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Mozilla Release Developer Version of Open Web Apps Project

claudia.smith — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:52:37 +0000

Following Mozilla’s announcement in late 2010 of their plans to develop open web-based apps suitable for any device and any browser, liberating users from existing restrictive services that utilise APIs specific to a given device or platform, in the last week Mozilla have published the First developer release of their Web Apps Project, aiming to provide users with “open and flexible distribution options”.

The technical documentation released by Mozilla last year detailed plans for a developer preview of a prototype open web app ‘ecosystem’, to give users the ability to: “install, manage and launch Web apps in any modern desktop or mobile browser (Firefox 3.6 and later, Firefox for mobile, Internet Explorer 8, Chrome 6, Safari 5, Opera 10 and WebKit mobile)”, as this exhaustive list demonstrates, Mozilla’s open app could signal the end of inflexible web application stores that limit the possibilities available to the user, who have historically been condemned to a single outlet that facilitates the purchase of applications for a limited range of associated devices. As Jay Sullivan explained on Mozilla’s blog last year:

“We designed and built a prototype of a system for open Web apps: Apps built using HTML/CSS/JavaScript that work both on computers and mobile phones, have many of the characteristics that users find compelling about native apps, and provide developers with open and flexible distribution options”.

Mozilla state that a Web App store that is built using their architecture should include other “widely implemented open standards in modern browsers – to avoid interoperability, portability and lock-in issues”. According to Sullivan, developers want app ubiquity for their software, one of the motivations for Mozilla in undertaking the development of an open web app that makes it easier for developers to build free or paid app directories:

“Web developers are expressing interest in an app store model for the Web that would enable them to get paid for their efforts without having to abandon Web development in exchange for proprietary silos, each with their own programming language and SDK, variable and sometimes opaque review processes, and limited reach”.

Following the developer release, Mozilla is augmenting existing functionalities; focusing on user interaction and the establishment of a “deeply integrated ‘in browser’ experience that spans the entire find, install, launch, use and manage flow”. Other enhancements also include the ability to sync web apps with mobile devices, and “supporting native browser controls and OS integration” as well as providing support for widgets and notifications.

This all spells a positive move for the user, promoting an open approach to accessing, purchasing, downloading and sharing apps across devices, putting pressure on the likes of Google, whose Chrome Web Store is currently only accessible to users of Google Chrome, although plans are afoot for them to make their store available through other browsers in the future. The focus is predominantly on Apple’s inflexible approach; and the implementation of mobile and web apps that are, rather frustratingly, based on device or platform specific API’s accessed via a specific shop and linked to specific devices.

Mozilla’s approach will no doubt put pressure on other search providers to develop less inhibiting platforms, and open web app access on a grand scale.

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Online privacy enhanced by new ‘data fade’ initiative

Mark Isle — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 06:00:17 +0000

Remember when you were a child, and you wrote in the sand on a beach? You’d take a stick or spade, and write your name and details, and in a matter of hours your information was washed away back to smooth beach, with no record of your presence.

This concept is now being taken and applied to online data, a new research project reports. The research suggests that our online privacy could be enhanced if there were a way of digitally removing or erasing the information we submit online.
Dr Harold van Heerde is a Dutch IT researcher who has been seeking ways to degrade information that we input in to sites, to prevent internet site owners from retaining our personal information and using it for deception, criminal means or other untoward behaviour. Van Heerde is of the opinion that we will gradually be able to change the information we input online, to stop the influx of personal detail that is housed about individual on the net.

This measure will guard against accidental disclosure, in addition to addressing some of the weak elements of online security which currently compromise our online safety, he suggests.

“There are so many weak points in security that you can never be sure that your data is safe,” said Dr van Heerde.
Dr van Heerde hails from the Centre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT), at Twente University. He has pioneered research which examined the way in which we input data online, and how databases manage this information, both about customers and surfers.

The way in which databases are currently managed enable organisations to house details about consumers, which make it tempting for them to utilise this information to promote products. This makes it difficult to safeguard ourselves when information is accidentally leaked online through human error.

“People make mistakes, people can be bribed,” he has stated. “You cannot protect this data, you cannot be sure it’s not been disclosed, privacy policies are simply too weak.” Van Heerde is of the opinion that all information submitted by people should be subject to contractual obligations which provide an element of governance over how, and when, it is used for commercial purposes.

His ideas for remedying the situation include using generic location information rather than addresses, and replacing specifics with more general values which still provide an effective indication of consumer profiles and preferences. This means that our data will fade, being replace instead by more general information which will protect our privacy as online consumers. Just as when we wrote our name in the sand, the online environment will soon allow our details to fade instead of being carved in stone.

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Microsoft to preview IE9… But will it win the browser war for them?

Matt Thomas — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:33:53 +0000

There has been somewhat of a power struggle occurring in recent months, as all of the internets heavy hitters vie to take users from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer in the hope of damaging the monopoly that Microsoft have on the browser market. The recent announcement of the browser ballot scheme has evidently forced Microsoft’s hand as they have announced the long awaited arrival of Internet Explorer 9, albeit just a preview of it.

Along with the announcement of the browser, Microsoft have promised a plethora of new technology with the browser that will apparently make it one of the most advanced browsers around (surely a claim that is made by the competition too.)

Microsoft have been touting some interesting and, as promised, advanced features. Among these are: background compiled java-script, which will give the browser a much needed boost in speed. SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) capabilities will be incorporated, and perhaps most significantly HTML5 integration which will allow such features as YouTube videos without the use of flash, further adding to the buzz that flash may be on its way out.

This mass integration of new technology is quite a statement from Microsoft as they appear to be doing their utmost to keep their spot as the world’s most popular browser by catching up with their rivals.

The browser ballot screen will inevitably give Safari, Chrome and Firefox much more exposure and must be firmly behind this big update as Microsoft now realise that it is about time they put out a browser that incorporates emerging web standards or they will risk losing their crown once and for all.

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Censorship Programme to be required on Chinese Computers

Jenny Sanderson — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:04:08 +0000

As of the first of next month, the Chinese Government will be requiring all new PCs to be loaded with state issued software, blocking certain websites considered inappropriate. The government is claiming that the move is aimed at protecting children and young people from some of the more harmful content available online, though many have suggested it might be more about controlling access to subversive sites not considered to be ‘in the public interest.’

The software, named ‘Green Dam Youth Escort’ works by accessing a central database of banned websites and then blocking internet users from accessing those sites. The programme’s aim is, according to a government notice issued in May, “Constructing a green, healthy, and harmonious Internet environment, and preventing harmful information on the Internet from influencing and poisoning young people.”

This news comes in the wake of last week’s anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, during which China was rumoured to have blocked access to sites like YouTube, Twitter, Flickr etc., to attempt to prevent any non stage-managed information about the event filtering through to the public.

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Security and ease of use: the twin Watchwords of IE8 (Part 2)

Matt Thomas — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:00:27 +0000

Yesterday I spoke about the the improvements that IE8 has made to its tab function. Well, I have one more improvement to tell you about. It seems that Microsoft have really gone for it with the tab stuff this time and in the process created what, for me at least, is perhaps the most interesting development in the whole of IE8.

it’s something Microsoft has named tab isolation. Tab isolation is a feature that’s intended to stop one poorly designed, bug filled website crashing the entire browser. Instead, only the affected tab will close. I, for one, applaud this. An unexplained crash is one of the most incredibly annoying things that can happen to you online, especially if you’re in the middle of writing a long email or uploading something complicated when it happens.

Another useful change is that IE8 will now give you searching suggestions as you type. In the same way that YouTube does, if you begin typing a word, IE8 will give you suggestions in a box below as it tries to guess what you are searching for based on other popular searches. It’s a small thing in many ways but it’s amazing how useful it actually is in day to day browsing.

(More tomorrow)

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Security and ease of use: the twin Watchwords of IE8 (Part 1)

Matt Thomas — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:15:12 +0000

If you were to ask Microsoft about the new version of their (for now) market leading web browser, they’d tell you without hesitation that it’s easier to use and safer than ever. Those are the key watchwords this time, safe and easy, but how close to the truth is the Microsoft hype?

When you run the first release candidate (RC1), which was unleashed on the public today, the first thing you notice is that very little seems to have changed – it looks very similar to Internet Explorer 7. However, Microsoft have made a number of changes to the nuts and bolts of the browser that should make life easier.

Many of these come as part of is IE8’s new tabbed browsing feature. The most obvious is that if you accidentally close IE8 you will be able to reopen all your closed tabs the next time you start it, much like Firefox.

However, when it comes to tabs, IE8 doesn’t just mimic Firefox, it also makes some significant improvements on it. The first one being, colour coding – all tabs originating from one particular site will now be the same colour. For example, if you were to go to topclickmedia.co.uk and then open another part of our site on a different tab, those two tabs would be the same colour. You can then move tabs from group to group to, for instance, differentiate your work-streams.

(More tomorrow)

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Google’s Chrome threatens IE

Jay Smith — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:07:33 +0000

Last month’s launch of Chrome is set to wake Microsoft’s bosses from slumber. They have feared this since 1990s. Chrome was very imposing. But its acceptability may take some time. Corporate houses may not switch over to Chrome just like that. They will need lots of convincing and for that Chrome has to be many times better than the IE and Fire Fox browsers. Even Microsoft had problems in convincing its IE users to switch over to newer versions. Along with Chrome, Google has packaged high performance Java-Script Engine with Google gears, a mechanism to store offline web applications.

Chrome may not be able to immediately threaten Microsoft’s 72% share in web browser market, but will definitely help Google to up the ante. IE has been the prominent web browser because it comes bundled with Windows OS. But the days are not far off when Chrome will be challenging the hegemony of IE. Chrome can scale the popularity charts only when Google finds a way out to distribute this along with other OS or web applications. Launch of Google docs and spreadsheets has made all software applications provider sit up and take note of these packages. The world is progressing in the right direction and days of licensed software are being numbered.

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