Mozilla has announced today that its read-it-later service Pocket will be retiring its Mac app this month. Users are encouraged to install the iOS app on their Mac or use the web going forward. Here’s when and why Mozilla is shutting it down.
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Firefox Focus is a browser with no tabs, ads, or trackers. As Mozilla says, it’s an alternative for those super quick searches you want to keep separate from your main browser. Today, it’s receiving a redesign with a brand-new update.
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Mozilla is best known these days for its cross-platform Firefox web browser, but its Test Pilot Experiments group wants to shake things up with two new mobile apps. For iOS users, the first Mobile Test Pilot Experiment from Mozilla is a new password manager for Firefox users called Lockbox.
Pocket, the popular read-it-later bookmarking service, has been acquired by Firefox developer Mozilla, according to Recode. Pocket has client apps on the iPhone, iPad, and even the Mac including both a browser extension and dedicated reader app.
Amazon may have been Apple’s target when it unveiled its iBooks Store alongside the iPad in 2010, but the digital retail giant’s latest move is helping fulfill Steve Jobs’ vision of a web without Flash. Amazon Advertising issued an update to its technical guidelines today declaring that it will stop accepting Flash-based ads starting next month. Adobe cited “recent browser setting updates from Google Chrome, and existing browser settings from Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari” that interfere with displaying Flash ads.
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It’s been a rough week for the fate of Adobe’s Flash Player plugin. Yesterday we told you about Facebook’s security chief pushing Steve Jobs’ anti-Flash message and calling on Adobe to announce an end-of-life date for the plugin, and today a major web browser has opted to actually block Flash to protect users from security issues. Mozilla said today that it is temporarily disabling Flash by default until Adobe is able to address recent exploits discovered in the plugin…
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For over four years, Mozilla has expressed that it has no interest in porting its Firefox web browser to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Under the leadership of new chief executive Chris Beard, however, that mindset appears to have changed, as TechCrunch reports that Mozilla has recognized a need to release Firefox for iOS in the future.
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While it has yet to become a significant player in the smartphone market, Mozilla is hoping that its open-source Firefox OS will be a game changer when the mobile operating system gains a larger presence in countries like the United States and United Kingdom. In the meantime, the software maker has gone on the offensive against rival platforms iOS and Android.
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS0VUOfrycw]
Video gia GigaOm
Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox web browser, is working on a stream stick set to directly compete with the Apple TV and other similar products, according to GigaOm. The device runs Mozilla’s own Firefox OS, originally designed for smartphones, and is apparently referred to as “Netcast” within the Firefox browser.
Unlike Apple’s current offering, the Netcast would allow developers to integrate the technology into applications on a wide variety of operating systems and hardware devices, including many platforms not currently supported by the Apple’s AirPlay feature. In a statement to GigaOm, Mozilla noted that anyone is welcome to work with Firefox OS and that hardware running that system does not necessarily have to come from that company.
Firefox today released the latest version of its desktop browser for Mac, Linux, and Windows and in the process added one much welcomed feature for Mac OS X users: support for Notification Center. This means that web apps and sites taking advantage of Firefox’s web notifications feature will now also appear for Mac users in the Notification Center.
Version 28 of Firefox also introduces a few new behind the scenes improvements including VP9 video decoding, volume control for HTML5 audio/video, and a number of other fixes.
Firefox 28 for Mac is available to download from the Mozilla website now.
Mozilla released a new beta for Firefox this afternoon, featuring Retina display support that is sure to appease the Firefox devotees out in the crowd. Release notes below:
This update includes JavaScript improvements that make Web apps and games perform better and support for W3C Touch Events. Firefox Beta also supports Retina Display for Mac users.
Apple and Google are clearly the two front-runners competing for market share in the mobile world, which is why it’s no surprise we think of iOS and Android when we think of apps. With the growth of the smartphone industry also came the resurgence of native apps (thanks largely in part to Apple’s App Store which still dominates the space). However, Mozilla hopes that web apps will soon mature to provide a comparable experience for end users and an even better alternative for developers.
“We are aiming at providing all the necessary APIs to build a basic HTML5 phone experience within the next 3-6 months”
While Chrome OS has shown promise, it isn’t the only browser-based platform planning on entering the web app space… If Mozilla has its way, developers can use the results of their new WebAPI project to build an “HTML5 phone experience” that’s compatible across all operating systems (whether it’s Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc).
A report from CNET claims Mozilla has plans for the APIs to “interact with a phone’s dialler, address book, contacts list, and camera”, essentially giving you access to the same functionality of native apps but directly in your device’s browser.
The WebAPI project certainly isn’t trying to create a full-blown operating system. However, working hand in hand with Mozilla’s Boot to Gecko project, which aims to build a “complete, standalone operating system for the web”, it could create a potentially compelling alternative to Google’s browser-based Chrome OS.
It appears that Mozilla is serious about the project, as a report from CNET claims they’re in the process of hiring full time programmers and plan to have the basics in place by February…
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An engineer with Mozilla hinted that the final Firefox 4 build will be ready for public consumption the following Tuesday, March 22. It’s set to ship on multiple platforms, including Windows XP. Following up on a recent Release Candidate build, Damon Sicore, Mozilla’s senior director of engineering, mentioned the March 22 release date in a Mozilla Development discussion on Google Groups.
