Firefox approaches 1 billion downloads
Updated
Mozilla likes big download numbers. Last year, its web browser Firefox 3 set the Guinness world record for software downloads in a single day. This year, some of the team members told me they weren’t going to chase a similar record for Firefox 3.5, since it might “melt the Internet.” But now Firefox is approaching another milestone — 1 billion downloads overall.
Whether or not that’s a meaningful measure of Firefox’s market penetration is debatable, especially… Continue Reading
Mozilla looks for handouts for add-on developers
Mozilla has launched the online equivalent of a tip jar for developers of Firefox add-ons to make money from generous users. There is now an optional “contribution button” that they can put on their add-on pages so that users can donate via PayPal.
Of course, no step in this process is compulsory. Even if the contributions button is there, users can still freely download and use the add-ons in question. Anything more than that would cramp… Continue Reading
Google and Mozilla team up to pinpoint your location
There’s been an explosion of iPhone applications that take advantage of a user’s location (for example, Urbanspoon, the restaurant recommendation app that was just acquired by IAC). But websites and web apps have been slower to incorporate location awareness, because it would mean having users download a plug-in or adjust their settings to share their location, and not every user will do that. Now, Mozilla and Google have taken a big step towards making geolocation… Continue Reading
Roundup: iPhone tethering works, AT&T prepping no-contract iPhones, IE8 arrives early and more
Here’s the latest action:
iPhone tethering and no commitment price — Just a day after Apple’s iPhone 3.0 software event, developers have found out that tethering is in fact an option in the new OS. They were able to get it working when connected over USB, according to MacRumors. This is great, but you will undoubtedly have to pay for it when AT&T and Apple officially turn it on.
A contract-free iPhone? — Speaking of AT&T, the company is… Continue Reading
Roundup: The White House and YouTube test an open relationship, the Dow plunges below 7,000, an iPod and iPhone-less Gates household and more
Here’s the latest action:
The White House and YouTube need to video message one another — A report this morning by CNET claimed the White House was ditching YouTube as a platform for President Obama’s weekly addresses and going with a different Flash-based solution from Akamai. The decision was said to be due to privacy concerns about information YouTube (which Google owns) tracks. But the whole thing is not true says a later report from the White… Continue Reading
DEMO: Always Innovating’s Touch Book sounds amazing. Can it deliver?
I haven’t gotten a chance to try a Touch Book yet, but I want to. Who wouldn’t? The netbook produced by Always Innovating, making its debut at the DEMO conference today, claims to offer 10 to 15 hours of battery life, weighs under 2 pounds and, perhaps most importantly, starts at $299.
That’s cheaper than an Amazon Kindle. And this thing can do a whole lot more.
For $299 you get a tablet computer, a device with… Continue Reading
Chrome who? Safari 4 makes the browser hunt more interesting
I’ve had a bit of a dilemma in recent months. You see, my browser of choice, Google Chrome, is not available on my operating system of choice, Apple’s OS X. So I’ve been waiting patiently as Google makes slow progress on the Mac version. But after today, I may not be waiting anymore.
No, Chrome for Mac still isn’t available, but something which may be on par, if not better is — Safari 4. Apple has… Continue Reading
Early pictures: Google Chrome on the Mac
“It’s alive!” Google’s Mike Pinkerton wrote yesterday on his blog. What was he talking about? Google Chrome… for the Mac.
Before you get all excited, it’s not yet “alive” for you, the public — but the team has finally made enough progress that the software actually looks like Chrome. This news comes after the team (which Pinkerton leads) switched its focus from layout tests and WebKit (its engine) compatibility tests to user interface elements. The image… Continue Reading
Skyfire integrates an activity stream with Twitter, Facebook and feed support
Skyfire, the mobile browser that touts itself as translating the desktop web browsing experience to mobile phones, has added a useful new feature today: Activity streams. The browser now has a default area that lets you pipe in articles from your favorite sites as well as friends’ activity from Facebook and Twitter.
This feature is part of the new Skyfire version 0.9 being launched just ahead of the Mobile World Congress taking place in Spain next… Continue Reading
Mozilla to fund open-source web video tech development
Firefox browser-maker Mozilla is pushing a new set of video technologies that won’t require users to install software plugins, while offering developers lower costs and greater flexibility. The nonprofit is pledging $100,000 in grant money for third-parties who are building for an open-source video encoding technology called Theora. Mozilla already supports Theora in the 3.1 version of Firefox it is working on in beta now, along with open-source multimedia container software Ogg and open-source audio… Continue Reading
IE’s market share: Down, down, down as the rivals go higher
This past November, Microsoft’s web browser, Internet Explorer (IE), saw its market share fall below 70 percent for the first time, according to data from Market Share. And the numbers look worse for the limited data from December so far, with IE now accounting for 68.15 percent of web browsers, The Dallas Morning News points out.
Now, that’s still a huge share — over three times larger than the second most popular web browser, Mozilla’s Firefox,… Continue Reading
Mozilla launches a slick first beta of Camino 2.0
I’ve been using Camino, Mozilla’s open-source web browser built for the Mac, for quite some time now. I simply love its speed, simplicity and look – especially with its sibling browser Firefox getting overrun with bloated plugins. And today Camino gets even better with the first beta release of Camino 2.0.
So what’s new? Well, under the hood, Camino is now running version 1.9 of Mozilla’s Gecko rendering engine. I’ve been using Camino 2 since the alpha stages, and… Continue Reading
Roundup: Yahoo flushes its “poison pill,” Crain’s goes out of print, WordPress goes 2.7 and more
Here’s the latest action:
Yahoo flushes its “poison pill” — One of the reasons Microsoft decided not to go hostile in its bid to buy Yahoo was that the company had a so-called “poison pill” plan in place in which hundreds of millions of dollars would have likely been due to employees who left due to their unhappiness with any Microsoft/Yahoo merger. A few Yahoo shareholders decided to sue the company to remove this plan, and today… Continue Reading
Roundup: Job report hurts stocks, BlackBerry reviews surface and more
Here’s the latest action:
Increase in joblessness spurs stock decline — After the Labor Department reported that applications for jobless benefits exceeded expectations, the Dow fell more than 80 points.
Reviews surface on BlackBerry Storm — CNET’s verdict: The touchscreen is nice, but corporate users are better served by the BlackBerry Bold.
AT&T funds privacy nonprofit — The Future of Privacy’s backing from the telecom giant is just one reason why GigaOM’s Stacey Higginbotham is skeptical that the nonprofit group actually… Continue Reading
Mozilla wants to bring add-ons to a mainstream audience
With the launch of a new site called Fashion Your Firefox, Mozilla is pushing to make normal users more aware of the add-ons available for its Firefox web browser.
There are already plenty of ways to find new add-ons (software you install to add features to your browser, such as a mini map sidebar or a space to get twitter updates). There’s a semi-comprehensive listing of add-ons on the Mozilla web site, as well as a… Continue Reading
Firefox hits 20 percent market share as Internet Explorer continues to sink
Mozilla’s Firefox web browser surpassed 20 percent worldwide market share for the first time last month, according to new data from Net Applications. That’s a huge milestone for the open source web browser, which was first released (the 1.0 version) by Mozilla almost exactly four years ago (November 9, 2004), at a time when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer had a choke-hold over the web browsing industry with a market share well over 90 percent.
Today, Firefox is… Continue Reading
Geolocation makes its home in Firefox with 3.1 beta 1. Companies start taking advantage of it
Well it didn’t take long for Mozilla to build support for geolocation directly in to the Firefox web browser. Just a week after it officially launched the Geode plug-in for Firefox 3.0, Mozilla today launched Firefox 3.1 beta 1, which eliminates the need for the plug-in. I had a chance to talk with one company that is particularly excited about this functionality, Outside.in, makers of the location-based news and information service Radar.
Up until recently, Radar… Continue Reading
Location comes to the web browser with Mozilla’s Geode
Location is a hot field in mobile computing. It makes sense — you’re on the move, and newer phones such as the Apple iPhone and T-Mobile’s Android-based G1 have global positioning systems (GPS) built in. So mobile applications are being built in droves to use location, but web-based apps are largely being left out of the trend. Mozilla hopes to change that tomorrow, however, with the launch of Geode, its location web browser plug-in.
The plug-in… Continue Reading
Joost’s desktop client is toast
Since early on in its testing phase, I found Joost to be a compelling take on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). Let me rephrase: I found the idea of Joost to be compelling. It offered free video content on the web in a way that was somewhat similar to a television experience but added the interactivity that the web offers. The service’s problem was in its execution — namely that it required a seperate desktop client to… Continue Reading
Good news: Mozilla’s Camino Project lead is hard at work on Google Chrome for Mac
Google’s new browser Chrome is amazing. How amazing? So much so that I’ve booted Microsoft Windows on my iMac two days in a row now after not using it for months. (Chrome isn’t yet available for Mac OS X, more on that below.) Does Chrome have some bugs and issues? Sure, but in terms of everyday experience I feel like I can safely say it’s the best browsing experience I’ve had on Windows since the… Continue Reading