WebProNews

Tag: Web Browsers

  • Apple TV to Be Called iTV, Could Google TV Eventually Expand to DirecTV?

    Apple’s TV project has been renamed iTV, according to a report from Engadget, and it will run apps, much like the iPhone/iPad. Joshua Topolsky says, "it’s unclear if there will be cross-pollination between iPad and iPhone / iPod touch offerings and new Apple TV applications." It will apparently cost $99, but it reportedly won’t be able to handle 1080i or 1080p video.

    DirecTV and Google have entered into an ad sales partnership involving Google TV ads. It would be very interesting if the relationship between these two companies evolved to include a Google TV partnership, which would give that platform (along with Android) potentially much greater reach, building on Google’s existing relationship with Dish Network.

    Google and Verizon have dominated the tech web headlines this week with news and discussion around their "open web" proposal. Facebook has weighed in on the subject, indicating that they’re on a different page with the companies’ stance on wireless networks.

    Google announced a new beta version of Chrome with more speed, a new user interface, and a new autofill feature.

    Google is also sharing a case study from Samsung about how it has utilized AdMob mobile ads to target male sports fans, increasing purchase intent.

    Gizmodo points to a Firefox add-on that provides an alarm every time "Google spies on you". It screams at you and shows you an alert when personal information is sent to Google servers. "Since this happens almost everywhere—thanks to spying bugs like Google Analytics, AdSense, YouTube embeds, Google API calls, and who knows what else—you may just want to look at the demo," writes Jesus Diaz.

    Google Alarm from Jamie Dubs on Vimeo.

    Ars Technica has a startling story about how cars can be hacked into through wireless tire sensors, which could potentially give those with malicious intent the ability to annoy drivers or even endanger them.

  • Google Releases New Chrome Beta

    Google Releases New Chrome Beta

    Google has a new beta release available for the Chrome browser with some new features. Among these, is a new user interface, which was previewed on the developer channel in June, including changes to the toolbar and omnibox. 

    Google software engineer James Hawkins talks about a couple of the other new features on the Chrome Blog. "One of my favorite features, Autofill, helps you fill in web forms automatically with information that you specify, such as your name, address, phone number, and the credit card number you use for shopping online," he says. "Autofill builds up and saves this information for you over time, so that you can fill in long web forms with just a few clicks without typing in the same information over again. For your security, any personal information stored in Chrome is safely stored and kept private until a user chooses to share the information with a website. Additionally, your credit card information is never saved without first asking you explicitly."

    "We also continue to bring more synchronization capabilities to Chrome," he adds. "In addition to syncing bookmarks, preferences, and themes, you can now choose to sync your Chrome extensions as well as your Autofill data (excluding credit card numbers) through your Google Account. With Chrome’s sync features, you can personalize your Chrome experience and access your painstakingly curated set of bookmarks, preferences, themes, extensions, and Autofill data from any computer you choose, as long as you’re signed in to your Google Account on Chrome for that computer. To start syncing, go to the the ‘Sync’ section of the “Personal Stuff” tab in Chrome’s options."

    In addition to the new interface and these features, the new beta is faster. Google has always placed a great deal of emphasis on speed with Chrome, and they continue to do so. Hawkins says its 15% faster on both the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks. You can see the progressions on these visually here.

    Google recently announced that it intends to release new stable versions of Chrome every six weeks.

  • How Important is Firefox in the Battle for Search Market Share?

    Chitika has provided some very interesting search market-related findings. According to the firm, Firefox is responsible for a significant amount of Google’s share. In fact, based on the sample looked at, there were more Firefox-based Google searches than total searches from Bing or Yahoo.

    It’s important to note that this isn’t representative of the entire search market, but it’s an interesting finding that may indeed have bigger implications in that market.

    "The next big shift in the search engine wars may come in 2011, when Mozilla’s contract setting Google as the default browser in their popular Firefox browser comes to an end," says Chitika’s Daniel Ruby. "Based on a sample of over 14 million impressions across the Chitika advertising network, Firefox currently holds the keys to 9.17% of the search market – more than any one company except Google itself."

    Search Market Breakdown according to Chitika

    Of course Bing and Yahoo combined will account for more than Google’s Firefox share. If that means anything.

    "Of the sample pulled by Chitika Research for the purposes of this study, Firefox drove 23% of all traffic to the network," says Ruby. "Of Firefox’s search traffic, 91.45% came from Google, and 39.87% specifically from the Firefox start page and embedded Google search bar."

    He also speculates that we’ll see "a massive bidding war" when Mozilla’s contract with Google gets closer to the end. I guess we’ll see who wants it most. Of course meanwhile, Google will be heavily pushing Chrome, trying to get some of those Firefox users themselves into their own browser.

    How much does the browser play into your search habits? Tell us about it.

  • Study Indicates 60% of Handsets Will Have Mobile Browsers in 2015

    ABI Research is sharing a new report in which it forecasts that over 60% of handsets will have mobile browsers in 2015. At 3.8 billion mobile devices, that would double today’s penetration rate, the firm says.

    "Mobile browsers are evolving along two paths," says ABI Research senior analyst Mark Beccue. "On one hand, highly sophisticated browsers, which we are calling full Internet browsers, will be found in all smartphones and a growing number of enhanced (or feature) phones. Such devices can host these browsers because they have advanced application processors, expanded memory capacity and adequate screen size and resolution. These full Internet browsers typically require about 64 Mb of memory to run. A real key to the growth of full Internet browsers in higher-end feature phones is the falling cost of sophisticated applications processors. But there is also a second path."

    "Parallel to this development, a new family of browsers has emerged: the proxy-based (or client-server or compression) browser, which is epitomized by the Opera Mini," he continues. "These browsers move some caching and processing off the phone to a nearby server, allowing the browser to run on lower-cost processors and requiring as little as 4 Mb of memory. That means these browsers can be used on even the lowest-cost phones."

    ABI’s research also indicates that the installed base of full Internet browsers will exceed that of proxy-based browsers sometime in 2012. The report can be found here.

    ABI released another study this week, looking at mobile data usage, finding that it continues to grow exponentially as 3G technology spreads globally. ABI says that from 2009 to 2015 data usage in Western Europe and North America is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42% and 55% respectively.

  • Microsoft Juggles Privacy, Advertising Priorities with Internet Explorer

    The Wall Street Journal has interesting article about Microsoft’s internal dilemma about privacy settings in Internet Explorer. It’s basically a matter of privacy vs. advertising, both of which Microsoft has an interest in. WSJ’s Nick Winfield reports:

    In the end, the product planners lost a key part of the debate. The winners: executives who argued that giving automatic privacy to consumers would make it tougher for Microsoft to profit from selling online ads. Microsoft built its browser so that users must deliberately turn on privacy settings every time they start up the software.

    Microsoft’s original privacy plans for the new Explorer were "industry-leading" and technically superior to privacy features in earlier browsers, says Simon Davies, a privacy-rights advocate in the U.K. whom Microsoft consulted while forming its browser privacy plans. Most users of the final product aren’t even aware its privacy settings are available, he says. "That’s where the disappointment lies."

    In response to privacy articles like the WSJ’s, Microsoft has written a post on the IE Blog. It says:

    Because some of the technologies that can be used for tracking are also essential today for basic functionality, there is no “Just give me perfect privacy” feature. The way different tracking and anti-tracking technologies interact can read like a Spy vs. Spy comic strip. Distinguishing between a tracking technology (a beacon) and a useful piece of web content (a stock chart used as a beacon) is not obvious. Some people are concerned about Adobe Flash’s “super cookies”; IE8’s InPrivate browsing clears these as well with newer versions of Flash.  As another example, InPrivate Browsing in IE8 “clears your tracks” and removes information from browser history when you close IE. During the actual browsing session, before you close it, IE still records history (so the back button continues to work) and cookies (so that logins and shopping carts continue to work). Ultimately, people want the web to work and privacy protection.

    We designed InPrivate Filtering to help users control who can get information about their browsing. IE enables users to choose how privately they want to browse. Users are in control of several privacy protection features in IE, and how automatically they function. Specifically, users can keep browsing information from going to sites they don’t actually visit directly. IE determines the potential tracking sites on the list based on the sites you browse to directly and how those sites were written. Different sites on the web have articles about more advanced features, like always browsing with InPrivate Filtering on, and importing and exporting InPrivate Filtering lists.

    NetMarketShare just released new research indicating that IE has extended its share of the browser market by 1% since May.

    Microsoft provides steps to adjust your privacy settings in IE here.

  • Internet Explorer Gains Share in Worldwide Browser Usage

    According to data from NetMarketShare, Internet Explorer extended its usage share gains by another .42% in July, gaining about 1% global share since May. 

    The firm says, "This is the second month in a row of global gains for Internet Explorer and the third straight month of gains for Internet Explorer 8 in the United States. The gain comes at the expense of Firefox (-.9%) and Chrome (-.08%)."

    IE extended its lead as the leading browser worldwide, as it gained .98% share globally (including all versions).

    IE now represents over 30% of browser usage worldwide.

    "Ultimately, we know customers have a choice when it comes to the browser they use, and that choice has a lot to do with the good work that developers and our partners do to build a better Web with Internet Explorer," says Ryan Gavin, Senior Director, Internet Explorer Business and Marketing. "The protection of your security and privacy by Internet Explorer 8 continues to resonate with customers."

    There’s no question the browser market is getting more competitive. Google is hoping to make some serious waves, and it may do so as it puts out a new stable version every six weeks, and gets Chrome OS-powered machines in the hands of consumers.

  • Opera Mini Serves a Billion Page Views in a Day

    Opera has announced that its Opera Mini users viewed over a billion pages on July 25. On that day, every second, Opera Mini servers compressed over 11,500 pages before sending that content to phones around the world.

    "Opera Mini has experienced tremendous page view growth in recent years," the company says. "In June 2008, Opera Mini servers processed 100 million page views per day for the first time. In June 2010, Opera Mini users viewed more than 910 million pages on average every day, an increase of more than 161% since June 2009."

    "Each day is different in the fast-growing mobile Web. Every day more people around the world choose Opera Mini and view more pages through this browser," said Opera co-founder Jon von Tetzchner. "Crossing one billion pages views in a day is further proof that people desire the best Internet experience, no matter where they live or what device they use."

    Opera Mini is available on over 3,000 different phone models. Version 5.1 was just launched for Android a couple weeks ago. This may pad opera’s numbers even more as Android growth continues.

    Yesterday, Opera released its State of the Mobile Web report, looking at the mobile web explosion in Africa.

  • Google Adds Page Load Time Metrics to Chrome

    As you probably know by now, Google considers page speed as one of its many signals for search engine rankings. With that in mind, you may also be interested in knowing that in Chrome 6, developers can access web timing metrics for measuring web page load time across browsers.

    "Measuring web page load time is a notoriously tricky but important endeavor," says Google software engineer Tony Gentilcore. "One of the most common challenges is simply getting a true start time. Historically, the earliest a web page could reliably begin measurement is when the browser begins to parse an HTML document (by marking a start time in a <script> block at the top of the document)."

    "Unfortunately, that is too late to include a significant portion of the time web surfers spend waiting for the page: much of the time is spent fetching the page from the web server," says Gentilcore. "To address this shortcoming, some clever web developers work around the problem by storing the navigation start time in a cookie during the previous page’s onbeforeunload handler. However, this doesn’t work for the critical first page load which likely has a cold cache."

    Web Timing diagram

    Genticore has more details (as well as an explanation of the above image) in this post.

    Web Timing metrics can be found under window.webkitPerformance in Chrome 6. Google is kind enough to point out where they can be found in other browsers as well: window.msPerformance in the third platform preview of IE 9 and soon window.mozPerformance in Firefox.

  • Apple Packs New Version of Safari with Extensions

    Apple released the latest version of its Safari web browser today, version 5.0.1. The release comes with Safari Extensions and the Safari Extensions Gallery.

    While extensions became available in Safari 5 lat month for developers, the gallery makes them available to users. A few organizations that have already created extensions for the browser include: Amazon, Bing, Major League Baseball, the New York Times, and Twitter.

    Amazon Safari Extension"Millions of our customers already use Amazon Wish Lists to store items they want to buy for themselves or receive as gifts," said Gianna Puerini, VP of Worldwide Design and Community at Amazon.com. "With Safari 5, we were able to quickly build the Add to Amazon Wish List extension that lets customers add items from any website to their Amazon Wish List with the click of a button."

    Jeff Henshaw, general manager of Bing’s User Experience says, "The Bing Extension for Safari brings Bing search intelligence to everyday browsing with Safari. When a user selects text in Safari, Bing instantly recognizes what they might need and pops up helpful, informative tips, from real time maps and driving directions to real time translations to direct web search results." 

    "Our extension for Safari is a great way for readers to get all of the latest breaking news and all the important stories, blogs and columns they want to see," says Denise Warren, general manager of NYTimes.com. "While you browse other sites in Safari, our extension checks for updates and slides in new headlines and thumbnails, so you won’t miss a thing."

    "Creating our Twitter extension in Safari couldn’t have been easier," said Jason Goldman, vice president of Product at Twitter. "By providing features like the ability to tweet about a page and view trending topics, we’ve created a simple way to deliver relevant, interesting content to people regardless of where they are on the web."

    You get the idea. Expect a lot of useful extensions. 

    Safari 5 is available for both Mac OS X and Windows as a free download here. The gallery can be viewed here.

  • Google to Churn Out New Chrome Releases

    Google has unveiled a new strategy for Chrome: accelerate the rate at which stable releases are made available. The company even thinks it can get a new stable version out once every six weeks. That’s double what it currently does.

    Google says it has the following three goals:

    • Shorten the release cycle and still get great features in front of users when they are ready
    • Make the schedule more predictable and easier to scope
    • Reduce the pressure on engineering to “make” a release

    "We have new features coming out all the time and do not want users to have to wait months before they can use them," writes Chrome Program Manager Anthony Laforge on the Chromium blog. "While pace is important to us, we are all committed to maintaining high quality releases — if a feature is not ready, it will not ship in a stable release."

    Google Chrome - Expect one every six weeks

    Chrome’s share of the browser market is already growing, and if Google can manage to release a new version every six weeks, it will not only keep the speed of innovation up, but will also keep the brand in the pubic eye practically nonstop.

  • Mozilla Launches Firefox Home for iPhone, iPod Touch

    Mozilla has launched Firefox Home for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is a free application that works with Firefox Sync.

    "Firefox Home provides access to your Firefox desktop history, bookmarks and open tabs on your iPhone," explains Mozilla’s Stuart Parmenter. "Get up and go and have exactly what you are looking for on the Web on your Firefox Home - Comes to iPhoneiPhone or iPod Touch. Firefox Home uses your browser data, securely synced from Firefox on your desktop to the cloud, to let you search and browse quickly and efficiently. You can view the sites you want directly in Firefox Home, open them in Mobile Safari or share them with friends via email. Your Firefox data is private and only you have access to it."

    Mozilla says it syncs the 2000 most frequently or recently visited history items every 24 hours, while tacking on any history changes within that period.

    Data is synced to the phone every time you launch the app. "We currently do not auto-sync as the most common use case is a launch-use-quit scenario, especially in the predominantly single-tasking world of apps on the iPhone. Users always have the option of forcing a refresh from the Settings tab," Mozilla says.

    Mozilla makes it clear that it does not have plans to ship the Firefox browser for the iPhone, citing constraints with the OS environment and distribution.

  • Opera Mini 5.1 Comes to Android

    Opera Mini 5.1 Comes to Android

    Opera announced today that Opera Mini 5.1 is now available for Android devices. The company claims this is the most popular browser for mobile phones, and places an emphasis on its speed.

    "Opera Mini is a favorite not just on feature phones, but also on smartphones, scoring an impressive 1 million downloads on the iPhone during the first 24 hours of availability," Opera says. "Opera Mini is highly optimized for almost any handset, delivering the best Internet experience on more than 3000 mobile phone models."

    "Opera Mini 5.1 for the Android platform is the next step in bringing the world’s most popular mobile web browser to all major platforms, offering improved performance and great web experience to almost any handset," says Opera CEO Lars Boilesen. "Opera Mini is used by over 61 million people on more than 3000 handset models and with today’s release Opera continues its mission to provide the best web experience on any device and on any platform."

    The browser can be set as the default browser on your phone, and the company says on Android phones with bigger screens, it offers improved page layout.

    Opera Mini 5.1 for Android can be downloaded via the Android Market or at m.opera.com.

  • 2 Billion Add-Ons Downloaded by Firefox Users

    Mozilla has served its 2 billionth Firefox Add-on download. The download rate has been increasing each year, but Firefox also faces increasing competition in the open source browser market.

    This week Google actually took efforts to make Chrome more accessible, and introduced a new category of featured extensions.

    Mozilla’s milestone is certainly a significant one though, and there’s no question that Firefox has been revolutionary in the web browser space.

    Firefox Add-ons over the years

    "This exciting feat was made possible by the huge community of people who have made and used Firefox Add-ons since we launched in 2005," Mozilla says in its announcement. "Over the years, we remained dedicated to building features and products that make Firefox the world’s most customizable Web browser for consumers and developers."

    Mozilla has put up a "Best of 2 Billion Firefox Add-ons" list based on feedback. There are 25 add-ons in the collection, with the top one being Adblock Plus.

  • Chrome Stable Release Gets Built-in Flash Player

    Google has enabled Flash Player integration in the stable release of its Chrome browser.

    "In March, we announced that we would be bringing improved support for Adobe Flash Player to Google Chrome," says Product Manager Jeff Chang. "Along with driving the development of a next generation browser plug-in API, this integration will eliminate the need to install Flash Player separately and reduce the security risk of using outdated versions. In the near future, we will extend Chrome’s “sandbox” to web pages with Flash content to further protect users from malicious content."

    "We have been testing the integration in Google Chrome’s dev and beta channels over the last few months in order to ensure a quality experience for all our users," adds Chang. "Over the last week, we have enabled the integration by default in the stable channel of Chrome."

    Google launches Chrome Fastball

    On a somewhat related note, Google launched Chrome FastBall today. This is a YouTube-based game, which is described as a "race across the Internet". I’ll let you get the details about that here.

  • Opera Adds Geolocation, WebM Support

    Opera Adds Geolocation, WebM Support

    Flock made headlines by releasing a new version of its social web browser on the Chromium platform today, placing a great deal of emphasis on speed. However, Opera has also released a new version of its browser with a similar emphasis.

    New Opera Beta with Geolocation feature and WebM Support"Opera 10.60 beta is so fast, it will blow you away," says Opera Chief Development Officer, Christen Krogh. "Beyond the speed boost, the latest version of Opera improves on our robust HTML5 support and provides more options for quick and efficient Web search through your preferred search engines. By combining raw speed with intuitive and easy-to-use features, Opera places you among the fastest Internet users on the planet."

    Opera says this version is over 50% faster than its predecessor on selected JavaScript tests. It also incorporates geolocation and WebM suppport for HTML5 video.

    The geolocation feature detects your location and "maps you in the middle of the action" as the company puts it. They say this can give you more accurate search results in your area.

    This version of Opera also introduces search suggestions for selected partners in the Speed Dial and search box. It works with Wikipedia search, for example.

    The previous thumbnails for tabs have been replaced with icons, which Opera says speed up navigation. The Speed Dial, tab previews, and Opera menu button features all have new graphics.

  • Flock Taps Google’s Chromium to Bring Speed and Social to the Browser

    Flock has announced a complete redesign of its browser, originally based on Mozilla Firefox. The new one is based on Google’s Chromium platform (the open-source project behind Google Chrome), and like Chrome, places a great deal of emphasis on speed.

    Of course Flock also places a great deal on what it’s already known for – social media activity from the browser. "Social isn’t bleeding edge any longer-it’s a game-changing, mass market phenomenon," Flock CEO Shawn Hardin tells WebProNews.

    "Over the last year Flock conducted an incredible amount of customer research from one-on-one interviews to focus groups to analyzing anonymous data from millions of users," Hardin tells us. "It is clear that all age groups are now participating in social, and users are trying to balance the enormous benefits of staying connected with their friends while also managing the overwhelming amounts information that’s coming to them everyday. While they love their social networks, they’re seeking better ways to organize and manage the people and content they care about. The new Flock is all about helping users do that and we determined that the Chromium platform was the best platform for us to use in the redesign of Flock."

    Flock Home Page

    Flock has been working with Google’s Chromium team over the last year on this redesign, which is the first major browser outside of Chrome to be released on the Chromium platform. It comes with both the ability to do social networking/media search and social network grouping within the browser. "It will also be faster than IE and Firefox," a representative for Flock tells us.

    With the Groups feature, users can "Channel Surf" the Web, as the company puts it, by switching the view of the scrolling sidebar between the conversations and information they are most interested in at any given time. There is also a "What Your Friends Are Saying" feature that shows exactly that – from multiple social networks.

    Flock Groups - Feature of New Chromium-based browser

    "Our interactions with people online have changed everything about the way we discover, shop, work and play," says Hardin. "The new Flock is designed to naturally complement the value we place in relationships and puts you at the center of your friends and their conversations while you browse the Web. Conventional browsers like Internet Explorer and Safari aren’t built to bring together the conversations and content that matter to each user. Flock is the only browser with the best of the social Web built-in."

    Google is the default search option for the browser, which is also able to tap into thousands of Chrome extensions, as it is based on the same technology as Chrome.

    Flock is already the number one desktop app on Facebook and is ranked in the top 100 most popular of all Facebook apps. It’s also ranked the sixth most popular browser operating in Europe, according to Net Applications.

    The new Flock browser is immediately available for Windows, and can be downloaded at Flock.com. The Mac version will be out later this summer.

  • IE6 Falls Below 5% Usage in US, Europe, Still Beating Chrome

    Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome have taken up a good deal of the web browser headlines in recent memory. Google showcased its much-publicized speed tests for Chrome (even parodied by Opera), then launched a stable version for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Mozilla recently shared an early product plan for Firefox 4, with (like Chrome) an emphasis on speed (then CEO John Lilly announced he was stepping down).

    It is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which still rules the roost, however, in terms of browser market share on the desktop in the U.S. IE8 and IE7 have significant leads over all the competition, but IE6, while still having an edge over the rising Chrome, dropped to below 5% for the first time, according to StatCounter.

    The analytics firm says usage of IE6 in the US and Europe has fell to that point – 4.7% (a year ago, it was at 11.5%).

     

    Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Version Market Share

     

    Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Version Market Share

    "At these levels web developers now have valid justification not to support IE6 in the future," says StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen, with the firm adding that a number of sites including YouTube are already understood to have withdrawn support for IE6.

    "IE6 has been a bit of a pain for many web developers and designers who have often had to recode their site to get it to work. There are also security implications in its continued usage," addsCullen.

    In other parts of the world, IE6 is still a more significant part of the picture. Cullen says that if your target market is Asia, you’re "not out of the woods." According to the firm, it still has 20.8% usage there. In that part of the world, IE8 has only just overtaken it. It’s also still pretty big in Africa.

  • The New Chrome is Now Available for Windows, Mac, Linux

    Google has launched new stable versions of its Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

    "Since last December, we’ve been chipping away at bugs and building in new features to get the Mac and Linux versions caught up with the Windows version, and now we can finally announce that the Mac and Linux versions are ready for prime time," says Chrome product manager Brian Rakowski.

    Google says the new releases are the fastest yet. For reference, check out Google’s recent speed tests for Chrome:

    "We’ve improved by 213 percent and 305 percent in Javascript performance by the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks since our very first beta, back in Chrome’s Cretaceous period (September 2008)," says Rakowski.

    New Chrome features (other than speed improvement) include the ability to sync browser preferences (bookmarks, themes, homepage and startup settings, web content settings, preferred languages, and page zoom settings) across multiple computers, new HTML5 capabilities (Geolocation APIs, App Cache, web sockets, and file drag-and-drop), and a new bookmark manager.

    "For a taste of HTML5’s powerful features, try browsing through websites developed in HTML5 such as scribd.com, dragging and dropping attachments in Gmail, or by enabling the geolocation functionality in Google Maps," says Rakowski.

    Google has also fixed numerous minor issues, such as non-exploitable crashes, hangs, and other annoyances, according to Anthony Laforge of the Chrome team.

    The new stable release does not include Adobe Flash Player integration, but Google has been beta testing this and plans to enable it soon.

    Later this year, Google will open the Chrome Web Store, which will feature a gallery of web apps that will actually work not only with Chrome, but other web browsers. However, Chrome users will be able to create convenient shortcuts for easily accessing the apps they download.

  • Mozilla: Firefox 4 Will Be Fast Too

    Mozilla: Firefox 4 Will Be Fast Too

    Google’s Chrome browser has received a lot of buzz lately as it has showcased its efforts in speed testing using potato guns, paint, a pirate ship, lightning, etc. Meanwhile, Chrome has been creeping up steadily in web browser market share.

    Perhaps in an effort to keep users from switching to Chrome, Mozilla wants it to be known that it is working on speed as well, and is enabling new open, standard web technologies ("HTML5 and beyond" it says).

    Mike Beltzner, Mozilla’s Director of Firefox is sharing a slideshow highlighting an early product plan for Firefox 4. The goals for which, are to make Firefox "super-duper fast", enable said web technologies, and put users in "full control of their browser, data, and web experience."

    Firefox 4: fast, powerful and empowering

    "Usually software producers don’t present these sorts of plans in public until they’re finalized, but Mozilla is a little different," says Beltzner. "We work in the open, socializing our plans early and often to gather feedback and build excitement in our worldwide community. Not everyone could attend the presentation today, though, so I’m sharing the slides and video here as well."

    "That said: please understand that these plans are fluid and are likely to change," he adds. "As with past releases, we use dates to set targets for milestones, and then we work together to track to those targets. We always judge each milestone release against our basic criteria of quality, performance, and usability, and we only ship when it’s ready."

    Last month, Chrome increased its market share by 0.60% according to stats from Net Applications, though Firefox gained as well.

  • Opera Claims it Has the Fastest Browser for Mac

    Opera has released its new browser for Mac, and the company claims it is ten times faster, based on speed comparisons between Opera 10.52 and Opera 10.10.

    "To all Mac users who value fast browsing, please meet Opera," CEO Lars Boilesen says. "Opera is a consistent performer on even the most congested networks, giving people the fastest browsing experience, coupled with a powerful feature set that is finely attuned to the needs of Mac users."

    Opera for Mac - Is it as fast as they say it is?

    Opera lists the following reasons for Mac users to try Opera now:

    1. Faster speed

    2. "Mac-ified" UI – Opera has a new user interface for Mac, which it says is more responsive, and has a unified toolbar and design overhaul.

    3. Finger navigation – Multi-touch trackpad gestures make browsing much more efficient. Pinch to zoom or use two fingers to scroll and three fingers to navigate back and forth in your browser history, all from your trackpad.

    4. "Turbo-charged browsing – When surfing with your Mac on slow, congested networks, for example at an airport or on a train, Opera Turbo comes to the rescue, ensuring the fastest page loading no matter the crowd. Tests show that Opera Turbo provides about 65% faster browsing on Edge and around 50% faster browsing speed on 3G networks.

    I can’t vouch for the speed personally. I don’t use a Mac, but let us know if you think it’s a legitimate claim.  The browser is available for download here.

  • Google Chrome Extensions Not Limited to Gallery

    Google recently launched its extensions Gallery for Chrome, but today the company is reminding users of the browser (which continues to gain popularity) that there are a lot more things you can do with it beyond just what’s in the gallery. Google Chrome 4 supports Greasemonkey user scripts.

    Chrome users can use Greasemonkey, which is a Firefox extension that allows developers to customize web pages using javascript, to install any user script with a single click.

    Chrome"Ever since the beginning of the Chromium project, friends and coworkers have been asking me to add support for user scripts in Google Chrome," says software engineer Aaron Boodman. "I’m happy to report that as of the last Google Chrome release, you can install any user script with a single click. So, now you can use emoticons on blogger. Or, you can browse Google Image Search with a fancy lightbox. In fact, there’s over 40,000 scripts on userscripts.org alone."

    "Installation is quick and easy, just like installing an extension," adds Boodman. "That’s because under the covers, the user script is actually converted into an extension. This means that management tasks like disabling and uninstalling work just like they do with extensions."

    Boodman notes that scripts have full access to private data on sites, so you would want to be careful about what you install, and use caution when trusting them. Not all of the scripts work with Chrome yet (Boodman estimates 15% – 25%).

    According to data from NetMarketShare, Chrome made market share gains in January, taking share away from both IE and Firefox. The browser gained .6% for the month. 

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