So Firefox has finally released a version of their excellent web browser which is dedicated to mobile phones. Before you get too excited consider that it is being released for the Maemo operating system and so if you don’t have a Nokia N900 or a Nokia N810 you’re going to have to wait a bit longer to enjoy it. Just as they did on the PC Mozilla are looking to gain market share in the mobile sphere by allowing add-ons.

First up is Weave Sync which allows you to access the same bookmarks, history and passwords across devices. Sounds like a great idea and big hassle saver. Unfortunately full support for Flash is not yet there and there are apparently some quality concerns with Flash websites and performance. They have, however, included a plug in which allows users to access and use YouTube. The browser will be rolled out onto Windows Mobile and then Android in the coming weeks and months (hopefully weeks rather than months).

What a surprise! With all that hype around Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta, Google has made an intelligent move with its new browser called Chrome.

It has been secretly developed for the past two years. Accordingly to Google engineers, Chrome was based on Apple’s WebKit and Mozilla Firefox engine. Thus, the browser’s code is open to any developer or third party.

Google Chrome has just been released, so you can give it a try. I’ve tested myself this excellent browser, and I must say it has some great features. Google used the same clean design and integrated its services in browser’s URL bar. For example if you type a text, the bar will make automatically suggestions from your web history, Google search or popular sites. Another interesting feature is the New Tab page which will show the most visited pages, the recent searches, bookmarks or closed tabs. That adds many points for functionality and usability.

Moreover the browser brings some ingenious stuff like applications shortcuts on your desktop, the incognito mode which won’t save your visited pages in browser’s history or instant bookmarks. Also the Chrome has an amazing architecture which offers protection against malware. Each tab works independently without interacting with the others. Supposingly you will visit a malware website, and a malicious program enters your browser, it won’t affect the whole structure and will be eliminated when the tab is closed.

I strongly believe that Google Chrome will make its march straight to the top in the browser’s competition. As I see it, in a short time enthusiasts will create plugins and extensions like in Mozilla’s case. Because it is faster many IE, Firefox and Opera users will switch. In addition the enhanced security makes it the safest browser, but it also can be a target from now on.

To sum up, I can say I’ve enjoyed it.

Download Google Chrome or read the comic book of Chrome.

The web browser pioneer, Netscape Navigator was sentenced to die. AOL announced that the official support for Netscape Navigator will be stopped starting from March 1st. I remember myself when I first used the Internet. Netscape was the favorite browser back then. Although, the bad marketing and the strong competitor Internet Explorer have lowered its market share.

Nowadays, Netscape has only 0.61% of the market. When its decline was obvious, the company opened its source code, making it available for developers. So, the Mozilla project appeared and today’s popular Firefox. In spite of being acquired by AOL in 1998, Netscape remained in obscurity. It had troubles with security patches and bug fixes, so the web surfers forgot it.

If you still planing to use Netscape Navigator, you should perhaps switch to Firefox and add an extension for Netscape. For now I will just say “RIP Netscape Navigator…”

via Gearater

Mozilla’s VP of Engineerring, Mike Schroepfer, announced that with all these developments on mobile phones nowadays it’s time for Mozilla to go mobile with “no compromise” to security or other issues. Firefox is the world’s most popular open-source browser and with a market of 20 mobile devices to outnumber 1 computer I think they will do good.

First Mozilla needs to finish developing Firefox 3 before they release the mobile version that will be able to run Firefox extensions and allow people to build rich applications via XUL. Two new people have been accounted in the team: Christian Sejersen, head of browsers at Openwave (NSDQ: OPWV) and Brad Lassey which moved from France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) R&D.

To make sure it’s clear here’s what Mike Schroepfer said:

* Mozilla will add mobile devices to the first class/tier-1 platform set for Mozilla2. This means we will make core platform decisions with mobile devices as first-class citizens.

* We will ship a version of “Mobile Firefox” which can, among other things, run Firefox extensions on mobile devices and allow others to build rich applications via XUL.