Yes, it has been a while since The Guru has posted non-release news. Here’s some Firefox news from the past month. Firefox for iOS adds Security Features (The Mozilla Blog)- Changes to the Firefox Password Manager now allow iPhone/iPad users to add a 4-Digit password to the password manager for extra security. Inviting Conversation (Mitchell’s Blog) - Mitchell Baker, Mozilla Foundation Chair is looking to invite conversation about the Open Internet, Mozilla and Mozilla’s mission in a series of upcoming less “official” blog posts. Shipping Some Firefox Features Outside of the Release Cycle (Mozilla Future Releases) - Now new bloat features will be introduced more often and…
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Note: While this post mostly pertains to Mozilla’s other project, Thunderbird I still felt it was important to post this here as to remind people that while Thunderbird is very different from Firefox, they are still both ‘interconnected’ within the Mozilla Foundation in regards to technical resources. Mitchel Baker, Chair of the Mozilla Foundation has posted an update on her blog about Thunderbird. She assures us that Mozilla is not ‘dropping’ Thunderbird. But, at the same time it is no longer effective for Thunderbird and Firefox to share the same technical infrastructure. Firefox and Thunderbird have diverging needs. Firefox needs to move at the speed…
One of our Facebook followers shared this on our Facebook Page today. MatchStick is Mozilla’s ($25) alternative to Google’s Chromecast. Mozilla is expanding beyond its Firefox browser and trying its hand in the suddenly hot streaming video business. Its take: the MatchStick HDMI streaming stick, which will sell for a limited time through Kickstarter at a starting price of $12 before it goes to retail. It’s final price of $25 sets its sights on the Chromecast, the $35 streaming dongle from search giant Google. Matchstick runs on Firefox OS, the open source mobile operating system built by Mozilla on Firefox’s…
Mozilla has had the Firefox OS on smartphones for a while now. Next up is tablets. Mozilla’s own Asa Dotzier, director of Firefox OS, has now provided the hardware specs of the Foxconn-made reference Firefox OS tablet. It’s very similar to the Infocus nFocus New Tab F1, which sells for around $400 USD. The tablet sports a 10.1-inch IPS multi-touch screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution that is backed by a quad-core Allwinner A31 chip clocked at 1 GHz, PowerVR SGX544MP2 graphics, and 2 GB of DDR3 memory. Other features include 16 GB of internal memory, a 2MP camera…
“Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser once was limited to just desktop and notebook computers running on top of existing operating systems, but that’s no longer the case. In a series of announcements today at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mozilla announced new Firefox OS efforts to bring the open-source browser operating system to TVs, tablets and even desktop PCs. … “ Source: eWeekAddress : Mozilla Bringing Firefox OS to TVs, Tablets, Desktops
Again, we aren’t going to be seeing these or the possible Firefox OS (aka Boot to Gecko or B2G) tablet in the US anytime soon. One phone, ZTE Open was released in Europe today ..the ZTE Open will hit the Spanish market on July 2 and will be priced at €69 with a €30 pre-pay balance thrown in for good measure. The device boasts a 3.5‐inch, HVGA TFT touchscreen display and has 256MB RAM and 512MB ROM combined with a 3.2MP camera and a 4GB microSD card. via Tom’s Hardware
However, if you happen to live in Venezuela, Poland, Brazil, Portugal or Spain you can get a Firefox phone starting in June. Eleven more countries yet to be announced can get the phones by the end of the year. North America though, we will have to wait until sometime in 2014. Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs explains: Unfortunately, North Americans looking to purchase a local smartphone packed with Mozilla’s new Firefox OS won’t see them on the market until 2014. Why? Because unlike the rest of the world, Silicon Valley sees everything through high-end devices, he said. via Tom’s Hardware
However, they are not for consumers. These Firefox OS (formerly Boot to Gecko) phones are being made by a Spanish company GeekPhone for the purpose of allowing developers to create apps for the new platform. Currently there are two phones the Keon and Peak which both house 4 GB of ROM, 512 MB of RAM, a MicroSD slot, 802.11n wireless networking, light and proximity sensors, GPS, an accelerometer, as well as a camera flash. The lower end Keon has a 1GHz Qualcom Snapdragon S1 processor, 3.5-inch screen, 1,580mAh battery and a 3-megapixel camera. While the higher end Peak has a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon…