Webware

Mozilla's homegrown tool for synchronizing Firefox across computers and devices graduates to beta and introduces incremental syncing and a more streamlined, less obtrusive experience. Mozilla Weave 1.0 beta 1 looks and feels far more polished than its predecessors.

Weave integrates smoothly into the Firefox options pane.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

It does away with the "about:weave" access to the add-on's configuration pane, better handles Firefox preference integration when syncing for the first time, adds an automatic on-demand sync for when changes are detected and should more comprehensively sync history. This first beta also fixes a problem that the previous Weave v0.8 had when connecting via Fennec 1.0 beta 5.

However, Weave still has numerous problems. It conflicts with many add-ons, including AdBlock Plus, one of Firefox's most popular. The new incremental sync transfers data in chunks, so you can still use the browser, but it also prioritizes the first sync based on "interestingness." This amounts to syncing the data that you use most first, but it means that an initial sync could take hours depending on how much data you have. Weave is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users.

The key feature in Mozilla's Weave add-on for Firefox is the ability to synchronize tabs, bookmarks, history, and other browser-sourced, data-rich fields. The latest update, Weave version 0.7, gives a big overhaul to the synchronization component, redoing the setup and configuration interface, and adding incremental download support.

Mozilla Weave's new My Account page, which opens in a new tab.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Compared to previous versions, the installation process on your first computer has been greatly streamlined, though the security questions asked remain the same. The wizard that guides you through the process has been redone to present the information through a tab-specific black overlay.

According to Mozilla, the incremental download support will grab your data in bite-size chunks to spread out, and reduce memory and network usage. To redo the synchronization settings, you still need to load the Preferences via about:weave, and then go to the Tools drop-down menu on the tab that opens and choose Start Over. I was unable to synchronize many settings, but that might be because of a conflict with an installed add-on.

The development of Weave, first introduced at the end of 2007, didn't really begin to take off until earlier this year. Since then, Weave has introduced multiple useful features that other browsers, such as Opera, have had for a while. Weave can also sync data between Firefox and Mozilla's mobile browser, Fennec.

You can share comments on streams you're listening to in RadioWeave with your friends.

(Credit: RadioWeave)

SAN DIEGO--MyVocal is launching here at DemoFall 09 what looks like a useful service for anyone who ever gets bored while commuting in a car. The service lets you combine into a single stream your audio podcasts, as well as your text RSS feeds, which it will read to you. You get a local phone number to call to listen to the stream, and if you hang up and then reconnect later, it'll just pick up where you left off.

The company also has services for publishers. It can help them make their RSS feeds accessible to users on less-than-smart phones, plus the content feeds get links to download stories as dictated MP3 files, as well as the option to add a stream to a user's dial-up custom broadcast.

If you'd rather listen to streaming radio over an Internet connection in your car, it's worth also looking at RadioWeave, also demoed here, which will blend streaming music with other audio channels like traffic reports--or even text-to-speech readings of Twitter streams--into what looks like a clean iPhone interface. Users can also record their own quick messages from the iPhone app to share with their friends.

Of course, it's much easier to just turn on your car radio or CD player than it is to user either of these services, but they both show how Internet content is entering drive-time. I hope to see car audio systems updated with these kinds of technologies, but realistically I don't expect the car manufacturers to get up to speed quickly. So we're all probably going to be stuck with docked iPods and audio over phone connections for a while.

Mozilla just released Weave Sync 0.4.0, but the reality is that it will take a long time before we need a 1.0 of Weave. Weave Sync coordinates your Firefox bookmarks, browser history, saved passwords, and tabs across your various Firefox installations: desktop, laptop, Netbook, and mobile.

The problem with this vision is that today it's largely unnecessary. For a variety of reasons (some very good, some not so good), Mozilla's mobile Firefox--codenamed "Fennec"--runs on Windows Mobile (version 6 and up) devices...and that's it.

While some new moves from Google may see Fennec port its way to the Android platform, this is a drop in the global browsing bucket, and doesn't even address the fact that there are other mobile browsers with much more momentum, as ReadWriteWeb notes.

Compounding this problem, it's unclear that most people want to sync between different computing devices. More and more people have gravitated to laptops or other mobile computing devices, using these as their primary computing device, rather than as an adjunct, under-powered alternative when away from the desktop.

Personally, I can even remember the last time that I thought about using a desktop computer.

Yes, I have four Macs sitting around the house, but each one is tied to a different family member. I don't really want my son's Webkinz bookmark on my Firefox browser any more than my wife wants to look past my NewsNow Arsenal news feed.

In short, Weave seems to be solving a difficult, but not important, problem. At least, not as currently envisaged.

I'd find Weave far more compelling if it acted as a Web service that let me take my full Firefox experience with me to devices that I don't own. For example, I occasionally find myself using the desktop computers in a hotel lobby, and would love a secure way to log in, claim that browsing experience as my own, and have all traces of myself obliterated for the next patron.

That would be a useful way to "Weave" together my different Firefox sessions: between computers I own and don't own, rather than just between computers I own.

How about it, Mozilla?

Follow me on Twitter @mjasay,.

Mozilla's new project called Weave is an exciting new add-on to Mozilla's popular browser Firefox. While in its infancy, the service plans to be a way for users to save and access their personal browsing information across multiple machines. It's a little bit like Google's Web history, del.icio.us, and a Web password saver all wrapped up into one.

Some use cases for Weave (as listed by Mozilla) include: accessing your history and bookmarks from your home version of Firefox on your mobile Firefox browser, shared/collaborative bookmarking, and personalization tools to let you log in and sync up your home bookmarks, plug-ins and passwords on another machine; all things that are typically a pain unless you're technically proficient or know how to plan ahead.

Weave version 0.1, which Mozilla's Labs team rolled out a few weeks back, lays the foundation for Web developers to add Weave integration into their services. It's limited to some very basic back-end tools for developers, although version 0.2 which is planned for "early 2008" is adding a full-blown API, and a user interface complete with settings to let you control how much of your information Weave can access.

Currently, users who want to take advantage of the Weave plug-in must be running the latest beta of Firefox 3, Mozilla's upcoming follow-up to the current version 2.0, which you can grab here.