Blogging

Eariler this month I spoke with Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla and creator of JavaScript. We discussed the development process for the open source Firefox browser, the status of Firefox mobile, and new competition.

Eich maintained that increasing competition from Google and Apple, as well as Microsoft, is good for developers and users. It also helps that the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation garnered $75 million in revenue, mostly from its search partnership with Google, which ironically just launched Chrome, a competitor to Firefox. With $33 million in expenses last year, it appears the Mozilla team is well funded to continue development at a rapid pace and attract top talent.

Regarding competition with Google’s Chrome and other browsers, Eich said:

It’s really a neck and neck race. There is a contest going on not only between Google and Mozilla but also Apple to have the fastest JavaScript engine, to have the best performance on various benchmarks. This is great. Competition is good for users and for Web developers. Another focus for us, especially for me is the Web developers, the set of users that actually Web content. We are right in there, we are slugging it out. On the Google benchmarks their JavaScript engine is faster, on Apple’s benchmarks we’re faster than Google currently. It is going to vary, you are going to see it go back and forth, so it is only going to go up, which is the best thing for developers and that is what we are focused on.

Watch the video

Read the original post:
Mozilla CTO: Firefox in neck and neck race

A new Firefox extension aptly named “Flash Game Maximizer” is a must-have for any Flash game enthusiast. It does one thing, and does it well: letting you toggle between standard- and full-screen modes on any game–regardless of whether it has been coded with such an option.

Considering that Flash games are hosted all over the place, and rarely with a ubiquitous user interface, you’re likely to run into a good number of them that must be played in whatever space they’ve been given on a Web page. With Flash Game Maximizer, however, you don’t have to worry about this at all.

Once the extension has been installed, you’ll get a new button on the bottom-right corner of your browser that turns yellow when it detects Flash. Clicking it resizes the game to fit your browser window. A slight caveat here is that it completely restarts whatever Flash module is on the page, which on most games means losing any progress.

Because Flash Game Maximizer is an “experimental” extension, you will need to log in to Mozilla’s add-on site to download it.

If you’re a Flash game enthusiast, I wholeheartedly recommend giving this a go. It works on my personal favorite, Totem Destroyer, as well as on Desktop Tower Defense.

Flash Game Maximizer turns almost any Flash game window into a full-screen affair, regardless of whether the developer made it an option. (click to enlarge)

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Original post:
Firefox extension brings Flash games to full screen

A new Firefox extension aptly named “Flash Game Maximizer” is a must-have for any Flash game enthusiast. It does one thing, and does it well: letting you toggle between standard- and full-screen modes on any game–regardless of whether it has been coded with such an option.

Considering that Flash games are hosted all over the place, and rarely with a ubiquitous user interface, you’re likely to run into a good number of them that must be played in whatever space they’ve been given on a Web page. With Flash Game Maximizer, however, you don’t have to worry about this at all.

Once the extension has been installed, you’ll get a new button on the bottom-right corner of your browser that turns yellow when it detects Flash. Clicking it resizes the game to fit your browser window. A slight caveat here is that it completely restarts whatever Flash module is on the page, which on most games means losing any progress.

Because Flash Game Maximizer is an “experimental” extension, you will need to log in to Mozilla’s add-on site to download it.

If you’re a Flash game enthusiast, I wholeheartedly recommend giving this a go. It works on my personal favorite, Totem Destroyer, as well as on Desktop Tower Defense.

Flash Game Maximizer turns almost any Flash game window into a full-screen affair, regardless of whether the developer made it an option. (click to enlarge)

(Credit: CNET Networks)

View original here:
Firefox extension makes Flash games full-screen

You and your geek friends may love trolling the Mozilla site for Firefox add-ons, but the lineup on the site can be overwhelming. To simplify the add-on market, Mozilla has just launched Fashion Your Firefox, a tightly edited version of the add-on library with a very simple installer.

The catalog contains nine categories, such as “Finder and Seeker,” and “News Junkie,” each with fewer than five add-ons. If you want products in the list, you can select several. When you’re done making choices, you can install them all at once, instead of one at a time as you have to do with the standard add-on directory.

Add-ons for the Fashion Your Firefox lineup are chosen by Mozilla staffers, based on their evaluations of functionality and ease of use, taking into account proven popularity.

I found the Fashion Your Firefox store extremely easy to use, but far too limited. On the other hand, the default add-on directory is a bit overwhelming for newbies. I hope to someday see a mama bear directory that is more comprehensive yet still easy to use.

And as long as I’m on the topic, I propse that Mozilla allow add-on developers to charge for their products through the Mozilla store. According to the announcement for Fashion Your Firefox, over 1 billion add-ons have been downloaded. If downloads continue apace, and even if only a small percentage of the add-ons are paid, that’s a lot of potential revenue for developers.

No time to shop for add-ons? Use this edited selection.

See also: Foxiewire, and Download.com’s Add-on directory.

See original here:
Mozilla launches super-simple Firefox customizer

It’s time for our weekly summary of Web Technology news, products and trends. On the trends side, we analyzed the significance of MySpace’s new profiles, looked at how Google is tracking flu trends, explored a partnership between an online finance tool and a newspaper, and more. On the product side, we brought you an exclusive first look at a new IBM browser technology, reported on the latest big release of Windows Live, checked out a major update for Gmail, and more. We also have highlights from the Enterprise Channel and our new product, Jobwire. Finally, we have the recording from this week’s RWW Live about online job tools.

Sponsored by:

Web Trends

New MySpace Profiles: Granular Privacy, W3C Compliance

MySpace launched “Profile version 2.0″ late this week and a number of the changes are quite significant. The two biggest in our minds are the ability to set different privacy controls for different parts of a user’s profile and the near complete adherence to W3C HTML standards. As MySpace develops, so develop the next generation of mainstream web users and thus the web at large. Whether you’re a MySpace user or not, it’s worthwhile to keep an eye on what the company is doing - especially in terms of user experience.

Google Flu Trends: A Glimpse into the Future of Google Health

It stands to reason that people who are “starting to come down with something” often take the opportunity to search for information on what ails them, even before they discuss their symptoms with a healthcare professional. Who gets more of those searches than anyone? Google, of course. When Google started looking more closely at anonymous aggregate searches for “flu symptoms” and the like, they discovered that - after cross-referencing that data against information from the Center for Disease Control - they had the ability to predict flu outbreaks by monitoring search patterns. And now, they’ve published their findings as Google Flu Trends.

Would You Manage Your Money Through The Newspaper?

Wesabe and the UK Telegraph think you might. Online money management service Wesabe and the UK newspaper giant The Telegraph have entered a partnership to offer co-branded tools on the Telegraph website. It’s a daring move, we can’t help but admire it. We also can’t help but wonder how users will feel about it though.

SEE MORE WEB TRENDS COVERAGE IN OUR TRENDS CATEGORY

A Word from Our Sponsors

We’d like to thank ReadWriteWeb’s sponsors, without whom we couldn’t bring you all these stories every week!

• VisualCV lets you stand out from the crowd when job-hunting.
• WildApricot is Membership Management Software.
• Crowd Science gives you detailed visitor demographics.
• Glue enables you to connect with friends while browsing.
• Strands provides real-time recommendations of products.
• Direct Media Exchange is a solution for managing ad networks.
• Rackspace provides dedicated server hosting.
• SmartyPig is Simple. Smart. Savings.
• Quintura is a visual-based search engine.
• Eurekster is a custom social search portal.
• MediaTemple provides hosting for RWW.
• SixApart provides our publishing software MT4.

RWW Jobwire

Sam Whitmore on Vivian Schiller Leaving NYT to Become New NPR CEO

What do you get when you move the head of digital media at one of the world’s leading old-school press outfits into the CEO’s office of an even hipper large music and news organization? We don’t know, but we’re excited to find out! Veteran media exec Vivian Schiller announced this week that she’s leaving her position as head of NYTimes.com to become the new CEO of National Public Radio (NPR).

We’re excited about it from a technology perspective, but media industry analyst and RWW Jobwire guest editor Sam Whitmore discussed the move in terms of what it means for the Times as a business as well below.

SUBSCRIBE TO READWRITEWEB’S JOBWIRE FOR NEWS ON JOB HIRES IN TECH

RWW Live: Online Tools for Career Discovery & Job Searching

We recently launched a new product, Jobwire, to track who has been hired for new jobs in tech and new media. In this week’s episode of RWW Live, we talked about the state of online tools for career discovery and job searching. We had executives from Path 101, Indeed and Simply Hired join us for a lively discussion.

Download MP3

Web Products

First Look at Blue Spruce, IBM’s Next Generation Browser Platform

IBM is about to commit itself heavily to browser-based applications. The giant IT company is quietly working on a project called Blue Spruce, which aims to create a fully browser-based application development platform. ReadWriteWeb was given an exclusive first look at Blue Spruce. Last week at Web 2.0 Summit we sat down with IBM’s VP of Emerging Internet Technologies, Rod Smith, for a “show and tell” of what IBM claims will be the next evolution of the browser. What’s more, it’s fully open standards based - so it is squarely aimed at challenging the proprietary rich internet platforms of Microsoft’s Silverlight and Adobe’s Flash.

Microsoft Releases Major Update to Windows Live: New Applications and Third-Party Integration

Microsoft announced this week a number of new and updated online applications in its Windows Live suite: Windows Live Photos, Profiles, People, and Groups. In addition, Microsoft also announced that it will allow its users to integrate content from a large number of third-party services, including Flickr, LinkedIn, Pandora, Photobucket, StumbleUpon, TripIt, Twitter, and Yelp. Microsoft will begin rolling out these new services to U.S. customers in the coming weeks and expects them to be available globally in 54 countries by early 2009.

See also: Microsoft’s New Photo Sharing Service: Live Photos and New Profiles Turn Windows Live Into a Social Networking Service

OrbLive iPhone App Streams Live TV Over 3G

In the past, any iPhone apps that streamed live video were restricted by Apple. The apps could only use Wi-Fi or EDGE, and not AT&T’s 3G network, if they wanted App Store approval. This week, though, Apple approved an app that streams live TV over Wi-Fi, AT&T’s EDGE and 3G connections. The updated version of OrbLive for iPhone which was previously Wi-Fi/EDGE only, now allows for the streaming of live TV, videos, music, and photos from your home PC to your iPhone over the 3G network.

Google Launches Video and Voice Chat for Gmail

Google announced this week a major update for Gmail: video and voice chat. To make this work, users only have to install a small browser plugin. Google will start enabling these new features for all Gmail and Google Apps users at 12pm PST today. As is typical for new releases in Gmail, Google will roll this feature out to all users over the “next day or so.” The new chat functionality will work on PCs with Windows XP or Vista, as well as on Macs with OS X 10.4 or later. The plugin will work with all the major browsers, including Google’s own Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Happy Birthday Firefox

One month after their preview release was downloaded by over eight million people in October 2004, the Mozilla Foundation announced the release of Firefox 1.0 on November 9, making it Firefox’s 4th birthday this week. As the world’s second most popular browser, and with their recent milestone of reaching 20 percent worldwide market share, the folks over at Mozilla certainly have some celebrating to do.

SEE MORE WEB PRODUCTS COVERAGE IN OUR PRODUCTS CATEGORY

RWW Enterprise Channel

Google Maps Now Available For Blackberry Enterprise Server Distribution

The iPhone may have outsold RIM’s Blackberry devices in the U.S., but Google knows that getting their software in the hands of business execs still means building Blackberry apps. The company’s recent offering in this arena is a new, deployable package of Google Maps for Mobile which IT admins can distribute using Blackberry Enterprise Server.

Email us if you’re interested in writing for ReadWriteWeb’s Enterprise Channel.

SEE MORE ENTERPRISE COVERAGE IN OUR ENTERPRISE CHANNEL

That’s a wrap for another week! Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Source:
Weekly Wrapup: MySpace Profiles, IBM Blue Spruce, Windows Live, And More…