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The mobile browser space is heating up again, with some significant new releases such as Opera Mini 5 beta and Internet Explorer Mobile 6. Mozilla jumps in, too, releasing Fennec 1.0 beta 4 for Maemo this week.

If you haven't heard of Maemo, it's Nokia's platform for Internet devices. This Fennec beta brings us ever closer to a stable version of the in-development Firefox mobile browser for Nokia Internet Tablets. Nokia's Internet devices are just the beginning, though. Support for the legions of Nokia's smartphones would presumably follow, as would work on the version of Fennec for Windows Mobile phones, currently in an inchoate alpha 3 stage.

The beta 4 release adds some specific adjustments and bug fixes, especially around the add-on, bookmark, and download managers. Here's the full list, courtesy of Mozilla:

• Improved touch-friendly theme
• Improved panning and zooming performance and behavior
• Add search providers from the site identity panel
• Manage search providers from the Add-ons Manager
• Simplified the Download Manager (removed searching and find file on disk)
• Streamlined the bookmarking process
• Simplified the bookmark management
• Pop-up notification when background tabs open
• Bookmark list now displays the URL and tags associated with a bookmark
• Added a product information page (about:fennec or use the button in Preferences)
• Support for add-ons options in the Add-on Manager
• Support for updating add-ons
• Support for the HandheldFriendly meta-tag (support for the viewport meta-tag is coming)

(Credit: F)

On Friday, Mozilla released Fennec Alpha 3 for Windows Mobile, the latest in Mozilla's effort to put its Firefox browser on a mobile phone. As with Fennec 1.0 beta 3 for the Maemo platform found on some Nokia Internet Tablets, Fennec for Windows Mobile makes changes to the mobile browser's theme, and its scrolling and panning performance.

In particular, it's using what's called a tile cache rendering system to hold onto the part of the screen that has already been rendered. As you scroll and pan around, it should take less time to refresh the screen, since Fennec won't be downloading the same content afresh. This is the same type of technology used in Google Maps.

In addition, Mozilla says it has increased Fennec's start-up time, though you'll need to reboot the Windows Mobile phone for the difference to take effect. Swiping along the edge of the directional pad on the HTC Touch Pro now controls zooming. In the meantime, Fennec now supports more screen resolutions for any other Windows Mobile phone, so it could potentially look better on your device.

While Mozilla has no hard date set for completing Fennec 1.0 for Windows Mobile (which in all probability, could be called Firefox for Windows Mobile when it's done) it has set a target time for releasing Fennec on the Maemo platform in Q4, which brings us to before the end of December. This fits the timeline of Mozilla's open design competition for the company's Firefox for Mobile campaign, which will cut off voting on October 7, 2009.

Fennec Alpha 3 for Windows Mobile is ready to try for your Windows Mobile phone and can be downloaded from this CAB file. Remember that as an unstable alpha release, you may encounter bugs and other issues. For more details about what's new, you can find Mozilla's release notes here.

Related story: Firefox Mobile' updates for Windows Mobile

The last peep we heard about Fennec was in late June, when Mozilla updated its mobile edition of the Firefox browser for Windows Mobile phones. This week, the Firefox browser maker has released an updated version for the platform powering Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets: Fennec 1.0 Beta 3. (You can also download a desktop emulator for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.)

Following 'the rule of threes,' it could be a good guess that after this third beta, the final version will be next in line. A Mozilla spokesperson, however, told CNET that more beta builds are expected in the future.

This beta update for the Linux-based Maemo operating system especially addresses performance and user interface, starting with a theme refresh. In the future, the interface will also be better able to support a variety of devices and orientations.

(Credit: Mozilla)

Additionally, Fennec 1.0 beta 3 takes on slow scrolling and panning. The third beta should see sped-up performance and the ability to scroll iframes. As you pan, Fennec for Maemo's new image-rendering system will save more of the screen. It should take less time to refresh the screen as you navigate back and forth.

The next build will focus on smoothing out rough edges, Stuart Parmenter, Mozilla's director of mobile engineering, said in a blog post. The team will particularly pay attention to using the browser's new rendering system to nix the checkerboard pattern you see when panning around.

As a beta product, Fennec 1.0 beta 3 is intended for testers to help work out the kinks. Read the full release notes here.

Article updated at 1:15 pm with a comment from Mozilla.

We've been eagerly awaiting developments to Fennec, the project name assigned to Mozilla's mobile version of its Firefox browser. We took a look when Fennec Alpha 1 came out for Windows Mobile phones. Late last week Mozilla released updates for Fennec on both its available platforms: Fennec 1.0 Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile and Fennec 1.0 Beta 2 for Maemo, the platform used on the Nokia N810 and N800 Internet tablets.

With the exception of some work on the interface theme and in the add-ons module, most alpha testers of Fennec for Windows Mobile won't notice drastic visual or feature changes. However, Mozilla hopes that you will see improvements to the browser's panning performance and add-ons support. (To get started with add-ons, swipe the screen to the right and press the gear icon (Settings) to arrive at the add-ons view. As before, this page lists your installed extensions and lets you search or browse to find and add new ones.)

In addition, Mozilla has added a JavaScript error console into Fennec 1.0 Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile, which will relay browser errors to Mozilla.

On the Palm Treo Pro's screen, you can't scroll down to see the Settings menu.

(Credit: CNET/Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt)

We had no trouble installing and using the Windows emulator, but we could only get Fennec 1.0 Alpha 2 to load onto one of two Windows phones. While it looked good on the Palm Treo Pro, Fennec is still firmly in the alpha testing stages. Panning is better, but not ideally responsive. On its mostly square screen, we could not scroll the controls on the right to access the add-ons gallery. To be fair, the Palm Treo Pro probably isn't the testing device Mozilla had in mind. Fennec's emulator assumes a wide-screen browsing orientation.

Fennec 1.0 beta 2 for the Maemo platform also sees the theme upgrade, add-on support, and JavaScript error console that were added to the Windows Mobile build. You can download it for the Nokia N810 Internet Tablets, or for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The latest alpha for Fennec (Windows Mobile) is available as a CAB file for the Windows Mobile 6 platform, but also as an emulator for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

As usual, we'd like to hear your thoughts on either of these prerelease builds. Share your experiences in the comments.

For months, Mozilla's mobile version of its Firefox browser has been in first alpha, then beta modes on two Maemo-run Nokia Internet Tablets that few possessed. On Friday, Fennec (as it's been code-named) has arrived on a platform that many more testers will be able to sink their fingers into: Windows Mobile 6.

As with Fennec beta 1 for the Nokia N810 and N800, Fennec Alpha 1 for Windows Mobile 6 (download the CAB file) has been tailor-made for the HTC Touch Pro, with an intention to expand to more handsets in future releases. The flashiest feature to expect is support for add-ons. We got a glimpse of them at CTIA, and judging from Mozilla's video tour of Fennec on Windows Mobile, the module is now much more fleshed out. In addition to a list of recommended add-ons is a tab to start searching for more extensions.

The user interface looks identical to that on the Maemo devices, with the Awesome Bar search field front and center, which serves up suggested search terms in addition to showing off your search history. Flick the screen to the left to see bookmarking tools and the add-ons manager in a gutter on the right. Flick to the right to expose the icons that comprise your "tabbed" browsing experience. The rest of the screen is devoted to your Web page.

'Blair Witch'-like still of Fennec's add-ons screen.

(Credit: Mozilla)

For the techies, Mozilla built its interface for Fennec Alpha 1 for Windows Mobile using CSS. This will help the app adjust to various screen sizes and resolutions, says Mozilla. The Mountain View, Calif., company also divulged that this Fennec build shares Firefox's memory management library, JeMalloc. This resource-sharing is another indication that Mozilla is striving to create a mobile product as identical to its desktop offering on its back end as is technologically possible.

Since it's in an early testing phase, we expect you'll encounter a long list of bugs and other known issues in Fennec Alpha 1. Delays in panning speeds are one problem Mozilla noted, and clean-ups in JavaScript processing and graphics are high on its list for open-source development. You'll find a few more details and some sound installation instructions here. If you get a chance to try out Fennec Alpha 1 on the HTC Touch Pro, let us know what you think. We'll certainly be keeping our eye out for developments.

Updated May 1, 2009, at 8:40 a.m. PT with more specifics about how the Google Location Service works, and again at 11:40 a.m. with additional background information.

When Google Labs released its experimental browser toolbar with its My Location finder for Internet Explorer last week, we wondered why it wasn't available for Firefox. Now we know. Instead of being added on through a toolbar or extension, it was intended to be built in. So, on Thursday, Mozilla turned on a new feature for Firefox 3.5 beta 4, and for Fennec, the code name for the mobile version of Firefox: Google's geolocation service. Like the toolbar with My Location, Mozilla's opt-in engine will use your position to return more focused search results across the Web.

(Credit: Mozilla Labs)

The functionality has been available prior to this release, in the form of Geode, an experimental Mozilla Labs add-on that implemented the W3C Geolocation Specification. While the support was there for third-party add-ons to use geolocation in Firefox 3.1, 3.5 and Fennec, Mozilla hadn't offered it directly until now.

Here's how it works. When you browse to a page that requests to know your location, you accept or decline. Declining does nothing, but accepting delivers your Wi-Fi access point or IP address details to Google Location Services, using an encrypted SSL connection (https). Google can then return an approximation of your location to the browser, which returns it to the requesting page. Using the classic example, a search for "movie theaters" or the weather will bring up local listings without you having to type in your city or ZIP code.

Privacy is a key concern here. With many computer users going out of their way to erase their Internet tracks, handing them over for the sake of saving a few keystrokes may seem foolhardy. To that end, Mozilla has posted in an FAQ section that "Firefox does not track or remember your location between sessions, never sends your location to any third party, and never sends it to any of Mozilla's servers."

Would you use this new geolocation feature, or does giving away your whereabouts give you the willies? Discuss in the comments.

(Credit: Mozilla)

LAS VEGAS--At CTIA 2009 on Thursday morning, I sat down with Mozilla's Jay Sullivan, vice president of mobile, to get a hands-on demo of Firefox's in-development mobile browser, code-named Fennec.

In addition to using Fennec on a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet with my own two hands instead of on a desktop emulator, I also saw a new feature in action that is poised to give Fennec the edge over rivals, when it enters the mobile-browsing marketplace.

During our meeting, Sullivan also dispensed with a few more details about Fennec's road map and hinted at a final name.

First, the name: I've been calling the app-to-be "Firefox Mobile" because for nearly everyone outside of the tech bubble, "Fennec" just won't cut it. When I asked for a clue, Sullivan replied that "mini" or "mobile" implies a watered-down browsing experience.

"We want to create something worthy of being called Firefox," Sullivan said. This means there's a good chance that Firefox for mobile phones may be named just plain "Firefox," with separate mobile builds being designated by operating system--Firefox for Windows, Mac, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and so on. Thinking about transition devices such as Netbooks or future phone-laptop hybrids, Sullivan said, makes you question the distinction between what's "mobile" and what's "standard."

Second, the edge: Mozilla's attitude toward Fennec's future name heavily hints at what it can do. A few weeks ago, Fennec took on support for Firefox extensions. One of these is Weave, an add-on that on the desktop backs up your "Awesome Bar" contents--bookmarks, passwords, and browsing history.

When used in conjunction with Fennec, Weave synchronizes these between your desktop and mobile phone, which can save you tons of typing when you're starting a search. It can also populate your bookmarks and commonly used search terms, so you don't have to spend an hour setting up your new Fennec browser to mirror Firefox.

What's more--and this was the slickest use case by far--whichever tabs you had up when you left the desktop, you can pick up again on Fennec. The Weave add-on is ready to try, if you have Firefox 3.5 beta installed on your desktop.

The Weave add-n sits just below the tabs when you swipe the screen to the right.

(Credit: Mozilla)

While Opera has already implemented a similar content-syncing service, Opera Link, to sync bookmarks, search history, and notes between all Opera browsers, on the mobile phone, Fennec's implementation of the concept looks faster and easier to work with when it comes to open tabs.

On Fennec, you'll slide the screen to the right, tap a small button, and see a list of your synced sites. Search bar content from the desktop will appear when you begin typing a term or URL.

Third, the road map: Fennec beta 1 is already available for Nokia N810 Internet Tablets, and Sullivan says he expects one or two more beta cycles before the application will be released for Nokia's Linux-based Maemo platform sometime in summer. After that, Mozilla hopes to kick off a beta version for Windows Mobile by the end of the third quarter, followed by a Symbian version later this year.

In October, I took a look at Mozilla Fennec, the precursor to the mobile version of Firefox that is sure to make a huge splash in the mobile-browsing world, once it's released to the salivating crowds.

The graduation of Fennec from alpha to beta 1 means that Mozilla is a milestone closer to bringing its vision to the world. For now, however, Fennec remains in code mode, released as a mobile and desktop test version for developers, and for others who want to give it a spin and spoon Mozilla some feedback.

Consistent with Fennec alpha, the mobile installation of Fennec beta is compatible only with the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet (over-the-air installation link).

Luckily, you don't have to be among this sliver of the populace to partake of the good news. Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux users can also download emulators to give Fennec beta 1 a try.

The precursor to Firefox Mobile now supports add-ons.

(Credit: CNET)

What's new in Fennec beta 1

The biggest news by far is Fennec's support for add-ons. As mobile browsers converge more and more with the desktop experience, the mobile browser with the best add-on implementation will get a leg up. Desktop extensions were a vital ingredient to Firefox's success among mainstream users, and they stand a good chance of pitching Firefox Mobile against Opera Mobile, too.

Opera Software's desktop browser, though a solid program with its own library of plug-ins--called Widgets--has never gained the market share it needed to seriously contend with Firefox on the desktop. However, Opera is already well-established on mobile phones, and it was the first browser maker to bring its version of extensions over to the mobile side when it introduced Opera Widgets in October in the Opera 9.5 beta 2 release.

Mozilla's encouragement for Fennec developers to test existing Firefox extensions in Fennec beta 1, and to create new ones explicitly for the mobile framework, could easily apply some pressure.

Beyond extensions, Mozilla explores some richer bookmark maintenance in Fennec's beta 1. While flagging sites had been available in the alpha releases, editing a bookmark folder is a new development.

Finally, Mozilla cites a new JavaScript engine, called TraceMonkey, as a performance-boosting addition to Fennec. TraceMonkey dovetails with other back-end boosts to help the browser zoom, pan, and start up faster.

Fun with Fennec's tabs on the Windows emulator.

(Credit: CNET)

While you won't get the authentic feel of Fennec's touch-screen commands from the Windows download, navigating with the mouse and emulator will have to do for most, until Mozilla gives us a mobile Firefox we can play with on more than just the favored Nokia tablet.

According to Mozilla, a beta version for Windows mobile is in the works for later in the year, and the hope is to make Fennec available for all to try by the end of 2009.

Read Mozilla's full release notes here.

Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Update 10:20 a.m. PDT: This was updated to clarify the point about mobile browser alternatives.

The buzz about Firefox these days might be focused on the impending Firefox 3, but the folks at Mozilla are already thinking beyond that browser--and beyond the PC. A blog post on Wednesday from Mozilla Labs' head of user experience, Aza Raskin, shows off a video of a conceptual Firefox Mobile.

Designed for touch-screen interfaces--not multitouch, like the iPhone--the mobile Firefox browser opens up to reveal a bookmarks list and a "plus" button to open a new window. The browser controls are located to the left of the window and are accessible by panning horizontally.

Firefox competes reasonably well with Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer on PCs, but the battle lines are only now being drawn in the mobile device browser war. One notable power is the open-source Webkit browser engine, used in the iPhone's Safari browser and Google's forthcoming Android software.

A firefox: 'I'm the cutest thing ever, and I'm coming to your cell phone!'

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy)

"We're driven by demand," Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, said in a May interview when asked if he was interested in bringing Firefox to Android. "We've been concentrating on other platforms that don't have (a) browser or didn't have a good one."

The mobile Firefox is code-named "Fennec" after a small species of fox with unusually large ears. Ironically, the animal sometimes referred to as a "firefox," better known as a red panda, is more closely related to skunks and raccoons.

CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.