fennec

Mozilla has finished its second release candidate for its first mobile Firefox browser. Firefox 1.0 for Nokia's open-source Maemo platform can't be far behind.

In addition to fixing "a major performance issue" plaguing the Nokia N900, Mozilla has also updated the latest version of the Gecko layout engine. By using the same version of Gecko that's driving the forthcoming Firefox 3.6 RC1, Mozilla is keeping parity between the mobile and desktop versions of its browser.

Mozilla is expected to push out an update for Web surfers who have already downloaded the first release … Read more

Mozilla is wrapping up work on its first version of Firefox for mobile phones, an important step in bringing the second most popular PC browser to an area where a rival project holds more influence.

"Our goal is to have a release candidate next week," said Jay Sullivan, Mozilla's vice president of mobile. "If things go smoothly, we'll have a (final) version out in the next few weeks," with the debut planned for this year, he added.

Mozilla has been a leader in advancing the Web state of the art. But when it comes … Read more

It's been a few days since Opera unwrapped its latest beta browser for mobile phones, and we've had some more time to get acquainted. Opera Mobile 10 beta (download), which runs on certain Symbian Series 60 smartphones, adds some improvements to its password manager and has made a few tweaks under the hood. However, its most significant alterations are in its visual design. Bottom line: We like it, and we like how similar it is to Opera Mini 5 beta, a recent overhaul of the free Opera browser for Java phones.

There are some downsides with the version 10 beta browser that have cropped up--these go beyond the known issues and bugs. Opera's smartphone browser continues to struggle with accurately rendering complex pages. When zooming in on CNET Download.com on the Nokia N97, we saw text and graphics overlap. While Web sites often redirect to a URL optimized for mobile phones, we'd still like to see graphically rich pages rendered more faithfully in Opera Mobile on those that don't have specialized versions.

Its responsiveness was also an issue on the Nokia N97 test phone, but we suspect this has more to do with the device than with Opera. CNET reviewers dinged the Nokia N97 for its choice of an inconsistently responsive resistive touch screen instead of the capacitive touch screen that's found on the iPhone.

Even if you don't have a compatible Nokia, Samsung, or Sony Ericsson phone to test Opera Mobile 10 beta with yourself, you can watch our First Look video to see the new browser beta's features--its new tabs interface shines.… Read more

The mobile browser space is heating up again, with some significant new releases such as Opera Mini 5 beta and Internet Explorer Mobile 6. Mozilla jumps in, too, releasing Fennec 1.0 beta 4 for Maemo this week.

If you haven't heard of Maemo, it's Nokia's platform for Internet devices. This Fennec beta brings us ever closer to a stable version of the in-development Firefox mobile browser for Nokia Internet Tablets. Nokia's Internet devices are just the beginning, though. Support for the legions of Nokia's smartphones would presumably follow, as would work on the version … Read more

On Friday, Mozilla released Fennec Alpha 3 for Windows Mobile, the latest in Mozilla's effort to put its Firefox browser on a mobile phone. As with Fennec 1.0 beta 3 for the Maemo platform found on some Nokia Internet Tablets, Fennec for Windows Mobile makes changes to the mobile browser's theme, and its scrolling and panning performance.

In particular, it's using what's called a tile cache rendering system to hold onto the part of the screen that has already been rendered. As you scroll and pan around, it should take less time to refresh the … Read more

It was announced Monday that smartphone maker Research in Motion had acquired Torch Mobile, a provider of browsers and other applications based on the open-source WebKit project. Though Webkit has become the unofficial standard for mobile browsers, as Don Reisinger reports, it seems to be a largely Apple-controlled open-source community, one that has the potential to leave RIM, Palm, Google, and other WebKit users constantly playing catch-up to Apple.

Is WebKit open source? Absolutely. But is it truly an open, level playing field for RIM and other would-be competitors to Apple? Likely not.

Yes, there are other developers from Nokia, Torch Mobile, and Google involved with the project, … Read more

The last peep we heard about Fennec was in late June, when Mozilla updated its mobile edition of the Firefox browser for Windows Mobile phones. This week, the Firefox browser maker has released an updated version for the platform powering Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets: Fennec 1.0 Beta 3. (You can also download a desktop emulator for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.)

Following 'the rule of threes,' it could be a good guess that after this third beta, the final version will be next in line. A Mozilla spokesperson, however, told CNET that more beta builds are … Read more

We've been eagerly awaiting developments to Fennec, the project name assigned to Mozilla's mobile version of its Firefox browser. We took a look when Fennec Alpha 1 came out for Windows Mobile phones. Late last week Mozilla released updates for Fennec on both its available platforms: Fennec 1.0 Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile and Fennec 1.0 Beta 2 for Maemo, the platform used on the Nokia N810 and N800 Internet tablets.

With the exception of some work on the interface theme and in the add-ons module, most alpha testers of Fennec for Windows Mobile won't … Read more

Apparently cash is still king in Spain, according to one listener. And here I thought it was Juan Carlos. We also notice how Craigslist is getting CraigsPissed over the adult services issue. And Dell says Windows 7 may be great and all but it's also going to be expensive. And that's just not so much of a good idea in this economy.

South Carolina eyes ‘criminal investigation’ of Craigslist http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10242507-93.html

Napster relaunches with $5 a … Read more