3.6

Mozilla: Firefox 3.6 won't be late

Mozilla may have released the first beta of Firefox 3.6 nearly two months late, but the organization believes the final version still will arrive on schedule before the end of the year.

The Mozilla wiki page on version 3.6, code-named Namoroka, listed early September for the scheduled release of the first beta, but it actually arrived October 30. Despite that, Mike Shaver, vice president of engineering, said Mozilla wants to release the browser before the holidays and is sticking by the overall schedule for the open-source Web browser.

"We're still looking at a release candidate in … Read more

Mozilla releases first beta of Firefox 3.6

Those keen to try out Mozilla's latest browser--and its new process to update the software more frequently--now can try Firefox 3.6 beta 1 for Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Among the features in the new version, according to Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's director of Firefox, and Mozilla evangelist Chris Blizzard:

Personas, which lets people customize the browser appearance. Personas has been available as an add-on, so there are plenty of Personas skins to choose from.

Faster execution of Web-based JavaScript programs, better browser responsiveness, and faster startup time. Mozilla has been working on JavaScript performance for many months, … Read more

Mozilla pushes for fast move to Firefox 3.6

Mozilla hopes to classify the upcoming Firefox 3.6 as a minor update, a move that may sound inconsequential but that in fact might have significant repercussions with Firefox users and the speed the open-source browser is developed.

Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's director of Firefox, in a mailing list discussion that he'd like to call the new version a minor release "to quickly migrate our user base to Firefox 3.6." Minor releases in the past typically have been steps from, for example, 3.5.3 to 3.5.4, but Mozilla is trying to speed up … Read more

BOL 1083: MP3 is a lie

Yes, Nokia launched a new Netbook, and yes, Twitter fought the law and won. But it wasn't until the end of today's show that we finally get to the bottom of a long-running controversy: MP3s don't do what they promise. Jason and Brian explain why.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1083

Nokia launches a Netbook http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10373747-1.html

Power of Twitter overturns court injunction http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8304908.stm

Latest on Sidekick outage — will some data … Read more

Seagate's 6Gbps desktop hard drive now available

Six months after showing off the demo, Seagate announced Monday that it is now shipping what it says is the word's first 3.5-inch 6Gbps 2TB hard drive.

The drive is based on the third generation of the Serial ATA (SATA) standard, roughly called SATA3. The majority of existing hard drives use the SATA2 standard that caps at 3Gbps. Theoretically, the new 6Gbps standard's throughput could be fast enough to transfer the entire contents of a CD (about 800MB) in just one second.

The new hard drive is called Barracuda XT, and it belongs to the company's … Read more

Duplicate file tracker

Delete Duplicate Files offers to help users clear valuable space on their computer by erasing duplicates. However, its trial limits kept us from fully operating this program.

The program's interface was simple enough that following the onscreen instructions and navigating the layout was enough to get us started without visiting the topic-by-topic Help file. We found the entire process to be broken down into such simple components that it probably wouldn't take more than a few seconds to delete files. The program scanned files for content or by file name quickly, taking less than a minute, and the … Read more

Smart start-up manager

Your PC's performance tends to slow down thanks to programs that insist on running during start-up. Arrange Startup gives you control over those programs so that you can pick and choose the programs you want to run, so you can speed up your performance.

The user interface is bright and colorful, but also very easy to navigate. Action options are housed on the left side of the interface. From there, you can opt to open folders, launch software, delete programs from start-up, and add and undo programs. Our start-up program immediately appeared as soon as we launched the program. … Read more

Seagate demos 6Gbps hard-drive transfer speed

In collaboration with AMD, Seagate announced Monday its demonstration of a new hard drive Serial ATA (SATA) interface, tentatively called SATA3, that offers speeds up to 6Gbps, or 600MBps.

(SATA3, or SATA 6Gb/second, was developed by the Serial ATA International Organization under the Serial ATA Revision 3.0 specifications.)

Currently most consumer-grade computers use either the SATA or SATA2 interface that offers cap throughput speeds of 1.5Gbps and 3Gbps, respectively, or 150MBps and 300MBps. However, it's important to note that because of software and hardware overhead, the actual speed of most SATA hard drives is still less … Read more

Speaker of the year: Magnepan 3.6/R

I've reviewed a gazillion speakers, and I can't remember more than a few dozen of them. They're just a string of big and little boxes; some sounded really nice, most were merely OK, and surprisingly few were truly awful.

Magnepan's speakers stand out from the crowd first because they're so thin, the MG 3.6/R is 1.5 inches thick, and standing 71 inches high, it's really tall. But it was the sound that blew me away. It's an incredibly clear, high-resolution sound, and sounds decidedly unspeakerlike. That's why it's the Audiophiliac's Speaker of the Year.

As I said in my Home Entertainment magazine review "That's why the MG 3.6/R will sound like a revelation to first-time listeners; the gap between the sound of real, live music and recorded music feels a whole lot smaller. The speaker projects a more full-bodied, three-dimensional soundstage than any box can; correction, the MG 3.6/R's sound was bigger and deeper than I've ever heard from a speaker retailing for less than $50,000. With the MG 3.6/R instruments and voices emerge closer to their real-life scale and size. Clearly, Magnepan engineers changed the way speakers move air."

Instead of the usual woofer and tweeter, the MG 3.6/R uses three "planar-magnetic" drivers: a 55-inch tall aluminum foil "ribbon" tweeter; a 199-square-inch 0.5-mil-thick Mylar midrange diaphragm; and a 500 square inch Mylar woofer. The speaker is essentially a panel that moves air, and projects sound from its front and rear surfaces. The drivers are Magnepan patented designs, all manufactured at the company's factory in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. American hi-fi at its best.… Read more

Wacom Intuos3 6x8: way cool and intuitive

My girlfriend has a side business making wedding invitations. She's got the high-powered notebook and the requisite software, but she's also starting to get carpal tunnel syndrome. That's because she's still using a mouse to try and make these invitations. I suggested she look into the Wacom Intuos3 6x8 Graphics Tablet before she loses all motor function in her right hand. For only $270, she gets a tablet, a stylus, and a mouse, and I get the peace of mind that she'll still be able to smack me with her right hand.