Android, Nokia N900 receive Firefox mobile alpha

By Darryl K. Taft
2010-08-30

Article Rating:

/ 2

Rate This Article:

Add This Article To:

Mozilla has released the first alpha version of its Firefox Mobile ("Fennec") browser for Android and the Nokia N900 smartphone. The Fennec alpha provides Firefox sync with Mozilla's desktop browser, and adds a new Electrolysis feature, allowing the browser interface to run in a separate process from the one rendering Web content, says Mozilla.

Mozilla officials said the Alpha release of Fennec is now available for Android and Nokia N900 users to download and test.

In an Aug. 27 blog post, Stuart Parmenter, director of mobile engineering at Mozilla, said Fennec is the first mobile browser to offer add-ons and is built on the same technology that powers desktop Firefox. The latest version of Fennec builds on the rich set of features from the previous pre-alpha release and makes it easier to bring your Firefox experience with you anywhere, he said.

Firefox Mobile for Android main screen, showing left-handed tabs (left) and "awesome bar" (right) shown on Mozilla demo video

Lauding the openness of Android, Parmenter said this first alpha release of Fennec for Android is "an exciting first step in bringing browser choice and customization, along with a seamless Web experience across devices, to a leading open mobile platform. Now, developers have the power to use the latest Web technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript to build fast, powerful and beautiful mobile apps and add-ons that can reach many millions of devices."

And as with the latest update of the Firefox 4 beta for the desktop, "Fennec Alpha now creates one fluid Web experience between desktop and mobile devices by providing Firefox Sync built into the browser, which provides seamless access to Awesome Bar browsing history, bookmarks, passwords, form-fill data and open tabs," Parmenter writes.

Fennec browser screen (left) and export to social networking sites such as Facebook (right)

Describing the key points in this alpha release, Parmenter writes, "The main focus of this release is to increase performance and responsiveness to user actions. This is being implemented using two major technologies, 'Electrolysis' and 'Layers.' This Alpha release includes Electrolysis, which allows the browser interface to run in a separate process from the one rendering Web content."

"By doing this," Parmenter continues, "Fennec is able to react much faster to user input while pages are loading or CPU intensive JavaScript is running. The upcoming beta release will start taking advantage of Layers to greatly improve performance in graphic intensive actions like scrolling, zooming, animations and video. We're also working to optimize these actions using the hardware-accelerated graphics rendering capabilities showing up in today's mobile devices."

Meanwhile, on Aug. 24 Mozilla announced the latest update to the Firefox 4 beta, which includes Firefox Sync and Panorama, formerly known as Tab Candy. With a single keystroke, Panorama provides an overview of all a user's tabs to easily organize the tabs into groups, name them, prioritize them, and quickly switch between tabs or tab groups, Mozilla said.

Availability

The Mozilla blog announcing the Firefox Mobile ("Fennec") alpha release for Android and the Maemo Linux-based Nokia N900 may be found here. The release notes may be found here.

Darryl K. Taft is a regular contributor to our sister publication eWEEK.

Related Stories:

	Discuss Android, Nokia N900 receive Firefox mobile alpha

	I see you copied Gizmodo's mistake. An alpha of the next Fennec release has just...

	>>> Post your comment now!



	>>> More News Articles >>> More By Darryl K. Taft

Email Article To Friend ♦ Print Version Of Article ♦ PDF Version Of Article

FUEL Database on MontaVista Linux
Whether building a mobile handset, a car navigation system, a package tracking device, or a home entertainment console, developers need capable software systems, including an operating system, development tools, and supporting libraries, to gain maximum benefit from their hardware platform and to meet aggressive time-to-market goals.

Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Linux Clustering
With a platform comprising a complete Linux distribution, enhanced for clustering, and tailored for HPC, Penguin Computing¿s Scyld Software provides the building blocks for organizations from enterprises to workgroups to deploy, manage, and maintain Linux clusters, regardless of their size.

Data Monitoring with NightStar LX
Unlike ordinary debuggers, NightStar LX doesn¿t leave you stranded in the dark. It¿s more than just a debugger, it¿s a whole suite of integrated diagnostic tools designed for time-critical Linux applications to reduce test time, increase productivity and lower costs. You can debug, monitor, analyze and tune with minimal intrusion, so you see real execution behavior. And that¿s positively illuminating.

Virtualizing Service Provider Networks with Vyatta
This paper highlights Vyatta's unique ability to virtualize networking functions using Vyatta's secure routing software in service provider environments.

High Availability Messaging Solution Using AXIGEN, Heartbeat and DRBD
This white paper discusses a high-availability messaging solution relying on the AXIGEN Mail Server, Heartbeat and DRBD. Solution architecture and implementation, as well as benefits of using AXIGEN for this setup are all presented in detail.

Understanding the Financial Benefits of Open Source
Will open source pay off? Open source is becoming standard within enterprises, often because of cost savings. Find out how much of a financial impact it can have on your organization. Get this methodology and calculator now, compliments of JBoss.

Embedded Hardware and OS Technology Empower PC-Based Platforms
The modern embedded computer is the jack of all trades appearing in many forms.

Data Management for Real-Time Distributed Systems
This paper provides an overview of the network-centric computing model, data distribution services, and distributed data management. It then describes how the SkyBoard integration and synchronization service, coupled with an implementation of the OMG¿s Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, can be used to create an efficient data distribution, storage, and retrieval system.

7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.