Sep/100
Firefox 4 Beta 5 brings GPU acceleration for Windows
Browser betas, like puberty, can be a confusing time. Sure, we’re eager to be getting new functionality, but all the crashes and compatibility breaks and unrequited crushes can be a bit tough to handle. Now Mozilla is giving us something big for all our blood, sweat and acne: Firefox 4 Beta 5 has Direct2D hardware acceleration on by default. We tested it out real quick, and it seemed to speed up most HTML5 tasks considerably while inexplicably slowing a couple down, but we’re sure all will be ironed out in time for the final version of Firefox 4 to go head to head with Microsoft’s own upcoming hardware accelerated contender, IE9. Unfortunately, the speedups only apply to Windows for now, Mac and Linux are being left out in the GPU-less cold, but we suppose they should be used to that by now. Other perks in the update include HSTS, a successor to HTTPS in secure surfing, and HTML5 Audio, which allows for all sorts of audio processing and analysis at the browser level. You can check out a quick demo of hardware acceleration after the break.
Continue reading Firefox 4 Beta 5 brings GPU acceleration for Windows
Firefox 4 Beta 5 brings GPU acceleration for Windows originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug/100
Fennec (a.k.a. Firefox Mobile) goes alpha for Android and Nokia N900
Fennec (a.k.a. Firefox Mobile) goes alpha for Android and Nokia N900 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug/100
Internet Explorer 9 makes cameo appearance on Microsoft Russia site
Microsoft’s gotten a little carried away with its Internet Explorer 9 excitement and posted an early screenshot of the browser up on its Russian site. The post and the image have since been diligently pulled, but not before Mary-Jo Foley managed to snag the pictorial evidence. What’s new to see? A resoundingly minimal interface, that’s what. The Chrome comparisons should be raining down thick and heavy if this snapshot is anything to go by, as Microsoft has done a fine job of ridding its browser from pesky menus, consolidated its controls into a few icons in the top right, and combined the search and address bars into one. Of course, given the earlier leak of screenshots, those menus could still just be hiding somewhere nearby, ready to spring at us. Another similarity to Chrome (and Firefox and Safari) is the new ability to “tear off” tabs from one window and reposition them independently. We’ll see how closely the Beta aligns to what we see here when it debuts for real on September. 15.
Internet Explorer 9 makes cameo appearance on Microsoft Russia site originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aug/100
Internet Explorer 9 Beta launching September 15th, might enter a beauty pageant
Once again, the whispers were true. Microsoft has proudly announced on this fine day that September 15th will mark the official launch of the Internet Explorer 9 Beta, but details beyond that are scant. We do know that the Big M will hold a gala in San Francisco to celebrate “The Beauty of the Web,” and once it hits the tubes, you’ll need either Vista or Windows 7 to use it (sorry, XP loyalists). ‘Course, it remains to be seen if IE can catch up to Chrome and Firefox in the technical department, but at least you can start preparing your existing squeeze for somewhat of a letdown next month. Let ‘em down easy, okay?
Internet Explorer 9 Beta launching September 15th, might enter a beauty pageant originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jul/1013
Skyfire 1.5 on Nokia N97! Watch it!!
Watch this Video and convince yourself! Skyfire is the best app for mobile phones on the market. With SkyFire you can surf with your mobile phone in the internet as like as on your pc. I know everybody out there wants a app which can play every video in the internet and which can play flash games. It is one of the best feelings for mobile users to surf on the mobile as like as on the pc: – No mobile versions of sites/pages anymore – Visit every page – be amazed with the speed – be amazed with the easy und sensible scrolling – be amazed with the user interface Don’t wait anymore for the update, where is the Flash 10 support included! Just download SkyFire and use NOW the Flash10 Support! 
Download now SkyFire for your mobile phone and install it! Then use it how you feel and like!: www.get.skyfire.com Enjoy it!
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Jul/100
Firefox Home for iPhone bows in the App Store
Alright, we know that playing with the Firefox 4 beta has been a full-time job for you Mozilla fanboys and girls out there, but let’s try something fresh on for size, shall we? Firefox Home has finally been whisked into the App Store on news that Apple gave it the green light, meaning you can now sync your bookmarks and open tabs between your desktop and your phone. Some of us can go a few minutes without browsing the web in the off chance we’re away from our PCs… aw, who are we kidding? No we can’t — and neither can you, so you may as well grab it if you’re using Firefox and an iPhone.
Firefox Home for iPhone bows in the App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jul/100
Opera 10.6 hits Windows, Mac and Linux with faster Javascript, WebM video support
Four short months after Opera 10.5, the Scandanavian potato boilers are back for more — the latest version of their lightweight web browser features not only claims to be the fastest, but the first final browser with WebM video support. While we actually noticed a variety of web videos felt choppy with the Windows version, there’s no denying it’s a speedy little hummingbird; Engadget felt snappier on Opera than Chrome or Firefox by far. Don’t take our word for it, though — try it out for yourself at the source link.
Opera 10.6 hits Windows, Mac and Linux with faster Javascript, WebM video support originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jul/100
Firefox 1.1 hits Maemo in final form, featuring Add-ons, Save to PDF and more
Two months after an impressive beta, Mozilla’s finalized its first full mobile browser for Maemo — beating iPhone, Android and most assuredly Windows Mobile versions to the punch. Though it doesn’t seem to have gained any new features in the interim, what it does bring to the table is sweet indeed: portrait browsing, auto-updating add-ons and the ability to magically convert webpages to PDF right on your phone. If you have a Nokia N900 or N810, do your device a favor and download it right now; if not, you’ll find a handy guide to your burning jealousy at our more coverage link.
Firefox 1.1 hits Maemo in final form, featuring Add-ons, Save to PDF and more originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun/100
MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance
As promised, Nokia and Intel have revealed the pre-alpha version of MeeGo for handsets today, supporting the Intel-powered Aava reference phone and the Nokia N900. What most interesting at this early stage is the UI, which appears to have taken a big Nokia-influenced step away from the Intel-designed MeeGo netbook and tablet UI — and we’re definitely detecting some hints of Android and webOS here and there. Seriously, just check out that task switching interface. Of course, MeeGo is open-source, so we’re sure Nokia has some deeper UI customizations in store — like homescreen widgets, which are notably missing here.
On a deeper level, this build of MeeGo includes the base MeeGo APIs, including Qt and the MeeGo touch frameworks, the Firefox-based browser, a photo viewer, and some basic UI elements like the status bar, app launcher, and virtual keyboard. There are pre-built images for the Atom-based Aava handsets available now, but N900 owners will have to do a little building until someone makes an image available. Be warned, though: there’s a long enough list of known bugs, and while that’s totally fine for pre-alpha code, it might not be too fine for your device. That’s not going to stop us from installing this thing, but you be careful, alright? And let us know how it goes. Video of the UI after the break.
P.S. Given that the N8 is destined to be the last Symbian N Series device, we can’t help but feel it’s being overshadowed by MeeGo before it’s even out. Can we pre-pour one out? Is that a thing? It is now.
Continue reading MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance
MeeGo for handsets makes its first appearance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun/100
Chrome overtakes Safari for number three browser spot in the US sez StatCounter
Continue reading Chrome overtakes Safari for number three browser spot in the US sez StatCounter
Chrome overtakes Safari for number three browser spot in the US sez StatCounter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun/100
HTML5 speed test finds IE9, Firefox 3.7 lead the pack in Windows, Chrome a distant last
HTML5 speed test finds IE9, Firefox 3.7 lead the pack in Windows, Chrome a distant last originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun/100
Mozilla bundles WebM support into nightly Firefox builds
Google’s new web video standard seems to be gathering a bit of momentum, as today Firefox is following in the ultrafast steps of Chrome by offering built-in support for WebM video. Bugs are still being worked out, but the fundamentals are there, and we’ll hopefully see all kinks ironed out in time for the release of Firefox 4 Beta, which is expected to land later this month. This is now the third big browser to announce compatibility, with Microsoft already promising it for IE 9, provided users download the necessary VP8 codec first. The HTML5-obsessed Apple hasn’t yet decided which way it’s going with the standard while Opera is presumably busy figuring out how to parody the whole thing in video form.
Mozilla bundles WebM support into nightly Firefox builds originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Jun/100
Apple releases Safari 5 with Safari Reader, Extensions and Bing search (update)
Apple has just outed a press release for Safari 5, which curiously didn’t get a mention during the company’s WWDC10 keynote, but should be ready to download any minute now. Safari Reader is making its debut, as we’d heard it might, alongside a claimed 30 percent performance improvement over Safari 4 and — mirroring the iPhone 4 — Bing as one of the preloaded search engine options. Google and Yahoo are still around, don’t freak out. Apple is also adding in Extensions (think Firefox’s Add-Ons) to the browser, allowing devs to use HTML5, CSS and JavaScript to pretty up the browsing experience. The Reader feature intrigues us most, as it auto-detects articles within webpages and pulls them out for an unencumbered text-only view. The idea sounds great, but we’ll naturally need to see how well it works in practice. Apple’s been doing a bit of benchmarking too and boasts that Safari 5 runs JavaScript a whole three percent faster than Chrome 5.0 and over twice as fast as Firefox 3.6. Internet Explorer is presumably still working on finishing that test.
P.S. We’re hearing the current release might be for devs only, hence the lack of a public download.
Update: Okay, now it’s available for public consumption.
Update 2: Okay, we’ve been playing with Safari 5 for a few moments and here’s what we’ve noticed:
- Reader is pretty gorgeous — think Instapaper on the fly. It’s hard to tell when it’ll kick and show the Reader button in the toolbar, though — it works on Engadget posts, but not in Wikipedia articles.
- Yes, Netflix is broken. It seems like it’s doing a browser detect and failing with the new build number, so we’d guess it’ll be fixed soon.
- It’s much faster at everything from launch to rendering times. We haven’t clocked it yet, but it’s noticeably snappier on our quad-core i7 iMac.
- We’re dying to try out some Extensions and see how they work, but we haven’t seen any yet. Same with the new HTML5 features — hit us up if you see anything!
- Bing Search integration is… Bing search integration. What else is there to say?
Continue reading Apple releases Safari 5 with Safari Reader, Extensions and Bing search (update)
Apple releases Safari 5 with Safari Reader, Extensions and Bing search (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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May/100
Mozilla shares tentative vision for Firefox 4
Our first glimpse of Firefox 4 was limited to a few tasteful mockups; this time, Mozilla’s main man Mike Beltzner has revealed the company’s plans for its next generation web browser in its entirety. While exact features and dates are sketchy, his presentation reveals Mozilla would like to hold the Firefox 4 beta in June, before unleashing a CSS3, partially HTML5 compliant web browser with multitouch support, background updates, geolocation, Firefox Sync (aka Mozilla Weave) and a greatly streamlined UI this holiday season. The presentation has “PLANS MIGHT CHANGE” written all over it in large red letters, so trust us when we say none of this is for sure, but we like the direction Firefox is going and we’ll be happy to see more. Video presentation at our source link, full slideshow after the break.
Continue reading Mozilla shares tentative vision for Firefox 4
Mozilla shares tentative vision for Firefox 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 22:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apr/100
Adobe’s Flash Player ‘Gala’ OS X preview tested: results may vary
| Gala1 | Flash 101 |
| 2.40GHz Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256MB2 | ||
| Safari 4.0.5 | 95.4 – 152.8 | 74.2 – 123.5 |
| Firefox 3.6.4 | 83.5 – 148.4 | 89.4 – 130.5 |
| 2.66GHz Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512MB2 | ||
| Safari 4.0.5 | 59 – 64 | 96 – 132 |
| Firefox 3.6.4 | 69 – 79 | 111 – 140 |
So we just put a few minutes aside to put Adobe’s new “Gala” build of Flash 10.1 through its paces on our latest-generation Core i5 and i7 15-inch MacBook Pros here, and the results are a little confusing to say the least. On our i7 equipped with the high-res display and 512MB GeForce GT 330M, processor utilization playing a 1080p sample video on YouTube dropped by a third to a half on average — not bad — with Safari 4.0.5 besting Firefox 3.6.4 by a smidge. Our i5 saw strangely different numbers, though, with Gala actually increasing the load on the CPU by as much as about 20 percent. Adobe is quick to note that this is nothing more than a rough preview release; Apple just unlocked access to the necessary hardware a few days ago, after all, and we’re sure the company still has plenty of optimization to do. Ultimately, if our i7 figures are realistic, it should make high-def Hulu a decidedly less drama-packed experience down the road.
Notes:
1 Performance measured by processor utilization (note that numbers greater than 100 are possible on multi-core machines).
2 15.4-inch high resolution display, 256GB SSD, 4GB RAM
Adobe’s Flash Player ‘Gala’ OS X preview tested: results may vary originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apr/100
Firefox now available for Android 2.0 and above, still at pre-alpha stage
Fennec, Mozilla’s codeword for mobile Firefox builds, has just made its pre-alpha debut on Android. The tastefully named Vladimir Vukićević informs us that it’s pretty much a debug release, with unoptimized memory utilization and some quirks rebooting the app when it’s started and when add-ons are installed, but it is at a stage where the devs felt they could get useful feedback from a broader user base. It’s not yet available on the Android Market, so you’ll be needing to download it from the link below, and remember that you’ll have to have an Android 2.0 or higher device, with OpenGL ES 2.0 capabilities also being recommended. If you’ve got all those boxes ticked, get downloading and come back to tell us how that WeaveSync is working out for you. We’ve got video of an older build running on a Nexus one after the break, just to whet some appetites.
[Thanks, Jonathon]
Continue reading Firefox now available for Android 2.0 and above, still at pre-alpha stage
Firefox now available for Android 2.0 and above, still at pre-alpha stage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apr/100
Firefox ported to Pre, N900 says ‘psh, whatever, I’m still awesome’
WebKit’s all well and good, but every once in a while there’s a reason why you’ve got to pull out the Old Standby, right? Once reserved for the Maemo Elite, Firefox is slowly spreading from pocket to pocket, and webOS is mercifully the latest to get hooked up. We don’t know the full backstory here yet — it looks like you can’t download a user-friendly package right now — but this’ll undoubtedly be a good option when the Pre’s in-built browser simply won’t do. It’s not an official port we’re looking at, but let’s be honest: the community does a better job half the time, right?
Firefox ported to Pre, N900 says ‘psh, whatever, I’m still awesome’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apr/100
Firefox Lorentz beta doesn’t crash entirely when plug-ins get fussy
Admit it, your love for Firefox is tempered by sometimes sluggish performance and a penchant for perennial plugin crashes. Google did what it could with Chrome to isolate such issues by ensuring the entire browser didn’t crash when Flash (or any other add-on, for that matter) went belly up. Now it looks like the gang at Mozilla are adopting a similar tactic, and if you want to try it out for yourself, the Lorentz beta is now available for download. So sayeth the site, “If a plugin crashes or freezes, it will not affect the rest of Firefox. You will be able to reload the page to restart the plugin and try again.” Whodathunk we’d ever feel actual elation at such a proclamation?
Firefox Lorentz beta doesn’t crash entirely when plug-ins get fussy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 05:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar/100
Firefox for Mobile (Fennec) escapes in a rough Android port
It’s slow, jerky, and may not even work on your Android device even after installing the 41MB package. But it’s FireFox for Mobile (aka, Fennec) on Android, brother, and isn’t that worth the hassle? Based on our experience with it on the N900, the only gold platform at the moment, it most definintely is. MartinSchirr of Android Forums is credited with the port and it’s your best option until the cats at Mozilla issues a formal Android release (currently in Pre-Alpha) later this year as expected. Check the video after the break if you want to experience it right now, mess free.
[Thanks, Will]
Continue reading Firefox for Mobile (Fennec) escapes in a rough Android port
Firefox for Mobile (Fennec) escapes in a rough Android port originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mar/100
Germany keeps spreading the browser hate, warns against Firefox
Remember back when Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security said that Internet Explorer just wasn’t good enough for its citizens? The Office is doing its civic duty once again, this time warning against that formerly lean and mean upstart competitor: Firefox — for a little while, at least. The Office “recommends the use of alternative browser until Mozilla has released Firefox version 3.6.2,” due one week from today, and while it doesn’t make a recommendation on which browser you should be using in the interim, we’re thinking Lynx users can keep on surfing with confidence.
Germany keeps spreading the browser hate, warns against Firefox originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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