Mozilla is readying a prototype of a streaming platform, to help compete with the likes of Google's Chromecast. Confirming developer notes, the new device will run Mozilla's Firefox OS, adds screencasting to the Firefox browser, and even runs some Chromecast apps, in its current incarnation.
Mozilla has released Firefox 30 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android users. Despite the version number, 30 is a relatively minor update. The main addition in the desktop versions is a Sidebars button, which makes it easier to reach the Social, Bookmark, and History sidebars. Mozilla has also added support for GStreamer 1.0 -- a library for constructing graphs of media-handling components -- and a Command-E shortcut for Mac users that can be used to search for selected text.
Mozilla has made a difficult decision today, having to pick between sticking to its guns on the open internet or implementing a feature into their browsers that users will want. The developer has decided will work with Adobe to implement HTML5 digital rights management (DRM) into Firefox in order to make sure customers will still be able to view media content within their browser.
Firefox developer Mozilla has unveiled a plan today that would offer online courses aimed to train Internet users and potential teachers on some of the fundamentals of the Internet. The courses, which will be free, will "help everyone from formal educators to enthusiastic engineers learn how to teach the basic mechanics, culture and citizenship of the web."
The development team behind Firefox has submitted a petition to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), outlining a proposal on how net neutrality could be handled going forward. The 17-page document from Mozilla presents a plan to keep the Internet open, but centers on the proviso of the FCC declaring the relationship between internet service providers (ISPs) and edge providers as common carrier.
The latest incarnation of the Firefox web browser has introduced a major redesign of its user interface. The Australis design scheme, first introduced in mid-2012, makes Firefox version 29 look sleeker with curved tabs and a cleaner interface, with some aspects of the browser modernization scheme also spreading from the desktop version to the Android app.
The Mozilla foundation has selected a new interim CEO and appointee to the Mozilla corporation Board of Directors. Long-time Mozilla employee Chris Beard has been chosen for the position while a search for a permanent appointee is undertaken. Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker says Beard has a "vision and sense of Mozilla equal to anyone's."
Following the departure of Brendan Eich from Mozilla, an assortment of high-profile journalists and authors have taken to the Internet to slam Mozilla, Silicon Valley culture, and OKCupid for the handling of the incident. Both conservative and liberal activists are seeking a similar boycott of Mozilla products -- the Firefox browser in particular -- and some have blocked the browser from accessing sites entirely.
In the wake of a $1,000 political contribution controversy, newly-named Mozilla CEO and co-founder Brendan Eich has voluntarily stepped down. In a post noting the departure, Mozilla claims that it "didn't act like you'd expect Mozilla to act. We didn't move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We're sorry. We must do better."
Mozilla's new CEO is causing issues at the company, over a donation to support a ban on gay marriage in California. Shortly after Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich was named as the replacement head of the company, Mozilla has seen three board members resign over the appointment, has had to defend itself in blog post against criticism over the CEO's donation, and in a recent development, has incurred the wrath of a dating site.
Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich has been named by the foundation's board of directors to be its new CEO. Eich, best known for his invention of JavaScript as a developer for Netscape in the mid-90s, has been with the company in the role of CTO for the past nine years. He replaces Gary Kovacs, who announced a year ago that he was stepping down from the post. Eich has said that further development of Firefox as a mobile OS is his top priority, particularly for smartphones.
A former engineer for Mozilla points the blame for the company's recent decision to shelve the Metro version of the Firefox browser squarely at Microsoft -- rather than on poor adoption numbers initially laid out by the company. Rather, the true issue lies with Microsoft's browser rules, says Brian Bondy.
Vice President of Firefox Jonathan Nightingale has announced that Mozilla will be taking the Windows 8 version of Firefox out of development. According to Nightingale, the release has never seen a peak of "more than 1,000 active daily users in the Metro environment" making it a risk for Mozilla to continue supporting it through its end of life.
Firefox OS is expanding rapidly, according to claims made at Mobile World Congress today. Mozilla, the company behind the widely-used web browser, outlined some of the finer points of the expansion of the separate Firefox OS in devices reaching out globally -- including a move into new high- and low-end consumer devices, new reference devices and tools for developers to port applications.
Mozilla plans to add advertisements to the Firefox browser, the company announced at a recent Interactive Advertising Bureau meeting. The new advertisements will take the form of "Directory Tiles," items on a page when a user opens a new, empty tab, and will apparently only affect new users of the browser rather than those who have used it for some time.
Mozilla has announced the next beta version of the Firefox browser, Firefox Aurora, has been released with updates the Firefox Sync and a new customizable user interface. Along with the changes to Aurora, the company has also unveiled Firefox Accounts, a service to bring history, user accounts and browser tabs across devices in a centralized secure account.
Mozilla has released a beta version of its Firefox browser, for use with touch-enabled Windows 8 systems. Teased by the company in early 2012, Firefox for Windows 8 Touch Beta is said in a company blog post to be optimized for the operating system's Metro user interface style, with the main focus of the release being its usefulness for owners of touchscreen computers, notebooks, and tablets.
Mozilla is working with EverythingMe on a Firefox launcher for Android, the company revealed yesterday at the InContext Conference. The launcher is said to be a contextually-aware version that will automatically update to show apps and search for items relevant to the user depending on a number of factors, such as location or time of day.
Mozilla has released Firefox 27, an update to its browser for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. The desktop apps have been given an updated Social API, allowing for multiple notifications at the same time. Until today, Firefox would only show notifications for the social network indicated in a user's toolbar. Mozilla is also supporting two new networks, Delicious and Saavn.
Mozilla has started testing a username and password approach to Firefox Sync. Sync allows users to access browser content across multiple computers and mobile devices, and previously required typing a "pairing code" shown on one browser into another. Mozilla's username-password authentication for syncing is now available in the nightly build of Firefox, and will be included in more stable versions of Firefox soon.
Mozilla has announced the release of version 26.0 of its popular Firefox browser. The update adds a number of new features, and it is one of the more significant updates to the browser in some time. Chief among these updates is the ability to exert greater control over plug-ins and memory usage, including the ability to have plug-ins only begin playing when a user chooses directly to have them do so.
LG has launched its first Firefox OS smartphone, with the mobile device going on sale in Brazil starting today. The entry-level LG Fireweb running the fledgling open operating system touts a four-inch, 480x320-resolution display, and though it goes on sale after the Alcatel One Touch Fire and the ZTE Open, the Fireweb offers a few marginal improvements.
Mozilla has released Firefox 24, an update of its web browser for Windows, OS X, Linux, and Android. The desktop apps have gained a "Close Tabs to the Right" option, found within the contextual menu when right-clicking on a tab. The Mac app uses a new scrollbar style, and people using Firefox's social features can tear off chat windows.
ZTE is putting its Firefox OS smartphone on sale in the United States and the United Kingdom, though not through retail stores for the moment. The ZTE Open will be available to purchase through eBay, with customers able to get the budget handset via "Buy it now" for $80 in the US and £60 ($93) in the UK.
Mozilla has released Firefox 23, an update of its web browser for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. The desktop apps have gained several important features, most notably a Share button, which ties into Mozilla's new Social API. The button lets people share virtually any content on the web without having to use buttons built into a website.
Firefox OS smartphones have gone on sale to the general public, with the first batch of devices being sold through Telefonica. The launch in Spain of the ZTE Open, delayed until today following last week's announcement, is accompanied by news that Mozilla has turned on the Firefox OS payment systems, allowing developers to earn through app sales and in-app purchases.
The first two smartphones running on Firefox OS will soon be available to purchase by end users, with customers of Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica being among the first to get the devices. The ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire, both running Mozilla's open-source mobile operating system, will go on sale in Spain later this week, with the ZTE Open being sold by Telefonica for 69 euro ($90) tomorrow.
Foxconn has signed a deal with Mozilla to put the Firefox OS mobile operating system onto a number of mobile devices. The smartphones, to be manufactured by Foxconn on behalf of an unnamed OEM, are also accompanied by the companies showing off a prototype tablet, one that was hinted at in a report last week.
Foxconn is going to reveal a new mobile device alongside Mozilla on Monday, one that will apparently run on Firefox OS. While the event on June 3rd before Computex will showcase a new device of some description, neither Foxconn nor Mozilla have hinted at what it could be, but rumblings suggest it could end up being a tablet instead of a smartphone running the new mobile operating system.
Mozilla has rolled out a new version of its Firefox OS simulator, in order to help with application development. The emulator update to version 3.0, surfacing just after the first developer devices started shipping, adds a number of features, including rotation simulation, basic simulation of a geolocation API, newer versions of the Firefox rendering engine and Gaia UI, Push to Device, and a number of other bug fixes. The simulator is available to download as a Firefox desktop browser extension.
Mozilla has introduced a new web payment system for devices running on Firefox OS, as part of the company's pitch to foster carrier adoption of the software. The JavaScript API titled navigator.mozPay() will allow for the payment of digital products online, with users charged either through a credit card or via their carrier in a phone bill.
Mozilla and Samsung will be collaborating on an "advanced technology Web browser engine." Servo will be the two company's attempt at rebuilding a web browser that works with modern hardware in mind, with the initial construction efforts of the browser engine focussed on Android and ARM-based systems.
Mozilla won't be bringing Firefox to iOS so long as Apple maintains its currently policy towards third-party browsers, according to the company's VP of product, Jay Sullivan. The executive made the comments over the weekend as the ongoing SXSW gathering in Austin, Texas. He added that the company isn't currently building a Firefox iOS app, and isn't planning to. The problem, Sullivan noted, is that App Store rules prevent Mozilla from porting its rendering and JavaScript engines to iOS.
Smartphones running Firefox OS must meet a set of minimum requirements in order to carry the Firefox branding, in future. Manufacturers wanting their device to be an official Firefox product will need to have the Firefox browser and official marketplace installed, as well as agreeing to a basic list of specifications and other similar requirements.
High-end smartphones typically dominate the news at Mobile World Congress, leaving us surprised by the amount of attention garnered by Mozilla's Firefox OS. Earlier this week we checked out Alcatel's One Touch Fire, and today we had a chance to try out ZTE's Open. Both are geared for emerging markets, focusing on maximum features from basic hardware via an operating system built from web standards.
Mozilla was one of the first companies to hold a Mobile World Congress press conference, where the developer focused on its Firefox OS for mobile devices. Electronista had a chance to try out Alcatel's One Touch Fire, one of the first production devices to embrace the platform. The handset is clearly an entry-level smartphone, seated in a market suited for the fledgling OS.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today, Mozilla made several announcements about Firefox OS, including a preview of the first commercial build of its open mobile ecosystem, new details on new Firefox OS operator rollout plans, and the launch of Firefox Marketplace. The first Firefox OS phones are expected later this year, mostly in European and South American markets.
Mozilla has made Firefox 19 available for download, ahead of a launch scheduled for later today. The new version of the browser, available through Mozilla's FTP server, introduces built-in PDF support through its own PDF.js JavaScript engine, instead of relying on a plug-in from Adobe, as well as other performance and bug fixes.
ZTE is planning to reveal two smartphones at Mobile World Congress next month. The Grand Memo is an 5.7-inch device running on Android, which also appears to be similar to the previously leaked P945, while a second device is expected to be the manufacturer's first smartphone that will run the new Mozilla Firefox OS.
Mozilla has shown off two "developer preview" smartphones running its mobile Firefox OS. Named the Keon and Peak, the pair of unlocked mobile phones have been make in partnership with Geeksphone of Spain, and are designed to give developers a platform to create and test apps for the new mobile operating system.
Mozilla has released Firefox 18, a fresh update of its multi-platform web browser. The new code is most relevant to MacBook Pro owners, as it adds support for the ultra-high resolutions on Retina displays. Performance is another focus of the update though, as it smooths out tab switching, boosts JavaScript speeds via the IonMonkey compiler, and improves image quality through a new HTML scaling algorithm.
Facebook and Mozilla today announced the release of the new Facebook Messenger for Firefox, which builds access to messaging on the social network directly into Mozilla's browser. The new Facebook integration requires an update to the most recent version of Firefox, but can be activated afterward simply by visiting the Facebook Messenger for Firefox page.
Mozilla has released a new beta of Firefox, its multiplatform web browser. The code makes several significant changes, most notably adding Retina display support for the MacBook Pro. It also implements the IonMonkey JavaScript JIT compiler, which is said to speed up JavaScript-heavy webpages, such as web apps.
Mozilla today made available version 17 of its Firefox desktop browser, bringing a number of functionality fixes and security upgrades. The upgrade brings an improved Awesome Bar experience with larger icons, revision of the Social API and support for Facebook Messenger, and click-to-play blocklisting to prevent vulnerable plugin versions from running without user permission. The version update brings one major exclusion, though: it drops support for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
The app marketplace that will supplement Mozilla's Firefox browser and Firefox OS is now accessible by users of the Android Firefox Beta browser. The fledgling marketplace shows off a number of the apps, games, and utilities that will be available on Mozilla's forthcoming mobile operating system when it debuts next year. The marketplace is still in a beta stage and only accessible on Android mobile devices.
The first mobile units running Mozilla's forthcoming Firefox OS aren't scheduled to debut until early next year, but images of the app marketplace for the mobile OS have leaked to the Internet. Engadget has acquired shots of the Firefox Marketplace, which is still in development; images that show a largely minimalist design that seems to show more focus on categorization and quick app discovery than do Apple or Google's app marketplace offerings. For now, the Marketplace appears to be largely populated by free apps, but that may change depending on how successful Mozilla and its partners are in gaining market share once their devices launch.
Mozilla has released Firefox 15 for desktop platforms and Android devices, along with its Thunderbird 15 e-mail client. The company has finally brought its redesigned Android browser to tablet devices, adding a tablet-optimized UI with a redesigned "Awesome Bar," a new tabs experience that supports swipe-to-close, and many of the performance enhancements that recently arrived on the smartphone edition.
More images of Mozilla's forthcoming Firefox OS appear to have emerged, showing off more of the operating system's capabilities. TechWeekEurope UK got ahold the new images, which show what looks to be a relatively mature OS that has all or most of the features that have become standard in the smartphone sector. The screens also appear to show a number of popular games being compatible with Firefox OS, which could prove a strong selling point when the platform enters the crowded smartphone market early next year.
Regulators in the European Union are looking into whether Microsoft's browser policy for the forthcoming Windows 8 constitutes a violation of antitrust rules to which Microsoft had previously agreed. As Ars Technica reports, the investigation is but one of two in which European regulators are taking Microsoft to task over the browser policies on its Windows platforms.
Mozilla has made Firefox version 14 available for download. The update introduces auto-completion of URLs typed into the Awesome Bar, along with encrypted Google searches enabled by default, to shield personal details from parties collecting data through the network infrastructure. The Pointer Lock API has also been added, allowing developers to improve mouse control for games and Internet applications.
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