The latest Shiretoko (Firefox 3.1 development codename) nightly comes with an expected and very welcomed feature: support for the HTML5 specification <audio> and <video> tags that will allow web developers to easily (<video src=”myfile.ogg”></video>) add rich content without the need of proprietary plugins.

While the support for the <video> tag is pretty codec-neutral (you can use whatever video format you want provided you have the correct codec), Mozilla’s implementation makes it even easier by bundling Ogg Theora and Vorbis codecs ensuring developers a format to deliver.

However, there is a risk to bundling even an open source codec like Theora because of the possibility of submarine patents -patents nobody knows about until a product that unknowingly infringes it, succeeds, becoming a target for the patent owner who will seek monetary compensation and a good licensing agreement. This is why the HTML 5 spec doesn’t recommend any encoder so vendors don’t have to choose between taking this kind of risk or not complying with the standard.

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During today’s Snowl: Messaging in the browser session, Myk Melez introduced a new Firefox extension called (you guessed!) Snowl, to explore what does it take and whether it makes sense to add messaging capabilities to the browser.

Being an early prototype, Snowl currently only handles Twitter feeds and web feeds you subscribe either manually within Firefox or importing an OPML file.

Then comes another the other experimental aspect of Snowl: presentation. Twitter and web feeds are added to a sidebar (available from the View menu) but instead of folders and items as you may expect, you get a set of predefined searches that return not only the feed titles but also groupings by author name which consolidates all messages you have received from that person.

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Some weeks ago, I was greatly surprised to receive a kind invitation from Mozilla to join the Mozilla Summit 2008, the great all-Mozilla meetup at Whistler, BC. To say I’m thrilled to meet some of the great good guys who make the Mozilla project a reality is an understatement.

But, as usual I’ve waited ’til the very last moment to share this with you (I’m at Philadelphia waiting for my 6 hours connection to Vancouver, after a 4 hours ride from San Juan, Puerto Rico), but hopefully I will be able to share some of the experience of talking about the future of Mozilla and even a release with you all, as Firefox 3.1 alpha 1 is expected to be released tomorrow, driven by Mike Beltzner, directly from Whistler.

So, what do you want to know? If you’ve ever wished to be there at some Mozilla event to learn or ask someting please let me know and I’ll do my best to get it for you.

Mari, Percy, and Cami, I already miss you! :(

Exactly one month after the original Firefox 3.0 release comes its first security and stability update labeled Firefox 3.0.1, the first also to feature the new three digit versioning instead of previous 4-digit scheme.

The update includes fixes for three critical vulnerabilities including the one reported through TippingPoint’s Zero Day Initiative program, the same day Firefox 3 was released, that could lead to remote execution.

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As announced before, tab switching is getting a dramatic update for Firefox 3.1 in both visual and behavior.

Press Ctrl + Tab (or Shift + Ctrl + Tab) and you are presented with tab thumbnails and titles with the most recently visited ones first so you can more easily determine which tab you want to go, have the one you most probably want to go closer, and as a result get to it faster. Hold Ctrl pressed and keep pressing Tab to see the thumbnails smoothly scroll to the left while the status bar displays the tab web address.

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Firefox 3 features an overhauled Page Info dialog (Tools menu, Page Info) that while provides some valuable security and content information it also lacks some elements like the Links and Forms pages many users are already missing.

Links and Forms, a Firefox extension developed by Florian Queze, restores both pages to the Page Info dialog just as they were in Firefox 2 and previous versions. Read the rest of this entry »

On June 17th, the day Firefox 3 was released, it got a mention in The Colbert Report during an interview with Johnathan Zittrain about his recently published book The future of the Internet - and how to stop it, referring to the many threats polluting it.

Stephen Colbert: Believe me, I’m all in favor of scaring the shit out of public. But I don’t understand. You give me the tools to frighten them.

Johnathan Zittrain: I don’t mean to be too alarmist…

SC: Oh! No, no, no! Please!

JZ: But it’s true. If you visit the wrong web site with the wrong browser, that could be it.

SC: What’s the right browser?

JZ: Well, Firefox 3 was just released today.

SC: OK.

(Public applause)

JZ: You may want to give it a shot.

SC: Firefox 3 gets the Colbert bump.

(Public applause)

The Colbert bump, -sort of a small digg effect or being slashdotted- actually spiked Firefox 3 download rate for a few minutes, according to Mozilla’s Ken Kovash, based on in his analysis of Mozilla download logs.

Sudoku fans rejoice! Petr Blahoš has created a fun Firefox extension that brings sudoku headaches and frustration to Firefox.

To play, just select Your SUDOKUs sidebar from the View/Sidebars menu. Select a puzzle from the sidebar and click on >> to open it in a new tab. To place a number, you click on it from the bottom number bar and then on an empty space. The selected number will be highlighted on the board to help you avoid errors. If you’re not sure, right click to place the number as a hint instead.

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While the awesome bar, download pause and resume, malware protection, the new themes, and serious performance improvements are perhaps the most representative features introduced with Firefox 3, here are some other useful ones you may not be aware:

1. Duplicate tabs. Press Ctrl while dragging a tab to create a duplicate of the dragged tab including its history. Note that this feature doesn’t work on Mac.
2. Move tabs to another window. Just drag a tab and drop it on another window to move it. If the dragged tab is the last one in its window, it will be closed.
3. Resize the search bar. When the search bar is placed next to the location bar, you can drag the handler between them (invisible on Windows and Linux) to resize it.
4. Add keyword search. Select Manage Search Engines… in the search engines menu to open the Search Engines Manager, select a search engine, press Edit Keyword… and enter a few characters to define one. Now you can enter the keyword followed by your search terms in the location bar to search with that plugin.
5. Discontinuous selections. Make a selection with the mouse as you usually do. Then press and hold the Ctrl (Cmd on Mac) key to make additional selections and create a larger discontinuous one so you can copy or print just what you need.
6. Integrated add-ons. No need to visit Mozilla Add-ons because Firefox 3 brings it to you directly from the Add-ons Manager new Get Add-ons page: search, find and install with a single click.
7. Disable plugins. Crashing? It may be a plugin. To be sure, disable the suspect through the new Plugins page in the Add-ons Manager.
8. Check your crashes. Enter about:crashes in the location bar to get a list of crashes submitted by Breakpad (Mozilla’s crash reporter). Click on a crash report to get details provided by Socorro, Mozilla’s crash reports server.

As you may know, Firefox 3 introduces three different themes for all the officially supported operating systems: Firelight on Mac OS X, Tango on Linux, and Strata on Windows, which even comes in XP and Vista variations to better blend with Luna and Aero respectively.

If you are feeling envious of what the other platform or style got or just want to try a different look and have a couple of minutes to spare, you may want to give these themes a try.

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