Isaiah's Tech

Mozilla's VP has just mentioned that Firefox Mobile could be available on Android by the end of this year. Of course, that's a pretty vague statement since there are still 10 months left in the year. Let's hope they narrow that time frame down to a quarter or something - like Q3?

[Gizmodo]
Picture Source: The Unwired

Mozilla's CEO, John Lilly, has just mentioned that they are working on getting their Fennec (Firefox Mobile) mobile browser onto the Android OS. He went on to mention that it took them this long because "Android was Java, but they just released Android NDK which uses C/C++ and that is what we program in." This is great news and we'll just have to see how Mozilla does with this.

[The Unwired]

We know nothing about the situation right now, but it looks like Firefox is looking to push out an iPhone app. There are rumours going around that it could have something to do with their bookmark syncing service, Weave, but it's confirmed right now. Of course, it could always be Firefox Mobile... or Fennec. We'll see.

[9 to 5 Mac]

If you have a Windows Mobile handset, you can now try out Alpha 3 of Mozilla's Fennec mobile browser. You can download Mozilla's Fennec Alpha 3 if you redirect your mobile browser to tinyurl.com/fennec3. Check out all of the new updates in Fennec Alpha 3 below, courtesy of WMPowerUser. You can also check it out on Brad's blog here and Mozilla's website here.

• Much improved panning/scrolling performance
• Improved start-up time
• Revised theme
• Support for running in full screen
• Numerous bug fixes
• Improved painting performance
• Improved UI polish
• Support for touch sensitive directional pad on HTC devices
• Improved kinetic panning with directional locking
• Ability to scroll frames
• Improved zooming support
• Support for multiple screen sizes

This builds upon the feature set of the previous releases:
Easy navigation to Web content:

• Bookmarks, including tags
• Smart URL bar ("awesome bar")
• Tabbed browsing with thumbnail images
• Integrated Web search – built into the URL bar
• Easy access to multiple search engines
• Built in error console
• Support for add-ons

Web content:

• Maximize content by auto-hiding controls and URL bar
• Zoom in and out

Security:

• Instant Web site ID ("Larry")
• Password manager
• Popup blocker
• Clear private data

Devices services integration:

• Click on a phone number to initiate a call
• JavaScript API to get device location

Also:

• Searchable download manager
• Preferences pane
• Add-ons manager, including ability to directly find and install add-ons

[WMPowerUser]

Mozilla is planning to launch Firefox Mobile / Fennec on the N900 when it ships and Tech Radar got their first look at how it works. Firefox Mobile will have Awesome Bar which you can see above. In Firefox Mobile, there's also add-ons and geo-location support, which will be two great additions. You can take a look at Tech Radar for more information and more images.

[Tech Radar]

With Windows 7 launching in Europe, it was said that the OS would not have any browsers built-into the OS, since Internet Explorer truly sucks. Well, now it looks like it will be the default browser, but it will transfer you to a "ballot screen" so that you can easily install a "competing browser" of choice. We don't know what the other browsers on the "ballot screen" will be at the time, but the picture above should be the top five on the list. They should do this in North America too.

[Gizmodo]

Mozilla's mobile browser Fennec aka Firefox is now available on Windows Mobile 6 devices. The Alpha 1 version of Fennec improves memory behaviour, has support for add-ons, and "moves the user interface to a CSS-based solution that'll make resolution independence easier." You can download Fennec (Firefox) Alpha 1 here and the release notes are here.

Mozilla has just announced that they are "setting an aggressive code freeze target" for next Wednesday. They also went on to mention that the Firefox 3.5 RC will be available to testers in the first week on June. I can't wait until this officially gets released, but it seems that by then, Google may finally release their Chrome extensions - still wishful thinking though.

[Tech Spot, Engadget]

It's been only 6 days since Firefox 3.0.9 came out and it looks like Mozilla is already working on Firefox 3.0.10. Apparently, Firefox 3.0.9 has actually been a little bit slower than its previous versions and that is something that Mozilla is currently trying to fix. Firefox 3.0.10 will bring back the good ol' speed and will also plug a couple of security holes.

Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 reportedly has a new "Recently Closed Windows entry in the History menu that will allow you to restore accidentally closed windows." This is definitely good news, since the undo closed tab option is a life-saver for me. On a side note, Opera and Google Chrome already have this feature; Internet Explorer 8, on the other hand, is terrible.

[Beta News (Firefox 3.0.10), Lifehacker (Firefox 3.5)]

You now download Firefox 3.0.9 at this link, thanks to Softpedia. Mozilla was working on it all weekend just for us, they're so nice. Too bad I use Google Chrome, and I can't wait for their extensions to come out. Nonetheless, here's another version for you Firefox fans to download. By the way, where's that Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 that's supposed to be released this week. We could see it as soon as tomorrow, according to last week's news.

[Beta News]

Mozilla has just called for a code freeze on their latest beta. Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 is expected to go through a code freeze soon (Friday) and this means that we could see it released to the public as early as next Wednesday. I'm excited to see how Firefox plans to take on Chrome because I expect Chrome to boost their share when their extension platform gets released.

[Beta News]

While Mozilla is not going to release Firefox 3.5 until June, they are already looking ahead. Here we're talking about Firefox 3.6. Maybe Mozilla is rushing things a little bit, but it's good to know that they're headed in the right direction. They are planning to focus on speed, no-restart extension installation, and having desktop web applications. Google Chrome, on the other hand, has 2 of those down-pat, but they're still lacking in the extensions category. I'm wondering if Firefox 3.5 will beat out their previous world record for most downloads in 24 hours. 8 million is a huge mark to try to beat.

[Lifehacker]

After finding a critical security issue in Firefox, Mozilla will be releasing Firefox version 3.0.8 next week. They are patching it up as fast as they can. The bug that they've found affects Firefox across all operating systems, even Mac and Linux, hence the critical status.

[Mac World]

If you have an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) supported browser, you can now draw in Google Docs. So, if you're using Internet Explorer - even IE8 - you're going to have to use Firefox, Chrome, Opera or Safari. If you try to draw in Google Docs with a non-SVG supported browser (aka Internet Explorer), it will use VML (Vector Markup Language) instead, so you're not entirely out of luck. So, try out your drawings in Google Docs now! On a side note, Google Docs also implemented a "full-fledged find and replace toolbar", you can try that for yourself too.

[Mashable, Lifehacker]

Those people at Facebook must be working hard lately. Just last night, they announced that they would be making new Facebook changes, since most users hated that they changed the layout so drastically - and for the worse. As my girlfriend pointed out to me, Facebook has already changed a couple of things on the home page, such as: photo tags on your home page, friend list filters, and a couple alterations to the right-hand column. In the top left corner, you now have the ability to create, well, new friend list filters. They're not working for me right now, so I don't know exactly what you can do with this filter. I don't think it's working correctly right now; I tried it on Chrome 2.0 and Firefox 3.1 Beta 3, but the window didn't work properly. Another feature that was implemented is photo tags on your home page and you can clearly see that in the picture above. They also changed the right column a little bit. I still have to scroll down to view my pokes, which is still annoying. Personally, I think they should put the pokes notifications in the top where you receive friend requests (although, that could cause a problem when you have a bunch of people poking you). The "People You May Know" box is now in the top right corner and to view your events / friend's birthdays, you now have to scroll down, since it's where the poke box is. Some good changes (photo tags / friend list features), but one bad change (right-hand column). I don't know whether they've changed the Applications because I don't really pay attention to them that much.

Keep in mind that live updates and the new highlights features are still unavailable at this point. Those are still on the way and they are what I'm waiting for the most.

Earlier this week, at this year's Pwn2Own contest at the CanSecWest security conference, Safari was hacked in around 10 seconds. Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer crumbled shortly after, under the abilities of a man named Nils. Google's Chrome was fortunately unscratched at this year's Pwn2Own contest. Surprisingly, this year no mobile devices were hacked. The iPhone, Symbian, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Mobile were safe from all the determined hackers. The hackers said that next year they would be more prepared to hack these devices, so watch out Windows Mobile 6.5 / 7 because my bet is that it will go down first.

[CrackBerry]

PC World asks if Firefox is Dead and Crunch Gear asks if Chrome will take over Firefox. I believe that Google's web browser, Chrome, will one day take over all of those Firefox users whether it be months or years from now (probably years). While Google Chrome's use is stuck at around the 1% mark, it has only been out of beta for only a couple of months. Firefox has been gaining  a ton of ground lately on Microsoft's Internet Explorer and that's all great and dandy. I once used Firefox, but I am finding it awfully slow compared to Google Chrome. At this year's Pwn2Own contest, Chrome is the only browser that hasn't been exploited yet. Charlie Miller has said that Chrome is a harder browser to exploit because of their sandboxing feature. He has found a security flaw in Chrome, but is having difficulty exploiting it because of the sandboxing feature and the way the OS's "security measures" work together. Maybe that's why Google is taking a while to release their Mac version, they're trying to get things [near] perfect. It seems that Chrome has the upper hand on security.

Google Chrome is really lightweight and that helps in beating out Firefox in a speed race. Personally, I love the sandboxing feature because some of my sites do crash and it does help that I can just close the tab and continue browsing. I feel that Mozilla really has to do something big to pull me away from Chrome. I rarely used extensions and that's why it was so easy to move from Firefox to Chrome. Obviously, I did use a couple of extensions, but Google has mentioned that they will be releasing extensions shortly; yes, they're still working on it. With the release of extensions it could definitely increase Chrome's market share. As long as Chrome doesn't ditch speed for so-called productivity (with extensions), I think that it will one day surpass Mozilla's Firefox.

My post may be biased, but only time will tell whether Chrome will overtake Firefox or not.

[PC World, Crunch Gear, Lifehacker]

I already talked about Charlie Miller getting $5,000 for his abilities to exploit Safari in mere seconds. But another person, by the name of Nils (pictured) was able to exploit Internet Explorer 8 on a Windows 7 laptop. For that, he won $5,000 and a sweet Vaio P laptop. I guess IE8 is not bulletproof just like Microsoft is claiming. Nils also continued his exploit-run on Safari and then Firefox shortly after, earning him $15,000 in one day, that is skill. Since the Opera browser is not included in the contest, Google Chrome is the only browser that hasn't been exploited yet. The contest lasts until tomorrow (Friday), so we could see it exploited before then. The contest doesn't include just browsers, it also includes exploiting a mobile handset, including one that runs on: Windows Mobile, Android, Symbian, iPhone or the BlackBerry OS. For hacking a mobile handset OS, it will earn a lucky someone $10,000. Damn.

[Engadget]

If you remember a couple of weeks ago, Mozilla renamed their mobile browser, Fennec, to Firefox. Well, around that time, Fennec was available but in a barely usable state. Now, Firefox Mobile has just hit Beta 1 but is actually only available for Nokia's internet tablet PC, the N810. It has add-on support already and actually comes with a couple of extensions, which is a nice bonus. Unfortunately, no mobile phones can even use this browser, but it shouldn't be too long before Mozilla has a working version for handsets. Maybe Mozilla is focusing too much on this mobile browser, hence why we won't see Firefox 3.5 until June.

[Gizmodo, Tilt Mobility]