Massive Firefox Update Hits Refresh On Browsing

The massive overhaul -- chockablock with new menus and new features -- comes at a challenging time for the company's leaders. Mozilla has been beset with internal strife as company co-founder and longtime CTO Brendan Eich was elevated to chief executive and then resigned 11 days later, following a public outcry over his financial support for an anti-gay marriage law in California.

Among the more than 1,300 changes, the sweeping improvements in Firefox 29 for desktops introduce a new Firefox Account to simplify its cross-browser Sync feature, a customizable graphical menu, and rounded tabs that emphasize the tab you're in over the others.

"People are using the Web differently than they used to," said Johnathan Nightingale, Mozilla's vice president of Firefox, "and we need to give them a richer set of tools for customizing the way that they experience the Web."

The New Interface

The visual changes take some cues from adjustments that Google has made to Chrome and Microsoft has made to Internet Explorer, such as the triple-line menu icon that now lives on the righthand side of the browser. Gone from Windows and Linux is the orange Firefox menu button.



Two smaller changes arrived early. People who use Firefox have already been exposed to the Download Manager button on the add-on bar, and the browser navigation Forward button disappears unless there's a page to move forward to.
But other improvements are more drastic. The menu button has jumped completely from the left to the right side of the browser, and introduces a touch-friendly, icon-based, customizable menu to Firefox fans.

"Most desktops are not touch enabled, but they're moving that way. You could say it's picking up design ideas from mobile, or you could just say that it's well designed," Nightingale said.
Nightingale doesn't expect everybody to like the new look. His solution? To call up one of the browser's best-loved features: customization.

"We've always been proud of our add-on experience, but the built-in customization tools were in need of love," he said. You can now drag-and-drop to customize the menu, just as you can with other browser interface elements such as the location bar or search box.

Another important interface change has been to ensure that tabs are readable. Tabs, Nightingale said, are a "critical detail."

"Talking about tabs is talking about how people do more than one thing at the same time on the Internet," he said. Firefox has developed a reputation as a browser than can smoothly handle dozens of tabs, and so Nightingale said it was important for Mozilla to make sure that tabs remained legible even as more of them got crammed onto the tab bar.

"We decided not to shrink and shrink the tabs, which would theoretically allow you to have more of them on the screen. It makes more sense to have nice smooth animation and keep some content there to give your eye something to look for," he said.The browser relies on your mouse scroll wheel or navigation arrows at either end of the tab bar for you to access overflow tabs.

Things You Need To Know About 2014 Samsung Galaxy S5

The much anticipated Samsung flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S5 unveiled. It was announced at the 2014 Mobile World Congress that take place at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain. Here are the things you need to know if you are considering to get this Smartphone.

Appearance
It looks like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S4. A little bit bigger because the handset has 5-inch super AMOLED touchscreen display with 1920 x 1080 pixel display. The Samsung Galaxy S5 constructed almost entirely out of plastic. Dustproof – it should survive the dustiest conditions – and water resistant. The back of Galaxy S5 benefits from matt design with dotted texture that helps with grip.


Performance
The processor of Samsung Galaxy S5 is listed as a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait at 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is standard 16/32GB. Samsung Galaxy S5 can support 128GB microSD. Android 4.4.2 KitKat comes pre-installed so you can rest easy knowing you are about as up to date as you can get in the world of Google's world-conquering mobile operating system. New features of Android 4.4.2 KitKat include the ability to launch a Google search using only your voice, faster multi-tasking, simpler interface and improvements to how your contacts are prioritized, to name a few.

Camera
The Galaxy S5 looks to takes thing a step further with the introduction of a 16MP sensor and Selective Focus, a feature which allows you to adjust the focus of a shot after the image has been taken just like you can do aboard Nokia’s new Lumia handsets and the famed Lytro camera. Samsung has also improved the auto-focus speed, too – you now only have to wait 0.3 seconds – meaning rapid capture is on the cards.

Addition
Like the iPhone 5s, the Samsung Galaxy S5 also features a fingerprint scanner. Biometrics are going to be big in 2014 and from the looks of things Apple and Samsung are, once again, going to be leading the charge. Unlike Apple’s TouchID, however, Samsung’s fingerprint scanner will be open for mobile payments (via PayPal) from the get-go, as well as providing a quick and easy way to safely and securely unlock the handset.

Prize
A price is yet to be disclosed. Expect it to be around the £600 mark if previous releases are anything to go by. The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be available 'through Samsung's retail channels' from April. Vodafone, Everything Everywhere, Phones 4u, Three and the Carphone Warehouse have all confirmed they will stock the Samsung Galaxy S5 in the UK.

Amtel Infographic about Zombie Phone Killer

Zombie phones are mobile devices that the enterprise thinks are dead, but they're actually still alive and potentially costing companies a considerable amount of money. The infographic below, created by Amtel, shows how zombie phones manifest themselves, how costly they can be to organizations, and how to put a stop to this madness with Mobile Device Management (MDM). Find out more about Amtel's MDM solution, including how it can kill zombie phones and save your enterprise money.

“Javafog” Discovered: A Java Version of Icefog Malware

Security firm Kaspersky recently reported that they discovered a new variant of Icefog Malware targeting government agencies and several high profile companies precisely an American independent oil and gas corporation.

          Icefog is a Backdoor that allows hackers to get access to basic key information about an infected system, and can allow attackers to monitor and control infected PC’s. It is also able to upload, download and install other forms of Malware for various purposes, the main reason being to steal or edit data on the computer system. 

                Kaspersky Lab Experts Costin Raiu, VitalyK and Igor Soumenkov called it “Javafog”, this malware was written in Java code and extremely tough to detect, it includes only basic functionalities such as uploading and downloading files from the infected systems. Simple, yet very effective method on stealing information.

          In September 2013, Kaspersky Lab published an extensive analysis of Icefog, they continued to monitor the operation by sinkholing domains and analyzing victim connections. During this monitoring, they discovered a type of connection, which seemed to indicate a Java version of Icefog.

          Javafog uses the same payloads as the original Icefog campaign; it installs other specific Malware on to a victim’s computer, allowing communication with Icefog C&C servers. The main difference between them is that Javafog’s coding is written in Java. Kaspersky have confirmed that evidence suggests a various major US corporations may have already been affected by Javafog. Kaspersky managed to sinkhole 27 of 72 different C&C servers.

“The Javafog malware is harder to track than its original variant. Java malware is not as popular as Windows Preinstallation Environment (PE) malware, and can be harder to spot.” Kaspersky team said.

Security firm Trusteer advised that to prevent Java exploits and malware-based infiltrations, it is important to restrict execution to only known trusted Java files.

Apple is now Selling Unlocked, Sim-free for iPhone 5s

Apple today updated its U.S. online store to begin offering sales of unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 5s models

Apple begin offering sales of unlocked, SIM-free for iPhone 5s models on their retail website. The phone requires a GSM-compatible SIM so it can handle either AT&T or T-Mobile but it doesn’t work on Sprint or Verizon. The shipping estimates 1-2 weeks for SIM-less version while the unlocked T-Mobile version takes 3-5 weeks with the price of $649 – 16GB , $749 – 32GB and $849 – 64GB model.

Many international countries have had availability of the fully unlocked iPhone 5s for several weeks.

First Facebook Designed Phone of HTC

Undoubtedly, HTC likes firsts.

After launching the first Android phone (G1), almost 5-years ago, the Taiwanese phone maker does it again today, unveiling the HTC First, with the Facebook “Home” user experience built-in.
For its first “Facebook Home” branded phone, the social network took a page out of Google GOOG +1.57%‘s playbook and was very much involved, early on, in its design as well as the choice of the hardware components.

The First will be available in four colors (black, white, red and pale blue) and ship next week, on April 12th, for $100, with a 2-year contact commitment with AT&T.

“The HTC First is the ultimate social phone,” said HTC CEO, Peter Chou, speaking at the Facebook media event this morning. “It’s the only phone that has Facebook Home preloaded and well optimized.”
Facebook Home features include:

1. Cover Feed, a constant, fresh stream of photos and updates directly from your news feed and is always present as soon as you wake up the phone
2. Notifications that appear right on your home screen
3. Chat Heads, the mobile messenger that lets you jump in and out of conversations while you multitask
4. and, App Launcher, which lets you view your favorite apps and post right to Facebook on the same spot

Facebook Phone is not enough to save HTC
Now if history is any guide, HTC will probably not benefit from its first mover advantage, as other partners such as Alcatel Onetouch, Huawei or Sony release their own Facebook phones.
The Taiwanese company continues to struggle against falling revenues and market share. For February, HTC reported revenues down almost 44% from last year, the sixteenth consecutive month in which sales have fallen, year-on-year. And according to IDC, HTC had a 4.6% market share at the end of 2012, down from 10.3% a year earlier.

2013, The Best Year To Monetize Your Mobile App

In 2012, the growth of the mobile market was huge throughout the globe and is still constantly reshaping how we interact in our everyday lives. In 2011, there were 835 million smartphone users, 5.6 billion feature phone users (via Business Insider). If you are a retailer who sells products or services via the web you should not be hiding from the mobile revolution. It is your responsibility to stay ahead of future developments. It is now time to shift over into the new era of marketing. It's time to be mobile.

Approximately 50% of all mobile searches are local. In 2013, the massively growing percentage of mobile web users may actually overtake the already small fraction of desktop web users. In 2011 mobile ad revenue was zero, in 2012 it had risen to almost 340 million USD. Given this rise does not slow down, 2013 will see almost triple that amount.

Facebook is a living testament to this shift in importance. The need to monetize mobile traffic will dominate Google, Facebook, Twitter and others in 2013. The trick is to do it as soon as possible on account of the decline in the growth of desktop-based traffic. To maintain a successful mobile marketing campaign you need to focus on user-benefits acquired from monetization strategies. Since mobile is not search-centric it needs to discover a more animated form of monetization. There are several centers to be considered - messaging, communications, news, media capture and sharing, entertainment and games. These are all very different and will require unique and innovative means of developing relationships between users and advertisers. Travel-related searches are also huge in the situation of mobile usage. This is primarily focussed on hotel searches. You tend to use your smartphone whenever you are on the road and need web access. In fact, bookings from smartphones are usually made for the same day.

The reality is that there is an abundance of money to be made from mobile marketing. Joining a mobile app reseller program is a great way to cash in on the latest boom. Apple makes loads of money from their handsets as well as their App Store. Carriers make money from data plans. M-commerce players are also poised to make much more money in 2013. Mobile marketers are therefore forced to either innovate their mobile marketing strategies or be left behind. Users love the ability to engage with the things they like, love, and admire, and even those they hate and detest, in a personal mobile space. Apps that feed or empower this intimacy will survive.

Every human being on the planet has intimate tastes and relationships they cherish. This is also true as it relates to people, brands, products and businesses. Billions of smartphones by the end of 2013 makes for a very large opportunity to allow users to become the boss, and for brands to enter into better relationships with the customers who love them. This year, mobile is the perfect platform for the dream of one-to-one marketing to finally flourish.