Mozilla »
FinFisher spyware used by governments around the world is disguised as Firefox, and Mozilla is not happy about it
FinFisher, also known as FinSpy, is a piece of malware developed by Gamma International and sold to governments of 36 different countries (the US included) to monitor the activities of computer users. The spyware was originally designed to aid with criminal investigations, but there have been reports that say it [...]
Read More »First Firefox OS phones went on sale today, then sold out due to “great demand”
It looks like there might be room (and excitement) for another mobile OS. It’s either that or Geeksphone stocked a very limited amount of the first Firefox OS phones to go on sale, the Keon and the Peak.
Both smartphones, which are initially being targeted at developers went on sale [...]
Read More »BitTorrent Surf lets you download torrents straight from your browser
BitTorrent has just announced the release of BitTorrent Surf, a sharing plugin that “brings BitTorrent to your browser.” Basically, BitTorrent Surf hopes to eliminate the need for a separate torrent client and make downloading easier.
In addition to making downloading content easier, BitTorrent is hoping that Surf will make discovering [...]
Read More »Mozilla wants to bring console games to the web, ports Unreal 3 engine to web browsers
We all know Mozilla loves the Internet. Not only do they develop a web browser, Firefox, but they have been working on an HTML5-only mobile operating system, Firefox OS. So you shouldn’t be surprised when I tell you Mozilla isn’t stopping now. In fact, their latest endeavor may be more [...]
Read More »Mozilla will not develop Firefox for iOS because of Apple’s strict App Store restrictions
Firefox is on Windows. Firefox is on Android. Firefox is in Linux. Firefox is in Mac OS X. Firefox, however, has yet to be released on iOS (a function-limited non-browser Firefox app was available on iOS last year but was pulled later by Mozilla) and now never will be released [...]
Read More »Firefox will block third-party cookies (e.g. advertisement cookies) starting in Firefox 22
Almost in stride with its recent release of Firefox 19, Mozilla has announced the intention to block third-party cookies by default starting in Firefox 22.
Cookies are something that are stored on your computer by pretty much every website you visit. The purpose of cookies is to store varying amounts [...]
Read More »These are the first Firefox OS smartphones, ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire [Video]
Until now Firefox OS has more or less been just a buzzword for most people; there were no actual smartphone that ran the operating system. However, at Mobile World Congress this past weekend, Mozilla showed off two Firefox OS smartphones, ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire. Interested to see [...]
Read More »Why does Firefox still not have true ‘silent update’ capability? [Rant]
When you think of ‘silent update’ for a program, what do you imagine? For me, a silent update is an update that happens behind-the-scenes with no acknowledgement from the user; an update that happens on its own and the user either never finds out or only finds out after the [...]
Read More »Firefox and Apple have blocked Java while U.S. Homeland Security recommends everyone disable it, because of vulnerabilities
Late last year Java was hit with multiple vulnerabilities one after another. Earlier this week another Java exploit was discovered, one that is being actively exploited on the internet by criminals. Due to Java’s seemingly endless security issues, and the fact that the latest exploit is being “massively exploited in [...]
Read More »Firefox 17 is out, brings new security feature to protect against outdated add-ons and Facebook integration
Mozilla continues to chug along the Firefox road with the release of Firefox 17. (Now I’m so used to writing this same line every few weeks, I cannot even think of something clever to say.)
As is typical of Firefox releases, most of the major changes/modifications are under-the-hood changes and [...]
Read More »Firefox is going to start forcing HTTPS usage for sensitive websites, to thwart man-in-the-middle attacks
After reading the title of this article, you must be thinking “sounds like what HTTPS Everywhere does”. No, not exactly.
You see there are some websites out there that use HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), a protocol that forces browsers to default to HTTPS when connecting to the website in [...]
Read More »Run Firefox OS apps on Android with Firefox Marketplace by Mozilla
One of the reasons Mozilla decided to go HTML5 with Firefox OS is to allow apps on Firefox OS to be cross-compatible. In other words, any smartphone platform — may that be Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc. — that supports HTML5 should be able to run apps created for Firefox [...]
Read More »Firefox 16.0.1 is out, it is safe to upgrade now
Remember that Firefox 16 vulnerability I posted about yesterday? Yeah, well, it has been fixed with the release of Firefox 16.0.1 — it is safe to upgrade now.
If you are curious as to what changes Firefox 16 brings over Firefox 15, there isn’t much for the end user; most [...]
Read More »Mozilla introduces ‘Firefox Health Report’, an opt-out data collector that sends Firefox usage data to Mozilla
One of the ways software publishers improve their products is by collecting data on how their programs are being used by the end user. This data, if utilized properly, can provide significant insights to developers on how they can not only improve bugs and errors but also better tailor their [...]
Mozilla introduces ‘Add-on Guidelines’ to help improve user experience with Firefox add-ons
Feel Firefox add-ons are going down the tube? Mozilla, apparently, agrees with you because they have put together ‘Add-on Guidelines’ that are intended to “foster an open and diverse add-on developer community while ensuring an excellent user experience”.
The guidelines, which are available on MozillaWiki (link below), specifically issue four [...]
Read More »“Private Browsing” mode in Firefox 15 and higher is broken, reveals surfing activity according to reports
Firefox’s “Private Browsing” mode is a mode in which you can use Firefox to surf the web without Firefox storing any data on where you have been, what you did, etc. In other words, Private Browsing is supposed to make it so you leave no trace on your computer of [...]
Read More »Images of app store for Firefox OS (Firefox Marketplace) are leaked, show a modern but minimalist design
Formally known as Boot to Gecko, Firefox OS is Mozilla’s attempt at creating a mobile operating system alternative to the likes of Android and iOS. Mozilla hopes to attract developers to Firefox OS by being built on HTML5, meaning developers can create an app for Firefox OS in HTML5 and [...]
Chrome has 33% of browser market share, tops whole Internet Explorer family and Firefox
In terms of global browser usage, Google Chrome surpassed Firefox in December 2011 and beat Internet Explorer 8 in January 2012 but still had less market share than the total Internet Explorer family combined. Now, according to StatCounter, Chrome commands one-third of the global browser market (33.81%), making it [...]
Read More »Firefox 15 fixes addon memory leaks, makes other improvements
Firefox 14 just arrived but Firefox 15 is already in Beta and will be released before you know it. So what exactly does Firefox 15 bring us? Well it is too early to provide a full official changelog but there are a few interesting changes you can expect.
Without a [...]
Read More »Mozilla discontinuing Thunderbird, calling it “not a priority for Mozilla”
Some say 13 is an unlucky number. For Mozilla Thunderbird, the organization’s open-source email client, it certainly is: just over a month ago, version 13.0 was released, and now its rapid development has come to an end.
According to the Chair of the Mozilla Foundation Mitchell Baker, Mozilla will release [...]
Read More »Firefox OS is an open source mobile OS based on HTML5 by Mozilla
If you have been following Mozilla or Firefox closely, you might have already been familiar to the “Boot to Gecko” project by Mozilla. Mozilla has been working on a mobile operating system that is intended to be synonymous to complete freedom. As a result, Mozilla is now in the final [...]
Microsoft working on making Skype run natively in browsers (no program required)
Microsoft has been continuously working on improving Skype; trying to keep it at the top position on the list of VoIP services; tweaking options behind the scenes.
Now, Microsoft seems to be in a stride to provide better, uniform access for users to the VoIP client across multiple platforms. Microsoft [...]
Read More »Mozilla building ‘Junior’ browser for iOS
The past week has witnessed quite a number of revelations by some of the giants concerned with the computing world. With Apple revealing iOS 6, Microsoft revealing Surface Tablets, leakage of Xbox 720 and Kinect 2 details, and many more, Mozilla has just jumped into the fray with ‘Junior’, a [...]
Firefox in 2012: Mozilla wants less emphasis on version numbers, better add-on compatibility, and more developer tools
Today, on their Mozilla Hacks blog, Mozilla reminded us of all the Firefox accomplishments for 2011. Chief among these accomplishments are Firefox for Android, privacy advancements courtesy of Do Not Track, and the new Firefox Aurora channel. In addition to the just-mentioned, Firefox made performance improvements, decreased memory usage, [...]
Read More »Google to pay Mozilla nearly $1 billion to stay default search engine in Firefox
When you install Google Chrome you are giving the option to select between Google, Yahoo, and Bing as your default search engine. On Firefox… not so much. For the past three years (longer?) Google has been the default search engine on Firefox. Of course users are allowed to manually switch [...]
Customize Firefox’s about:blank page
Every time I open a new tab in Firefox, I’m greeted with about:blank. As far as creative names go, the name of this page is not very creative because it is just that – blank:
For most of us this isn’t a big deal because we don’t really spend much [...]
Read More »