Mozilla has been steadily creeping towards it goal of releasing the first Firefox browser for mobile phones. On Friday, Firefox 1.0 for Nokia's Maemo--previously code-named Fennec--arrived.

Firefox for the Maemo 5 platform has a few interesting conceits that set it apart from other mobile browsers, like Opera Mobile and Opera Mini. Mozilla is banking on the uniqueness of its claim to fame--third-party, customizable browser extensions--to help its browser win mobile market share. Add-ons, after all, helped make Firefox the top browser alternative to Internet Explorer in the desktop space. To punctuate the importance of add-ons for Firefox's mobile browser, Mozilla also pushed out on Friday the general release of its bookmark and history-syncing extension, Weave Sync 1.0, for both desktop and mobile.

Mozilla's accomplishment with a mobile version of Firefox is a mixed one, and not only because Maemo is a platform relatively few people have heard of. Nokia's open-source, Linux-based Mamo operating system supports mobile Firefox on just two devices--the N900 and the N810, an Internet tablet. To make matters more limited, just two days ago Mozilla unveiled a third release candidate with a last-minute decision to pull wholesale support for Adobe's Flash plug-in from the build, citing unhappiness with the overall standard of quality. As an aside, this is apparently a sore spot for Adobe, who became miffed with Apple for excluding Flash in its new iPad device about the same time that Mozilla made its comment about degraded performance when visiting Flash sites.

Yet what kind of mobile browser would Firefox be if users couldn't watch videos or adequately view Web sites that heavily rely on Flash? Not a browser anyone could take seriously. As a workaround, Mozilla has released an add-on called YouTube enabler, that early adopters can install to view YouTube videos. Mozilla is hoping t work out other solutions for those who are wary of optionally installing the Flash plug-in, but still want to see select Flash-based content.

Luckily for Mozilla, a relatively small sliver of the mobile phone-toting population actually has one of the two compatible devices, so there's time to smooth out Firefox before it matures on another mobile platform. Windows Mobile is slated to be next, with Android to follow. You can download Firefox 1.0 for Maemo here, and read more details in Mozilla's blog post.

We'll have more hands-on coverage of Firefox 1.0 for Maemo in the next few days, so keep tuning in to CNET.

Google updated its Chrome browser's developer's builds to version 5 for Windows and Mac today, the first time any version of Chrome has reached that milestone. Google was expected to push version 5 out to the public before the end of the month. Unlike the more recent versions of developer's build 4.x, the developer's builds of Chrome 5.x seems to be starting off to a rough start.

Some themes don't appear to be fully compatible, and the screenshot demonstrates unusual starbursts behind the toolbar buttons, a blank new tabs page, and the Page menu icon has been replaced by the Tools menu icon. It is likely that users will see other problems in the build until Google irons out all the new kinks. Since this is the developer's build, not many users will be affected by the problems, but it's interesting to note that features that haven't been broken in a long time are not working as perfectly as intended.

The new version number comes with a number of bug fixes and some new features, as well. The Content Settings window in the Options menu makes its debut, with in-depth tweaks for cookies, images, JavaScript, plug-ins, and pop-ups. Mostly, these tweaks allow users to block sites from using those tools. The cookies tweaks are more granular, and a non-functional link implies that users will be able to customize Adobe Flash player storage settings in the near future.

Another change in the Windows version is that it should now save downloads to the default downloads folder, unless it's been set to the desktop. The Mac version has received more improvements, including better plug-in stability and a search field for the cookies manager, but not the content settings window.

There are several excellent bookmark-syncing extensions for Firefox, but Weave is the first major effort designed by Mozilla. The newest version of Weave is out of beta and supports more than just bookmark sync. It also supports syncing open tabs, history, passwords, preferences, and Firefox 3's advanced Location Bar data.

The add-on lives in your tools menu, in your Options menu, and in a Status Bar icon. From clicking on any of them, you can check your syncing log, create a user account and password, and toggle sync settings. The default is to sync all, but choosing the customization option will allow you to toggle options.

The appeal of Weave is that it's designed to be a one-stop syncing shop. In practice, though, Weave has had a rough development history and the road ahead hasn't yet been smoothed out. All the features that it is supposed to sync worked in our tests except for tabs, and the add-on still has compatibility problems with certain high-profile security add-ons such as AdBlock Plus and NoScript. These are easy to disable and then re-enable to get a one-time sync of key data such as passwords, but prevent Weave from being a reliable tool. Also note that the tab sync is only supposed to work with 25 or fewer active tabs. To its credit, Weave tested successfully on both Windows and Mac.

Mozilla says that future versions will sync add-ons, personal tweaks including any changes made to the about:config, and across mobile devices. It currently works on mobile Firefox for Nokia's Maemo platform. Weave will be a great tool for Firefox once it's working flawlessly, but it's not there yet.

If you've had a different experience with Weave, let me know in the comments below.

Unless you've been living under a rock this week, you probably already know that the iPad, Apple's new tablet, is on its way in less than 60 days. With some time before the release, it will give app developers the new challenge of optimizing their offerings for the new and bigger touch screen. But even more exciting will be what app developers come up with for the iPad exclusively--with the added processing power, superior graphics, and added screen real estate, I believe this is where we will come to fully realize the power of Apple's latest hardware. It seems like there are naysayers everywhere you look on the Web right now, but I have a feeling a lot of opinions will change by the time the device is released, with thousands of new apps made specifically for the iPad.

Apple showed off some new apps for iPad of their own including iBooks, giving avid readers an opportunity to purchase, download, and read books from Amazon. But what many people pointed out after the unveiling was that iBooks seemed to take a lot of inspiration from another iPhone app called Classics. The developers of Classics have been nothing but gracious about the similarities to iBooks and are even offering their app for free for a limited time ($2.99 regularly). I include Classics today (having reviewed it when it first came out) because more people should see this truly elegant app and because a tip of the hat is warranted to developers Andrew Kaz and Phillip Ryu for being such good sports. Also, it's free!

This week's apps include the aforementioned elegant book-reading app and a funny survival shooter with a mission.

Classics (Free for a limited time) came out some time ago, but this collection of famous works of literature is worthy of mentioning because the software is both extremely well-designed and a taste of what's to come with the iPad. When you launch Classics, you're presented with a natural-wood bookshelf containing some of the greatest works of English literature, including Milton's "Paradise Lost," Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," and H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine." There are now more than 20 books in all. But famous authors aside, Classics offers a beautiful interface for paging through each of the great works.

Tap a book to open it, revealing the title page on a classy brown-on-white-paper interface. Swiping your finger to the left turns the page, complete with an animation and the soft sound of leafing through an old book. The font size is just right for reading on the iPhone or iPod Touch. When you're finished reading for the moment, Classics places a bookmark automatically and indicates you have started the book in the book shelf interface. You can even flip through chapters to find your favorite parts. Once you've had a chance to flip through some of the books in Classics, you'll immediately see why Apple may have taken inspiration from this well-made app. This app is free for a limited time, but with all this great reading, even at $2.99 it's a bargain.

Guerrilla Bob takes the dual-stick survival shooter to the next level with distinct linear missions and challenging boss fights. Like many survival shooters for iPhone, Guerrilla Bob relies on two onscreen joysticks for controls--left joystick to move and right joystick to fire. Great looking and colorful levels make the game a joy a play, and eerie music and funny voice acting act to the ambiance. Some people might be turned off that the levels are very linear, following a set path to the end. But Guerrilla Bob offers secret areas to discover with new items and weapons to use making it very fun to get to the end and fight the boss.

The second you start playing, you'll realize Angry Mob Games went to great lengths to make Guerrilla Bob look beautiful. Each level offers its own theme, some with bright day-time cowboy-themed levels and other dark, creepy settings that add to the gameplay. You get three weapons to work with including a machine gun, a flame thrower, and a rocket launcher, all of which come in handy depending on the particular enemy your up against. At the end of each level, you'll face a unique boss where you'll have to study his strengths and weaknesses in order to find the trick that will blow him away. Overall, Guerrilla Bob is a fun and challenging survival shooter with excellent graphics, fun and unique gameplay, and just enough humor to keep you smiling as you blow away bad guys.

What's your favorite iPhone app? Do you think Apple should have talked to the guys who created Classics before launching iBooks? Do you think Guerrilla Bob is hampered by its linear play, or do the secret areas make up for it? Let me know in the comments!

Google has clearly had enough with Internet Explorer 6.

As of March 1, Google will no longer support IE6 on its Google Docs and Google Sites services, it announced Friday. IE users will have to upgrade to at least version 7 if they want to use those products, as "many other companies have already stopped supporting older browsers like Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers," the company said in a blog post.

A flaw in IE6 was exploited in the recent cyberattacks against Google and other U.S. companies, and Microsoft scrambled to patch the flaw in a rare out-of-cycle patch release earlier this month. Use of the browser--considered much weaker than more recent versions of IE within the security community--has been dropping with the release of Internet Explorer 8 but it is still being used by 13.5 percent of Web surfers, according to statistics from StatCounter.

Google set the baseline for other browsers at Firefox 3.0 or higher, Chrome 4.0 or higher, and Safari 3.0 or higher. "...you may find that from March 1, key functionality within these products--as well as new Docs and Sites features--won't work properly in older browsers," Google said.

Originally posted at Relevant Results