05/14, 4:30am
Mozilla says lack of browser choice takes users back to dark ages
The Mozilla Foundation, maker of the Firefox web browser, is calling out Microsoft for anticompetitive practices with regard to browser capabilities on the upcoming Windows RT. In a blog post, Mozilla's General Counsel Harvey Anderson takes Microsoft to task for programming decisions that will limit the power and feature set of non-Internet Explorer browsers in the next version of Windows.
more
05/02, 12:24pm
New design aims for consistent experience
Mozilla is working to introduce a standard Firefox user experience that will carry across desktop, smartphone, and tablet form factors. A slideshow from Mozilla's recently-combined desktop and mobile design teams shows how the teams plan to carry a "soft, friendly, and human" design approach across a number of platforms.
more
05/02, 10:00am
CISPA has broad and alarming reach, says Mozilla
Mozilla has taken a stand against the Internet security bill CISPA. In a statement to Forbes, Mozilla's Privacy and Public Policy lead says that the CISPA bill had “a broad and alarming reach that goes far beyond Internet security.”
more
04/27, 2:45pm
Firefox 13 to support SPDY, gets New Tab feature
With Firefox 13 due out in about six weeks, Mozilla has made an early version of the browser available to download from the company's beta release channel. The browser will get a new look WebMonkey reported, with a redesigned home page and a New Tab feature. The latter gets links to the most recently and frequently visited sites, with the option of pinning favorite sites and a button to reject sites that the user doesn't want to see.
more
04/24, 4:05pm
Mozilla changes look of favicons for security
Mozilla has revealed on Monday that its Firefox web browser got a change in its latest Nightly build. The change relates to the favicon to the left of the website address in the address bar, with sites that don't have SSL certificates or host mixed content now getting a generic globe. Sites with SSL certificates with Extended Validation will get green padlock icons, while gray padlocks will be reserved for SSL sites without validation.
more
04/24, 3:20pm
Firefox 12 final ready to go
Mozilla has posted the finished release of Firefox 12. The browser has a key update each for Mac and Windows users. Windows' update is most conspicuous and doesn't need the user to confirm the update in a User Account Control prompt on Vista or 7. Mac users see a lift, as Mozilla has fixed slow WebGL graphics performance on some hardware.
more
04/19, 3:50pm
Launch expected by late 2012 or early 2013
The first handsets to be powered by Mozilla's Boot2Gecko OS, which we tried out at Mobile World Congress, will reportedly arrive in Brazil via Telefonica as early as the end of the year. Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs made the timing announcement today in São Paulo, confirming that the platform will make it past concept development and into the retail smartphone market.
more
04/09, 3:15pm
Firefox nightlies to support WebRTC for video chat
Mozilla is gearing up to allow a plugin-free approach to video chat in upcoming versions of Firefox. A demo at the IETF 83 conference caught by TechCrunch showed off the implementation of WebRTC, an HTML5 component that will allow two-way voice, video, and file swaps. As shown, it would sign in with Mozilla's Social API.
more
04/03, 5:20pm
Previews looks for webpages and blogs
Mozilla developers have posted their latest progress update for their efforts to create a working prototype for Firefox running on Windows 8. In it, for the first time, they have hinted at what the app could ultimately look like under the new Microsoft operating system. The team acknowledges that there is still a lot of work to do, but has said nothing altering their schedule to develop the proof of concept.
more
04/02, 1:20pm
NetApplications shows second big increase for IE
New NetApplications data has shown that Internet Explorer might be on a sustained, if slight, recovery in web share. Microsoft's browser gained almost exactly one point to hit 53.83 percent of browser use online. The gain roughly mirrored one from January and saw IE at its highest position since October.
more
03/21, 10:55am
Spike sees Chrome get one-day browser lead
A brief if historic milestone in web browsers occurred this weekend as Google Chrome temporarily overtook Microsoft's Internet Explorer in usage, StatCounter found Wednesday. For one day, March 18, Chrome had 32.71 percent of traffic to IE's 32.5 percent. A rise in share from Brazil, India, and Russia was credited for the sudden position swap.
more
03/19, 1:55pm
Mozilla loses Blizzard to California start-up
Chris Blizzard served his last day as Mozilla's director of Web platform this past Friday, March 16, he revealed on his blog. He will move on to a "very small startup" based in Palo Alto, though didn't go on to name it. Blizzard would only say the work involves the intersection of systems, compilers, and web-scale problems.
more
03/15, 6:05am
Mozilla lists all Firefox enhancements for 2012
Mozilla has detailed its 2012 Firefox roadmap. As with 2011, Mozilla plans on maintaining a rapid update schedule. Users can expect updates coming frequently so that features and fixes are rolled out quickly. However, instead of causing users to experience ‘update fatigue’ with the rapid update cycle, updates will happen ‘silently,’ downloading and installing in the background.
more
03/14, 4:05pm
Mozilla may add H.264 to Firefox after all
Mozilla research director Andreas Gal has proposed a rare change of heart that could see Boot2Gecko, and possibly Firefox, adopt H.264 playback. The mode would let HTML5 pages use the video tag for in-page H.264 as long as the OS underneath already supports the codec. At least in theory, it would let Mozilla officially keep active support only for open formats like WebM while acknowledging the reality of H.264's much wider reach.
more
03/13, 8:25pm
Browser adds Chrome migration, add-on sync
As expected, Mozilla has released the final build for its Firefox 11 browser. The major update brings several new features, expanding migration support to enable Chrome users to transfer their bookmarks, history and cookies. The browser also adds the ability to synchronize add-ons across multiple devices.
more
03/12, 10:20pm
Final release expected tomorrow
Mozilla has reportedly posted a near-final Firefox 11 build, which was initially misinterpreted as the final edition. The major update brings several new features, including add-on synchronization across multiple platforms, faster page loads using the SPDY protocol, and the ability to import bookmarks, history and cookies from Chrome.
more
03/09, 7:25pm
Developers will be posting weekly updates
Last month, Mozilla announced that it would be developing a version of its browser software that had the look and feel of Microsoft's Windows 8 Metro user interface. This week, the browser's developers provided a status update. Work has begun on the project, and some details of the institution's efforts have emerged.
more
03/01, 8:10pm
NetApplications sees Apple grow widely in February
Apple saw an unusually widescale, comprehensive growth in its share of the web in February, NetApplications showed on Thursday. On the desktop, it bounced back to near an all-time high at 6.9 percent, a level seen in October. Its mobile share followed suit, going up almost exactly seven points to 60.6 percent.
more
02/27, 2:55pm
Project finally nearing completion
(Update: Telefonica details) Mozilla is finally showing off its Boot 2 Gecko operating system that is completely based on web standards. The company brought Samsung's Galaxy S II to Mobile World Congress, however the Android OS was stripped away to allow the device to boot Gecko and run apps based on HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.
more
02/24, 12:30am
Mozilla Marketplace basis of Android alternative
Mozilla, which will be launching its own open-source app storefront in the forthcoming Firefox 13, may use this weekend's Mobile World Congress to launch a smartphone made by LG that runs its own mobile OS, known as Boot2Gecko. The new OS is truly open, as opposed to the partially-open nature of Android or the "walled garden" of iOS, and may prove attractive to carriers who have seen much of their control removed by Apple and Google.
more
02/23, 12:10pm
Mozilla BrowserID will be transitioned to Persona
Mozilla this week announced a change to its BrowserID online identity system. Initially just a rebrand, the service is now called Mozilla Persona, which Mozilla believes is better suited to user identity. To go with the name change, however, Mozilla does have feature and interface changes in development.
more
02/22, 4:25pm
Mozilla Marketplace to use HTML5, custom API apps
Mozilla revealed on Wednesday that it will begin accepting web app submissions at MWC next week. The web apps will be based on HTML5 and some Mozilla-proposed APIs, and work in both the company's Firefox browser as well as platforms that support HTML5. Mozilla promises to give developers easy development, direct user feedback, and allow for flexible billing
more
02/16, 6:20pm
Parts could find their way into competing browsers
Last July, Mozilla acknowledged that it was planning to build a mobile operating system. Today, the non-profit development organization that created the Firefox browser and Thunderbird email system provided an initial view of what that foundation, named
Boot2Gecko (BTG), will look like. Mozilla is promising to demo it at the upcoming Mobile World Congress later this month.
more
02/13, 4:25pm
Mozilla Firefox with Metro support due in 2012
Mozilla, makers of the Firefox Internet browser, will release a version of its signature software that will resemble Microsoft's Metro user interface. A concept version will be out sometime in the spring, according to Mozilla's 2012 strategy, followed by an alpha and beta version later on, in the second half of the year. Metro uses tiles instead of the traditional Start button and menu in Windows, and Mozilla hopes to integrate its new Gecko-based browser with the Metro environment.
more
02/09, 6:20pm
Devs call for action
Mozilla and several other browser developers have voiced concern over the dominance of WebKit-based browsers, notably Safari and Chrome. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) co-chairman Daniel Glazman suggests programmers have begun to disregard alternative browsers, such as Firefox and Internet Explorer, when optimizing website compatibility.
more
02/01, 6:20pm
As expected, doesn't support flash
Mozilla has released the latest mobile version of its browser for Android devices. Firefox 10 is now available for download (free, Android Market). As expected, the new version offers enhanced HTML5 support, but doesn't support Flash.
more
02/01, 9:35am
NetApplications shows gap in mobile share
Android tablets are gaining share of Internet use, but they still present no competition to the iPad online, NetApplications uncovered with its January wrap-up. The combined Samsung Galaxy Tab line had just 0.42 percent of mobile Internet share, while the Kindle Fire's possibly brisk sales still saw just 0.34 percent. Although down from December, the iPad at almost 24 percent was still in no danger from Android tablets, where even Android 3.2 was at 0.77 percent.
more
01/31, 10:40am
Firefox 10 with minor updates now available
Mozilla has released finished versions of Firefox 10 for both Windows PCs and Macs this week. Changes, according to the release notes, include a Forward navigation button that doesn't show up until users hit the Back button first, included APIs for viewing web apps in full-screen mode, and anti-aliasing for WebGL graphics. Likewise new is an Extended Support Release that allows enterprises to only download security updates and stay on the same version for seven releases.
more
01/28, 1:30pm
Firefox 12 nightly builds show redesign
Versions of the upcoming Firefox 12 in the nightly build phase have shown major changes coming to its interface. New tabs can now open to a hybrid portal page that mixes in features seen in Chrome and Safari. Along with seeing the most frequently visited sites and a search bar, it now has top web apps, the most recently shared apps, and a Google Talk status section to launch directly into chat.
more
01/01, 12:55pm
NetApplications shows Android loss in December
In spite of its device share, Android is losing ground in terms of actual use online, NetApplications found on New Year's Day. Android slipped to 16.3 percent of mobile web share in December, or the same share it had in September. Unusually, most of the loss came to otherwise shrinking platforms: Java ME bounced back to get just under 21.3 percent, Symbian returned to 5.8 percent, and even the BlackBerry recovered slightly to 3.5 percent.
more
12/22, 4:25pm
Google to pay $300m per year in Mozilla deal
When Google and Mozilla renewed their search royalty deal earlier this week, they didn't reveal that Google will pay $300 million per year, AllThingsD learned. For this amount of money, Google will be the default search engine in Mozilla's Firefox browser. The numbers are a sharp increase from the previous arrangement because of the new competition from Yahoo and Microsoft.
more
12/21, 10:25pm
Release follows Firefox 9 desktop editions
Just days after Firefox 9 arrived for Mac, Windows and Linux, Mozilla has released the equivalent edition for Android devices. The revamped browser brings significant changes to the user interface for tablets, placing each tab as a thumbnail on the left edge of the screen while the open window is still displayed in full on the right.
more
12/20, 2:55pm
Google funds Mozilla with three-year ad deal
Google kept Firefox active after Mozilla said that it was renewing a deal to make Google the default search in Firefox. A "significant and mutually beneficial" deal will keep Google as the default for a minimum of three years. Neither side would reveal what the terms of the deal were.
more
12/19, 8:05pm
Type inference brings faster JavaScript
Mozilla has posted the final version of Firefox 9 for Windows, Mac and Linux machines, following five weeks of testing in the beta channel. As expected, the release brings type-inference support that is said to significantly improve JavaScript load time for complex pages, along with expanded support for HTML5 and CSS standards.
more
11/11, 7:45pm
Firefox 9 beta reaches desktop and Android
Mozilla quickly followed on a completed Firefox 8 by posting Firefox 9 in the beta channel for both the desktop and Android. On the desktop, the interface is now designed to blend in with Mac OS X Lion and properly supports two-finger scrolling as well as multiple displays. Speed is also a focus through a faster, inference-supporting JavaScript engine and the ability to break XML web requests into pieces to make a complex web page load faster.
more
11/08, 5:00pm
Mozilla outs Firefox 8, updates Android browser
Mozilla on Tuesday revealed two newly updated browsers, the final version of Firefox 8 for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, along with an update for Android devices (free, Android Market). Either update is said to make web browsing easier and give developers greater control of customizing the way they interact with the Internet. Firefox 8 for desktops now includes Twitter as a search option.
more
11/08, 12:05pm
Kindle Cloud Reader now supports Firefox browser
The HTML5-based web app that is Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader is now available for Mozilla's Firefox browser. The web app lets users access their Kindle e-books , adding to the already avaialable Chrome and Safari versions. It can now be viewed for all of these supporting browsers, as well as Safari for the iPad.
more
11/08, 5:20am
Mozilla well into development of Boot 2 Gecko
More details have emerged about Mozilla’s mobile OS. The Boot 2 Gecko, or B2G, project is now undergoing testing by Mozilla developers. The OS has been compared to Google’s Chrome OS, as it has a web emphasis and relies on HTML5-based applications. Although Android is at its core the aim is to use “as little Android as possible,” but take the Chrome OS-like experience to mobile phones. Some screen mock-ups are embedded below, as a guide as to how the OS may look and function.
more
10/26, 4:30pm
Mozilla intros Bing add-on for Firefox browser
Mozilla has taken its relationship with Microsoft and its Bing search engine up to another level. It is now offering to add Bing to its Firefox browser, with the add-on setting the Microsoft search engine as the default and Bing as the homepage. The add-on for the latest version of Firefox also includes the Awesome Bar, Mozilla's hybrid search and address bar. Older versions of Firefox need to be upgraded, and doing so includes the switchover to Bing as the default search engine.
more
09/27, 12:30pm
Mozilla posts Firefox 7 final to FTP
Mozilla on Tuesday posted the finished versions of Firefox 7 (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows). The new release is still part of Mozilla's fast track schedule and focuses most on running faster and more efficiently than before. Version 7 uses 20 to 50 percent less memory and also now cuts back on memory leaks and waste from Javascript.
more
09/05, 5:00pm
DigiNotar hack tied to Iranian government
A Dutch web security firm that sells security certificates, DigiNotar, was hacked back in July and fake certificates were issued to websites such as the CIA, Google, Microsoft and Twitter. DigiNotar just acknowledged the attack last week. Now, the Dutch government has taken over the company. It's also believed that the hacker or hackers operated with the cooperation of the Iranian government.
more
08/30, 12:30pm
Firefox for Android tablets gets side tabs, more
Mozilla's Ian Barlow gave a preview of a long sought after tablet-native version of Firefox for Android. The new version is native to Android 3 and takes advantage of the widescreen OS to change the interface depending on the layout. In portrait, it turns the browser tabs into a menu; in landscape, they unfold in a side strip with visual thumbnails of each page.
more
08/13, 2:45pm
Firefox 6 finished, ready to download
Mozilla has preempted its own official launch with finished versions of Firefox 6 on its FTP server (Linux, Mac OS X, released on Tuesday but, as is becoming the case in Firefox releases, is already online to help coordinate the release. The interval between the FTP posting and the public debut may be to catch any last-minute bugs.
more
08/12, 7:00pm
Firefox 6 now highlights domain URL name
Mozilla’s Firefox 6 web browser is set to be released on Tuesday. Notes posted on its website show that the release is 'on track with a few bugs still remaining. No concerns for Tuesday." One notable change, in addition to speed and stability improvements, is that the domain name is now highlighted in the address bar. This has been added to help users ensure that they have surfed to the official domain.
more
08/04, 8:00pm
Google adds Web Intents with Mozilla's help
Google and Mozilla have teamed together on a proposed API to bring an aspect of Android to web apps. Web Intents, like those on the phone, would let a web app signal what it wants to do on a basic level, such as editing or sharing content, and link it to any relevant service without having to either create the service or implement the hooks on a case by case basis. Web apps would just need a handful of code to achieve much more complicated tasks that could pass between sites.
more
08/03, 8:20pm
Skype using VP8 even with Microsoft patent gripes
Google had an unusual celebration Wednesday as it claimed that Skype 5.5 was now using the video format behind WebM, VP8. WebM Product Manager John Luther said that that any video chat between two or more users on 5.5 will switch over to VP8 for the stream. The format had been chosen in part because of its low lag in live situations and ability to gracefully handle lost data.
more
07/29, 12:30pm
12 groups tell MPEG-LA Google VP8 copies tech
The MPEG-LA video group's attempts to find patent violations in WebM proved successful as the company late Thursday claimed that 12 companies and organizations had their technology infringed. The so far unnamed dozen said the VP8 video codec underlying Google's format copied technology used in H.264, the standard MPEG-LA supports. The collective was considering forming a patent pool to demand licenses, and MPEG-LA was "facilitating that discussion," CNET was told.
more
07/25, 10:00pm
OS relies on HTML5-based applications
Mozilla has confirmed plans to build a ChromeOS-inspired operating system geared for mobile devices. The project, which is currently referred to as Boot to Gecko (B2G), will be built upon Google's Android OS at its core, though Mozilla's VP of Technical Strategy, Mike Shaver, suggests the company will try to use "as little of Android as possible."
more
06/28, 6:50pm
New multi-platform mail client posted by Mozilla
Mozilla has put the final release of Thunderbird 5.0, its email client software, up on its servers for downloading. 5.0 represents the app's first major release in about 18 months. The free app (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) has faster startup, tabs that can be reordered and dragged to different windows, attachment sizes are displayed along with the corresponding attachments, and support for Mac 32/64 bit Universal builds. The latter means that, unlike earlier releases, Thunderbird 5.0 will not run on PowerPC-based Macs.
more
06/24, 9:40pm
Opera founder exits over board dispute
Opera's creator Jon S. von Tetzchner surprised the industry on Friday with word he was leaving the company. The web browser developer is due to leave June 30 and will do so on friendly terms. He has made no public mention of why he will be leaving but currently has "ideas about new projects" that are being kept secret.
more
