazil: the perils of Google Street View South American-style
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/bodies-in-brazil-the-perils-of-google-street-view-south-americanstyle-20101005-164yp.html

STEWART’S BRIEFS

Shocking: Apple Approves BitTorrent App For App Store
http://torrentfreak.com/shocking-apple-approves-bittorrent-app-for-iphone-app-store-101002/

Don’t be alarmed but your iPhone may have a daylight saving bug
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/iphone/dont-be-alarmed-but-your-iphone-may-have-a-daylight-saving-bug-20101005-165d5.html

Skype finally comes to Android
http://www.cnet.com.au/skype-finally-comes-to-android-339306426.htm

“The Social Network” tops US box office, gets rave reviews
http://techgeek.com.au/2010/10/04/the-social-network-tops-us-box-office-gets-rave-reviews/

United Arab Emirates will not ban Blackberries
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11499755

Sony’s 16.41MP Sensor Shoots 1080p Video and Will Be in Phones Next Year
http://gizmodo.com/5657866/

Palm ‘Mansion’ coming: 800×480, no physical keyboard
http://www.precentral.net/palm-mansion-coming-800×480-no-physical-keyboard

Turnbull says $65 a month will keep most off broadband
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/turnbull-says-65-a-month-will-keep-most-off-broadband-20101004-164ek.html

Internet Explorer falls below 50 percent in browser market

Terence Huynh — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:51:47 +0000

Microsoft’s dominance of the web may be coming to an end sometime soon, with new statistics from Stat Counter coming out that highlight that Microsoft’s massive share is now less than half of the entire market.

While Internet Explorer still reigns supreme, the browser only holds 49.87 percent, while rival Firefox holds 31.5 percent – steady from last month. However, the big success story is Google’s Chrome browser, increasing tremendously since last year, and now holds 11.54 percent.

Safari holds 4.42 percent, while Opera holds just above 2 percent.

In Europe, however, Microsoft has dropped massively since last year, according to Stat Counter, and this could be because of the new browser choice window – allowing the user to choose to download a browser of their choice. It currently holds 40.26 percent, down from 46.44 percent. Firefox, however, is steadily rising with 38.97 percent and could overtake Microsoft in the next month.

In Australia, Internet Explorer has also dropped below the 50 percent line, to have a share of 49.78 percent; while Safari is nearing to close the gap from WebKit-brother Google Chrome. Safari has 9.45 percent, while Chrome has 10.58 percent. Firefox, still holding on second place, saw a slight dip from month-to-month, closing at 28.74 percent. Opera, however, is almost non-existent with a share of 0.8 percent.

The market share does not take into account Internet Explorer 9.0 Beta. However, Microsoft is betting that the latest version should rectify the continuing downward trend – despite Microsoft adding huge security advances and adopting web standards (just not all) in the past two incarnations after Internet Explorer 6.

Global statistics are below.

Firefox Home approved to App Store

Terence Huynh — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:18:07 +0000

Great news for Firefox users! Now you can take your desktop history, bookmarks and tabs open on your browser to your iPhone or iPod touch with the new Firefox Home application that has just been approved on the App Store by the mighty Apple. Oh, and did we mention it’s free.

The application is NOT A BROWSER like Opera Mini, and who wouldn’t blame them because of the restrictions – in fact, Opera got around it by actually using Safari, but the addresses are redirected its servers to render it like Opera. It is simply just a way to get your favourites onto your iPhone/iPod touch easily. All links will be redirected to the Safari app.

In order to get started, you will need to install Firefox Sync and create an account. Once that’s done, you just need to login to your Sync account and you are done!

Firefox 4 Beta 1 released for download

Terence Huynh — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:03:01 +0000

Well, took them long enough. Mozilla has released the first beta of Firefox 4, the upcoming update to the second-most popular browser. As you can tell, it is a substantial redesign to the user interface, taking on what Google Chrome (and now Opera) has done by moving the tabs at the top. Other improvements is a new Add-Ons manager and improvements on how HD video is played using HTML5.

It also supports the new WebM format, and has now a crash protection feature so that you can still browse the web even when a plugin crashes or freezes. For developers, Mozilla has even given you the “big chart o’ features” to list what it supports – including some new HTML5 and CSS3 additions (though not to the same extent as what Safari offers).

It also offered what to expect in the full version, with full integration with Mozilla Sync right from the box, additional speed improvements, new privacy controls and a new accounts manager. For developers, a web inspector will be included.

You can download the beta on its website here. Just make sure you keep your current Firefox version, as many of those plugins won’t support Version 4 just yet.

Apple faces antitrust review on coding restrictions

Terence Huynh — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:40:00 +0000

Apple might be in trouble with its restrictions after all, and it took them this long? Reports coming from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are looking in beginning who will be taking on Apple on an antitrust complaint on developing applications for the iPhone – the main question, however, is who will it be?

After the launch of the SDK for iPhone OS 4, it made restrictions on what programming language to make the applications, including Objective C and Javascript. Apple claims that this is to keep the quality of applications, but it also seemed to be a hit on Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 software.

As well, an investigation would most likely also look into how restrictive Apple is to develop on – web applications can’t use Flash and must use the “open” HTML5, despite audio and video codecs not being decided on after Apple and Mozilla conflicted on what to use; while app developers are not allowed to compete with many of Apple features – though there are some exceptions, but only are there because of loopholes. Take Opera, it uses Safari’s own browser to connect to its server to load the pages rendered like Opera Mini, alongside adding Opera Mini features and having the same look.

According to the New York Post, the inquiry might not result in a big change in policy because it determines if there is a case for launching a full-fledged investigation, and when it reaches that level, it will then issue a subpoena for more information about the case.

The case comes after a long case of being outside of the big names of Microsoft and Intel – both targets of antitrust reviews, and for Apple, it is usually with Microsoft. And one guy is happy.

“To be honest, it’s about damn time,” Jacob Friedman said on The Next Web. “Apple is lucky enough to own a few incredibly vague, broad patents, which make it incredibly difficult to innovate in the field of smartphones. Android was incredibly reluctant to include any multitouch in the earliest flavors of Android, lest Apple file an angry lawsuit against them.”

Friedman cites Apple’s lawsuit against HTC as a reason that Apple has become more anticompetitive.

However, while Apple has a lot applications, the iPhone is not the dominant phone out there. RIM’s BlackBerry takes the top spot with almost double of the market share (42 percent to 25 percent, according to comScore). Windows Mobile have 15 percent of the market – and that is dropping – while Android has 9 percent.

Interview: Nokia’s Purnima Kochikar

Terence Huynh — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:46:10 +0000

This week saw Nokia hold a developer day in Sydney; and before the event took place, TECHGEEK.com.au managed to get an e-mail interview with Purnima Kochikar, the Vice President of Forum Nokia – the developer community. We talked about Ovi and Nokia’s embrace of open source technology – as well as Symbian and Maemo/MeeGo.

So, hope you enjoy this little interview.

Editor’s Note: The questions were sent before MeeGo’s announcement; the answers, however, arrived after the announcement.

Q: Nokia is currently embracing the open source community – like contributing to Linux in terms of Bluetooth. What does Nokia see in open source in helping its development?

Nokia is making significant use of open source software, as well as contributing to the open source community. Our open source approach is key to engaging a broad community – developers, operators, chipset vendors, OEMs etc. We believe that the larger the ecosystem, the greater the innovation and thus the richer the user experience. We also see that the greater the scale, the greater the opportunity for value creation.

Q: After open-sourcing Symbian, what effect – good and bad – have you seen towards the development of the platform?

I think it’s a little early to tell, but the Symbian Foundation may have some evidence of interest to share.

As background, Nokia supported this move. The following quote from Peter Ropke, SVP, Devices Research and Development, nicely summarises our positive support for the effort:

“Nokia congratulates the Symbian Foundation on the completion of its platform migration to full open source well ahead of schedule – a significant milestone for the Symbian platform, the Foundation and the entire mobile industry. With this achievement, the world’s most popular smartphone platform is available in its entirety for developers around the world to innovate on and contribute to, enabling new opportunities for engagement and monetisation. For Nokia, this truly open platform environment brings the promise of exciting new user experiences for our Symbian-based smartphones.”

Q: Because of the variety of operating systems found on mobile devices, especially when the iPhone OS has already over a million applications, how hard is it to convince developers to produce applications for Symbian and Maemo?

Forum Nokia has well over four million registered developers and tens of thousands actively developing for our devices on Symbian, Maemo and S40. The Ovi Store now has over one million downloads a day.

Further Ovi Store statistics include:

Australia is in the top 15 countries in terms of the number of downloads
New users are up more than 100% month-on-month
Downloads are up more than 100% month-on-month
Successful local developers include LookOutMobile, DOJO Media and Oz Mobi, with downloads into the thousands

Q: How many applications does the Ovi Store have, and where do you see it in a year’s time?

The total number is not really relevant. What’s relevant is the number of items available for each device in each market. There are well over 5K content items for each of our lead devices.

Q: Currently, Maemo OS 5 is currently on the Nokia N900. Do you expect developers to build more applications and any other devices to use Maemo/MeeGo?

Yes, we have developers creating content now for Ovi Store for the N900. We have previously announced that our next device will launch later this year on MeeGo.

By using Qt, developers can write applications for a wide range of devices and easily deploy them on Maemo today, MeeGo in the future and even other platforms, like Symbian. This saves them time and increases the reach for their applications.

Q: Other touchscreen devices use Windows Mobile, Google Android or the iPhone OS. What does Maemo/MeeGo offer for Nokia, consumers and developers?

The Nokia N900, based on Maemo 5, is aimed at technology enthusiasts and offers the full Internet with no comprise, the ability to multitask and a new user interface including the panorama desktop. In all areas we want to provide the industry leading experience, to this end, we are including market leading experiences, such as a Mozilla based browser, Microsoft Exchange email integration, and our own OVI services.

Maemo is an advanced Linux based computing platform. It uses the standard Linux Kernel 2.6 – not a proprietary mobile Linux kernel – and other standard upstream open source components. In developing Maemo, we have worked in and with leading open source projects; in fact, over 80% of Maemo code is comprised of upstream open source software. What we add is our expertise in user experience, user interface, hardware and services integration.

With Maemo 6 merging with Moblin 2 to create MeeGo, this new platform will drive an even wider range of Internet computing and communication experiences for consumers.

MeeGo benefits for developers:

a large installed base of devices One set of APIs for apps

MeeGo benefits for consumers:

More apps!
Same apps with same user experience across a wide range of devices
Endless innovation on all levels due to openness of software stack

Q: Finally, what do you see Nokia heading in the next five to ten years in terms of development? Does Nokia plan to open source any other technologies?

Nokia is an active participant in the open source community and we’re always evaluating opportunities that will help further innovation in the mobile industry.

Microsoft add-on leaves Firefox users exposed to critical hole

Terence Huynh — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:48:59 +0000

A Microsoft add-on that was installed silently into Mozilla Firefox last February has now made Firefox, deemed to be one of the safer alternatives for Windows computers, open to an attack. The security hole also leaves Internet Explorer open to the same attack.

The threat, according to its Security Research and Defence blog, is a “browse-and-get-owned” attack, with a user being lured to open a malicious website and exploits the XAML Browser Application component in the Windows Presentation Foundation.

The add-on for Firefox, known as the “Windows Presentation Foundation” plug-in in Firefox was pushed through Firefox users without any consent after a user installs an update to its .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Once installed, however, it was impossible to remove as the Disable and Uninstall buttons were grayed out on all versions of Windows, with the exception of Windows 7 – leaving the user to do an edit to the Windows registry.

It should also be noted that editing in the Windows registry could be a dangerous task as you could cripple your PC if you make a mistake. Microsoft, however, has relented and provided a way to disable and remove the software after releasing another update in May.

Users should disable the plug-in from Firefox by going to Tools > Add-ons > Plugins and select the “Windows Presentation Foundation” add-on. You should also refer to this article by Microsoft to remove the add-on from Firefox. Internet Explorer users should go to their Internet Zone’s Security Settings, go to the .NET Framework option, go to XAML browser applications and switch it from Enable to Disable.

Inside Firefox 3.5 – what’s new for developers

Terence Huynh — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:29:36 +0000

From the new features comes new things for developers to play around and enjoy in the new version of Firefox 3.5, and because of this, TECHGEEK.com.au will now bring you up to speed what developers can now use in the latest version of the open source browser.

HTML 5

While the

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Inside Firefox 3.5 – the improvements and new features

Terence Huynh — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:02:03 +0000

After a year of Firefox 3 being released; the Mozilla Corporation has launched a major update to the second-largest and open-source browser, Firefox 3.5. The new version is said to be the “best performing browser” and has added several improvements to the browser, and new features to go along with it.

Now, TECHGEEK.com.au looks at what is inside this major release.

Private Browsing & Privacy Controls

With Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer having launched a way to browse the web without anyone knowing what you have done, Firefox has now added that functionality with “Private Browsing”. The new feature does what it says, no trace of what you browse will be recorded.

Also new is the added “Clear Recent History”, allowing you to clean the past few hours of recorded history activity, including all private data, so you can still have the rest of your history, just not the past few hours of it – because there are some things that are meant to be kept secret.

Location Based Browsing

After seeing this in action in Firefox 3.1 Beta, Firefox 3.5 has now made this as a feature in the browser, allowing you to send your geographical data to a website to find more relevant and useful information, like finding local hotels or getting directions to a particular location or landmark.

Because of this, Firefox has also made it optional, so you can reject attempts to get information based on location – meaning that you have control who knows where you are located.

Audio and Video

As you can see in the image above, that is a video being played in Firefox 3.5. But why are you showing me this? This is obviously a Flash player; and you would be right to guess that it was, but you are wrong. Dailymotion, along with Firefox, have partnered up to create a new video experiment with the new HTML5 syntax, which also includes the and the tags.

In brief, the and tags are to play video and audio formats, but it seems that many are opting to use the open source codecs from Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora formats.

You can see below that this is using that very same syntax to play the video, and the controls are also coded in HTML, so there is no need for Flash anywhere in the site.

Copying Chrome

One of the new features, however, is that you can now rip off the tabs into new windows and drag them back in. This sounds like Google Chrome for some reason, and it could be, because they had that feature since day one, even though they do not have a Mac or Linux version out.

However, with that, there is no sandboxing feature out yet, which is where you can have each tab and each window running as separate things, so if one tab crashes, it does not crash the entire browser – and that is one of the things that sets Chrome apart from the rest.

Mozilla, however, is said to be working on that very feature soon, so look out for it in the next major release.

Performance

One of the big things about Firefox 3.5 is that it has now improved its Javascript rendering performance, though it is beaten by Google Chrome. On a SunSpider test (on a Windows XP machine), it manages to reduce the loading time from 3,669ms in Firefox 3 to 1,524 seconds.

As well, more emphasis has been made integrating the browser’s look to the operating system, with Vista have visual enhancements to the sidebar, rounded corners for the OS X version and icons in the location bar have been aligned in the Linux version.

Overall

Overall, Firefox 3.5 is a major upgrade that hopes to close the gap between it and Google Chrome by so many in the performance area, but it has added several things to catch up with many of its rivals, like Private Browsing and HTML5 support from Safari.

However, because of Firefox’s large amount of plug-ins and its community supporting the development, Firefox remains the number one choice, in my mind, in browsers.

Next up, a look in what Firefox 3.5 has made for developers.

Mozilla to join EU fight against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer

Terence Huynh — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:32:12 +0000

The European Commission has granted Mozilla, the owners of the second-most popular browser in the world, the right to join its case against Microsoft after the Commission charged Microsoft over distorting the market for web browsers after bundling Internet Explorer with its Windows operating system.

If the charges go all the way, Microsoft could be paying a huge fine – like it did for a previous case with Windows Media Player, another crucial part of the Windows operating system – and could see a change on how it currently distributes the most popular internet browser in the world.

This effectively means that Microsoft has to allow other internet browsers from Apple, Opera (which started the complaint) and Mozilla to put in their browsers in the operating system. However, there seems to be a contradiction – on both Mozilla’s and the Commission’s side.

In an interview with PCPro, the architect for the Mozilla browser, Mike Conner, said that he does not want Firefox bundled with Windows, and made an attack on Opera over its tactics on launching the complaint to the Commission.

“My personal view is that it’s not the right outcome,” he said to the magazine.

“Opera’s asserting something that’s provably false,” he continues, referring to the fact that Mozilla has a 20 percent share, and that is growing every month. “It’s asserting that bundling leads to market share. I don’t know how you can make the claim with a straight face.”

The European Commission, however, has no trouble in suing Microsoft in the past – and not suing rivals who bundle their own software. Apple is torturously known for bundling several products, like iTunes and its iLife suite, and its Safari browser, in its products – the same products that it makes.

Plus, Internet Explorer allows you to download the other browsers, so if you hate it – just download it via IE.

Image from: Letitbeatles/DeviantArt

Internet Explorer losing ground – continues to fall below 70 percent

Terence Huynh — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:47:41 +0000

New data from Net Applications have shown that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the dominant browser around the web, is continuing to drop below 70 percent, to have a market share of 68.15% for the month of December, down from a 69.77% from November.

Firefox’s market share increased to 21 percent, while Safari continues to grown to capture a share of nearly 8 percent. Opera, however, has the same market share it had in November; but Google’s Chrome browser managed to go pass the one percentage mark.

Surprising, Netscape’s market share also increased – from November’s 0.53% to have a market share of 0.57% for December.

Even though the decrease is very, very small for Internet’ Explorer; it is still a major blow as it continues a downtrend as people go to alternatives like Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome to perform their web browsing needs. However, Internet Explorer is still the main supported browser on many sites.

And maybe, that story about a new exploit affected ALL versions of Internet Explorer didn’t help its chances this month.

Want to Chrome Firefox?

Terence Huynh — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:38:00 +0000

While Google Chrome and Firefox are arguably the two most popular browser alternatives to the monopolistic Internet Explorer (sorry Opera and Safari fanboys), why not merge the two into some weird, yet “sexy” (according to one comment) twist. Introduce Chromifox 2, a skin for Firefox 3 that makes it look like the Chrome browser. While you don’t get the “tabs being separate windows” feature or the tabs being on the top, you will get the customisation features of Firefox 3.

Either way, Mac and Linux users will be flocking to download this – since Google hasn’t released a version of Chrome to work with Mac or Linux. You can find it here – but you will need to get an account since it is in “experimental stage”.

Mozilla may release new patches before closing Firefox 2.0

Terence Huynh — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:05:17 +0000

Speaking to Computerworld, Director of Firefox Mike Beltzner has said that they will consult the community for feedback if they should release two new security patches for Firefox version 2.0, prior its ‘end-of-life’ status – meaning that it won’t have any new patches or support after a certain date. The new patches would push the latest version of Firefox 2.0 to 2.0.0.19.

The retirement for Firefox 2.0 is at the end of December this year, following Mozilla’s policy to support a previous version of a browser for an additional six months after a new version has come out – this one being Firefox 3. Beltzner also told Computerworld that more than two-thirds of all Firefox users are using Firefox 3, with at least 50 percent accepting the first upgrade in late August.

First Look : Firefox 3.1 beta

Terence Huynh — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:50:12 +0000

Mozilla has announced that it has made the first beta of Firefox 3.1 available to the public, a big stepping stone before releasing it to the masses. Firefox 3.1 is said to be a big improvement over Firefox 3, and includes minor tweaks to the user interface. However, while it may look that they barely made any changes, most of the changes are in its coding.

Among the changes in the new version include the new Gecko engine 1.9.1, added support with CSS 2.1 and 3 properties, and that you can restrict your search with special characters on the “Smart Location Bar” (also known as the “Awesome Bar”).

The beta includes the new TraceMonkey Javascript engine, which is said to give a massive power boost that hopes to make it faster than its Google’s Chrome engine. This, however, has not been enabled by default, so you will need to find “javascript.options.jit.content” in the about:config.

Firefox 3.1 also sees the introduction of the W3C Geolocation Specification, allowing web applications to get information on where your location is through a simple Javascript API. You can get the same functionality by installing the Geode extension for Firefox 3.0, but the plug-in is not necessary in 3.1. We tested it on Outside.in Radar, and you can see the result below.

For developers, there is support for the audio and video elements from HTML 5 (introduced in the alpha 2 release), and a new tab behaviour, with graphical thumbnails. When testing the video element, we noticed that the video got jumpy, and that there was no volume controls, except for muting it. As well, there was no seek bar. We hope that those features are added in the future.

The new tab behaviour is using the shortcut “Ctrl+Tab” to flick through it. Again, like Firefox 3 with the user interface, it will base it on the operating system that Firefox has been installed on. So, since this was installed on Windows Vista, then the tab behaviour with graphical thumbnails will match the “Alt+Tab” shortcut.

Most of the other features have not been added in the beta, since they haven’t been fully implemented; however, Mozilla is still slowly pushing them out. Future beta versions are expected to include a new private browsing mode (a.k.a. Porn Mode) that would be similar to Google Chrome, and a new tag autocompletion in the bookmarking UI.

You can download the beta from the Mozilla website, and you can find the official notes of the development here. To note: Installing the beta will not override the installation of Firefox 3, but will override any settings. However, you can switch between the two. Plugins from Mozilla 3 will not work with Firefox 3.1 beta

Firefox 3.1 beta date announced

Terence Huynh — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:28:44 +0000

The developers over at the next version of Firefox has announced that it will aim to release a beta or test version to the public of the next version of Firefox, version 3.1, on August 19 – which will see a freeze on new features and make the test version available.

The date, however, is an estimate.

Expected new features include support of the open-source Ogg Vorbis and Theora codecs, and inclusion of the video and audio HTML tags, which follows a similar move in the new HTML5 draft. Vorbis is the open-source audio codec, while Theora is the video version.

The current, stable release of Firefox, Firefox 3, racked up eight million downloads on its release day on 17 June, setting a world record.

Download day gives 8+ million to Firefox

Terence Huynh — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:30:00 +0000

Mozilla’s Download Day ended at 11:18 PDT yesterday (or today, if you live in the US), and it has set a new Guinness World Record by getting 8.2 million+ downloads of its Firefox 3 browser – shattering all expectations and way above the number pledged.

According to the FAQs section, Mozilla is the only company that has attempted this record – and has set the bar for most downloads in one day. The Guinness World Records judges, however, still need to verify it – removing duplicates from the count records.

And, if you want to feel special – you can get a personalized certificate that you can download and print.

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