Web browsers are ground zero for Internet security threats, and the debate over responsibility for preventing those threats has resulted in a Gordian knot. The people behind the new add-on for Firefox called Cocoon (download) want to cut through debate by serving the entire Web to you via proxy. (Cocoon is also available at GetCocoon.com.)

Made by Santa Barbara, Calif., start-up Virtual World Computing, Cocoon's goal is to put the Internet on a server to prevent individual users from having to touch it, Cocoon Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Jeff Bermant said in an interview today at CNET's San Francisco offices. The add-on, which has about 4,000 users since it entered into private beta 18 months ago, creates a safe state in which the user can browse the Internet by forcing all interactions between the computer in front of you and the Internet to occur over protected SSL connections to Cocoon's servers. Those servers, in turn, are guarded by Security-Enhanced Linux, which was developed by the United States' National Security Agency.

Cocoon opened its beta to the public in January of this year.

Cocoon installs as a toolbar just below the location bar in Firefox 4, although the add-on supports the browser back to Firefox 3.6. You can turn it on or off using the universal power button icon on the left of the toolbar, or "pause" Cocoon lock/unlock button that's next to it. Settings are available from a hard-to-see drop-down arrow just next to the lock button.

On the right are buttons for your Cocoon history, mailslots, and help. Next to those are real-time site-function buttons, so you can bookmark sites on the fly with the thumbtack--similar to the bookmark star in other browsers--or jot down a note attached to the site that only you can see using the notepad icon.

When running Cocoon, the browser will open into Private Browsing mode, although you can switch back to normal mode while still using Cocoon. It will also redirect your Home button to the cocoon:home site, and it installs a Cocoon toolbar as well as Cocoon-specific buttons on the Firefox add-on bar. Note that Cocoon doesn't work with the Google toolbar because of the competing interests of Google search and Cocoon's emphasis on privacy.

Cocoon's features are laudable, the most important being the subtlest: whatever you're looking at in Firefox with Cocoon is being shown to you remotely. You can test this after installing Cocoon by checking your IP address with Cocoon on, and then again with it off: you will see two different addresses, which means that your Internet connection is being routed through Cocoon's servers.

One of the side benefits of this, said Bermant, is that Netflix users will be able to watch streaming content from outside the United States since Cocoon's servers are in the U.S., and Netflix blocks streaming content to IP addresses that indicate a non-U.S. server.

All your personal browsing data is stored in the cloud and encrypted, so only the user can access it, and you can view it only over a secure connection. This is similar to how LastPass functions. All your interactions with the Web are opt-in, not opt-out, so that your privacy gets elevated above all other concerns.

Another excellent feature in Cocoon is that it comes with an unlimited number of on-demand e-mail "mailslots" are provided to help you keep your primary e-mail address private. If you've installed Cocoon, you can see how it works by navigating to any site that requires an e-mail address to log in, such as Twitter, Facebook, or Gmail. If Cocoon has been activated, the mailslots feature will ask you if you want to create a new e-mail address to register a new account for that site.

Cocoon Chief Technical Officer and co-founder Brian Fox added that the mailslots function like traditional brick-and-mortar mail drops. "You can not send e-mail from a Cocoon e-mail, but you can forward it to a Gmail account, for example," he said.

There's anti-cookie tracking that prevents advertisers from stalking you as you jump from one Web site to the next, much like Internet Explorer's tracking protection. Cocoon also incorporates support for Mozilla's new "Do Not Track", although Bermant remains skeptical of its effectiveness because, he said, "It requires advertisers to play nice, and they've never done that." Fox said that Cocoon uses ClamAV for its core antivirus engine, which it uses as part of its protection mechanisms.

Since you're browsing remotely, threats like cross-site scripting attacks and drive-by downloads are blocked. You are still vulnerable to social engineering, however, and short of full-frontal lobotomies, there's little to be done about that besides education and awareness.

Cocoon also comes with a note-taking feature that allows you to type up notes on Web sites as you visit them.

Bermant and Fox have big plans for Cocoon. They want to include features such as browser history and settings importation; implement granular controls for better whitelisting and blacklisting; and provide some level of parental controls. A version of Cocoon for Internet Explorer 9 is in the works. They're also looking at small businesses, anticipating interest from companies that want to strike a better balance between privacy and Web access. Fox noted that mobility is likely to play a major role in Cocoon's future, too. "Security and privacy are two important aspects of mobile browising," he said, "And they are sorely lacking."

Cocoon looks like a serious contender for one of the best add-ons of the year. It's a smart and effective tool, easy to toggle on or off, and plugs nearly all of the security holes the average user will encounter. The big hang-up, however, is price, and that many users simply do not pay for add-ons.

Right now, Cocoon is available as a free trial for the first 30 days of use. After that, it costs $6.95 per month, or $55.00 for a one-year subscription, a 35 percent discount. Bermant and Fox say that "a freemium option is not off the table". As important as security is, and as affordable as $55 per year sounds, it's hard to imagine widespread adoption of Cocoon's safety wrapping until it's made more accessible.

I love podcasts. When I'm in the car, I like nothing better than to queue up shows like "This American Life," "Wiretap," and "A Prairie Home Companion," to name just a few.

Of course, if I forget to sync my iPhone for a few days, I won't have the latest episodes on tap. The podcast manager (if you can call it that) that's built into iOS doesn't support streaming, and I can download new shows only over Wi-Fi.

Enter Instacast, a podcast manager that not only overcomes these shortcomings, but also makes it easy to find other podcasts I might like.

It accomplishes this latter feat by way of the Add screen, which is divided into Popular, Just Added, and Genres sections. There's also a search option, and a handy iPod button for subscribing to podcasts that are already on your device. (Alas, you have to add them individually; it would be nice if you could subscribe to all with one quick tap.)

From there the interface gets a little confusing, though with a little poking around (make that tapping around), you should have no trouble figuring it out. The app can either stream or download (i.e., "cache") your podcasts, and you don't need to be on a Wi-Fi network for either one: it works over EDGE and 3G as well.

Instacast can also automatically cache the newest episodes, and of course it will automatically resume episodes where you left off--even if you streamed them. I especially like the integrated Web browser, which gives you the option of viewing each episode's show notes.

If you're a diehard podcast fan, then Instacast is well worth $1.99. That said, depending on what you like to listen to, you might be better off with different apps. For example, when it comes to "This American Life," it's hard to beat that show's eponymous app. And the awesome NPR News app streams all NPR shows on demand.

Have you found a podcast manager you like better? If so, crow about it in the comments!

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

With more and more smartphones and tablets getting front-facing cameras these days, video chatting is on the forefront. VoIP company Fring, like rival OoVoo, is making group calling its next step.

The latest beta update to Fring, available today, will let you chat with up to four participants who also use Fring on an Android phone or iPhone.

On the preview we got ahead of the launch, the app was rough around the edges at this beta stage. For instance, the version we played with works in portrait mode, not landscape. We'd also like to see a more polished interface and interaction design, with options to launch a group call first, for example, before choosing the participants. As it stood when we got the demo, you choose the first recipient, then launch a video conference from there.

Fring isn't alone in offering group chats. OoVoo is already much more polished with onscreen controls, and offers calls for up to six chatters on a single call. As a desktop app, OoVoo can also connect VoIP callers between the desktop and mobile apps. Fring is limited to iOS and Android platforms. That's useful for mobile-to-mobile calls, but not for homebodies.

In addition, we'd expect to soon see Qik or Skype (which now owns Qik) follow the mobile group-chatting trend, although Skype declined to officially comment on future plans.

Fring is offering the app as a limited beta that requires a sign up to try.

Mozilla, which had hoped its Thunderbird e-mail software would rise to financial self-sufficiency like its better-known Firefox project, unveiled a Plan B yesterday that instead increases the organization's focus on other communication technology.

The Thunderbird group, called Mozilla Messaging, will become part of Mozilla Labs--a research center rather than a profit center--and lose its official name. David Ascher, who has led the Mozilla Messaging group, "now will lead a new innovation group within Mozilla Labs focused on online communications and social interactions on the Web," said Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, in a blog post yesterday.

Mozilla will continue to develop Thunderbird under the new organization, but Baker made it clear that the vanguard of online communications is on the Web, not standalone e-mail software.

The Web has changed a lot in the last few years. One of the big changes is how much we now use the Web for messaging, communication, and social interactions. We post messages on social networking sites, we tweet, we get messages (often known as "notifications") from applications, we use Web-based mail systems. The pace and importance of innovation in this space is enormous and growing.

Mozilla has an unusual structure. At the top level, it's a nonprofit called the Mozilla Foundation, but that includes a corporate entity, Mozilla Corporation, that develops Firefox and garners the browser's search-related revenue from Google and other partners. In an attempt to make it more financially self-sufficient, Mozilla Messaging had been set up in 2007 in the same way, as a corporate subsidiary.

But now that's over as Mozilla centralizes its focus on communications within Mozilla Labs. Baker described the consolidation this way:

Mozilla has been exploring new ways to put people in control of their online communications and social interactions for a couple of years now. We currently have two teams. One is the team at Mozilla Messaging, which produces Thunderbird and messaging innovations such as Raindrop and F1. The second team is within Mozilla Labs, and has been working on identity, contacts and related topics.

Thunderbird will be built in the new Mozilla Labs home, with Ascher overseeing the work.

"Thunderbird users and contributors should see no difference in their experience. Email is a solid and foundational technology which retains immense value," Baker said. "We intend to continue our work with the Thunderbird email product to meet this need."

Related links
• Mozilla tries to build the ultimate in-box: Raindrop
• Mozilla tries Firefox recipe with Thunderbird
• Mozilla develops social skills with F1

Originally posted at Deep Tech