(Credit: Mozilla)

Faster and more secure browsing is coming to Firefox in a big way, as the first Aurora build of Firefox 13 gets the SPDY protocol activated by default, capping off more than four months of work putting SPDY into Firefox.

Firefox 13 Aurora (download for Windows, Mac, and Linux,) doesn't include many other new features or changes that affect Firefox fans directly, but there are many under-the-hood tweaks. One is a user agent change in Firefox for Android, so that Web sites can recognize when a person is running Firefox for Android on a phone or a tablet. This means that sites that have been coded to recognize different mobile device form factors could change their appearance depending on your device.

Other changes include in-browser multitouch support and implementing the Screen Orientation API on Android; and small but numerous improvements to the DOM (Document Object Model, which helps a browser turn HTML into a Web site), plug-ins, JavaScript, page layout rendering, and browser-network interaction.

Developer's tools also see a large bat... [Read more]

Last fall, a new Trojan malware scam called Revir and Imuler was uncovered, attempting to coerce Mac users into installing the malware on their systems, and then sending personal information to remote servers.

The scam initially used a Trojan dropper program called OS X/Revir.A that when run would download PDFs containing offensive political rhetoric in foreign languages, and then install a backdoor agent called OS X/Imuler.A. This in turn would try to connect to remote servers and send information about your system to the servers.

The malware did not work very well and appeared to be in the testing phase, but it did have the potential to do damage.

When the ZIP file containing the malware is opened, among benign image files is the malware application (red square), which is disguised to look like the rest of the images.

(Credit: ESET)

Recently, ... [Read more]

Windows 8 Start screen

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft reportedly will finish work on Windows 8 by summer, setting the stage to release the next version of its flagship operating system sometime around October.

Bloomberg, citing "people with knowledge of the schedule," also reports that there will be fewer than five devices running the ARM system-on-a-chip architecture at launch. Those ARM chips allow for thinner, lighter tablet devices, something that Microsoft hopes will help it cut into Apple's iPad's huge lead in the tablet market. The Cupertino rival just disclosed that it sold more than 3 million of its latest iPad since the third-generation gadget debuted Friday.

The report confirms the timing that most analysts have been expecting. Bloomberg notes that Microsoft will lay out the details of the release schedule at an industry event in early April.

A Microsoft spokeswoma... [Read more]

With OneNote for iPad, Microsoft brought its note-taking app to Apple, but seemingly against its will. The free app lets you create up to 500 notes. After you hit the 500 mark, you'll be required to make a $14.99 in-app purchase to continue taking notes. The note limit isn't the only obstacle you'll encounter with OneNote for iPad; you'll also find restrictions placed on creating new notebooks, organizing notes, and assigning tags.

Launch the app, log in to your Windows Live account (or create a new one), and you'll see an attractive layout, complete with a spiral-notebook theme. In landscape mode, your notebooks and notes are listed in the left column, with the current note you're viewing on the right. In portrait mode, a page of a spiral notebook fills the screen, with your list of notebooks and notes available by tapping the button in the upper-left corner. No matter the orientation, three buttons--to delete, e-mail, and create notes--reside in the upper-right corner of the screen.

(Credit: Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)

In OneNote's scheme, a notebook is filled with sections, and sections are filled with notes. The app starts you off with one default notebook, strangely named Personal (Web). OneNote for iPad's biggest limitation is the inability to create new notebooks or sections. You can only create notes (using the cr... [Read more]

Stock Gingerbread launcher versus the Ice Cream Sandwich launcher.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET)

Pin It

At this point, you might be tired of waiting for an ICS update for your Android. Or worse, your device might not be on the list of phones receiving the update. In either case, you can now snag some of that ICS awesomeness by using Phoenix Launcher on your phone. This app will add the ICS launcher to your Gingerbread device, giving you the look and (possibly) feel of using Android's newest flavor.

Note: Launchers on Android will allow you to change the way you interact with the Home screens of your device. The arrangement of docked icons at the bottom of the screen, along with navigation buttons, are both part of a launcher. There are lots of options for launchers, but for this purpose we're going to work with Phoenix Launcher.

First you'll need to grab a copy of Phoenix Launcher from Google Play. There are ... [Read more]

(Credit: Foodonthetable.com) Pin It

It goes without saying that food is important to our ability to function. Despite this importance, planning and preparing meals often falls on the back burner, with things like work or school taking priority. If you find yourself often forgetting to purchase key ingredients, or are feeling uninspired in your meal planning, check out Food on the Table for Android and iPhone. Here's how to get started:

Step 1: Download and install Food on the Table on your Android or iOS device.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET)

Step 2: The app requires some basic setup to function. Get this started by pressing the Begin Setup button.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET)

Step 3 (optional): Enter your e-mail address. You will be notified of any sales at stores... [Read more]

Chris Blizzard

(Credit: Mozilla)

Chris Blizzard, a high-profile figure in the Firefox world, has left his job as Mozilla's director of Web platform to join a startup.

"I'm trying something new and starting in the next week or so I'm going to be joining a very small startup that's based in Palo Alto," Blizzard said in his announcement last week on his blog. "I happened to stumble across an amazing team that's doing great (and difficult!) work that deals with the intersection of systems, compilers, and web-scale problems."

Blizzard has been in charge of the "Web platform" work at Mozilla. It may sound like obscure jargon, but what it actually means is tremendously important: the upgrade of the Web from a repository of documents into a foundation for software that runs on everything from mobile phones and cars to tablets and TVs. Much of the work is embodied in the term HTML5, though in technical terms it extends well beyond version 5 of the Hypertext Markup Language standard used to describe Web pages.

Firefox doesn't reach all these markets, but Mozilla and Firefox remain active forces in adapting Web standards so Web apps can span a tremendous range of devices.

New post: opportunity: bit.ly/AgmJlS

— Christopher Blizzard (@chrisblizza... [Read more]

The new Metro Start screen

(Credit: Microsoft)

To make Windows 8 a success on tablets, Microsoft may well need help from the one company least likely to give it: Apple.

As Microsoft prepares Windows 8 for a launch that analysts expect later this year, it's busily encouraging developers to create applications that work with its new touch-friendly, tile-based Metro interface. That's important, because the thinnest, lightest Windows 8 tablets will be running a Metro-only version of the operating system specifically created for ARM system-on-a-chip devices. Without popular apps, Microsoft's tablet partners will have a much harder time selling their devices.

Apple's iTunes is clearly one of those key applications. There are plenty of Windows users who stash their entire music and video libraries in iTunes. And listening to music and watching videos on a tablet is clearly among the important ways people use the devices. If Apple chooses to not make a Metro version of iTunes, consumers have one less reason to buy a Windows 8 on ARM tablet.

... [Read more]