Later today, Firefox will undergo its biggest developmental upheaval ever. Mozilla-central, the source of nightly builds, will be renumbered to version 5 -- and at long last, after years of wallowing around version 1, Mozilla's rendering and layout engine, Gecko, will also have its version number updated to match Firefox.

Shortly thereafter, Firefox's new channel system will be implemented. Firefox 5a2 will be introduced as the first Aurora build, and we should also see a Firefox 6 Nightly build. While we we're not sure where they came from, one Sören Hentzschel seems to have unearthed the new Nightly and Aurora logos (see above), along with new About Firefox dialogs (after the break).

In other news, if you want to take a sneak peek at the new 'channel changing' technology that will be introduced in upcoming Firefox builds, head to about:config and create a new string called app.update.desiredChannel -- the value doesn't matter. Then open Help > About Firefox and you'll be able to switch channel, but it doesn't do anything just yet (image after the break). Here's hoping that Firefox channel switching is smoother than Chrome.

Continue reading New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching

New Firefox Nightly and Aurora logos unearthed, and how to enable channel switching originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/new-firefox-nightly-and-aurora-logos-unearthed-and-how-to-enabl/

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Samsung Illusion gets pictured on Verizon, convincing us it's not a figment of our imagination originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Sep 2011 00:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/18/samsung-illusion-gets-pictured-on-verizon-convincing-us-its-no/

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In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.

It's not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal -- but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn't matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.

This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia's creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!

As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.

Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/toyota-pulls-ios-jailbreak-theme-and-ads-to-appease-apple/

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There's a new concept for social networking services taking root, and it's not about re-creating your offline social graph on the Web, like Facebook does today. It's about discovering the people who are nearby you now - the ones you probably would like to meet. This type of discovery mechanism is already being made possible by a number of services, including the checkin apps like Foursquare and Gowalla, the automated discovery of nearby folks via Sonar and Banjo, the group chatting in Yobongo, and the micro-networks that emerge through LoKast. All of these companies are playing with the idea of location-based networks, attempting to connect you to others around you through varying means. At this week's TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, even more services emerged to compete in this space, too.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/C7VkUYBkLHA/

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We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Raymond, who seems to have the ultraportable itch. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

"Hey, what's the best thin 11- to 13-inch laptop for portability? I need to bring it everywhere but it has to be light!"

Light. Light like that question. The world of ultrabooks is about to crack itself wide open, but if you're not looking to wait, what's the best non-netbook in the 11- to 13-inch category? Anyone have a particular rig that they've fallen for? Chime in below!

Ask Engadget: best 'real' 11- to 13-inch laptop, with a focus on thin? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Sep 2011 22:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/LcNYQ7UpGuE/

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The 20-year-old UARS satellite has dropped out of orbit—as old satellites are wont to do—and is reentering the atmosphere. Too bad NASA can't pinpoint where—or when—exactly it will land. Could be the middle of the Pacific, could be the middle of Paris—it's a surprise! More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/3a66Lx39UFo/nasas-not-sure-where-in-the-world-this-satellite-will-crash

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Hmmm, wonder what brought this on? Sony's gone and changed the lingo in its PSN user agreement to require binding arbitration to settle any future disputes -- making it much harder for disgruntled customers to get their day in court. Want to keep your right to sue? You can opt out of the arbitration requirement by sending a letter to Sony's lawyers saying you'll be keeping your courtroom entry card, thank you very much. Additionally, the change won't affect class-action litigation started by August 20th of this year. That means people whose privacy was compromised in the great PSN outage of 2011 that already filed suit needn't be concerned. For the rest of you, we'd advise breaking out the pen and paper ASAP if you wanna keep the halls of justice open for future complaints.

New PSN user agreement makes it harder to sue Sony: class actions out (sort of), arbitrations in originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/c8cTNPdmS8w/

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Less than 24 hours after it went live on Microsoft's site, Steve Ballmer reported a whopping 500,000 downloads of Windows 8 Developer Preview. That's half a million copies, if not eager Windows fans. Well, you can count us among them. Although we were treated to some private hands-on time with a tablet optimized for the OS, we hadn't, until now, had a chance to use it on a laptop -- i.e., the computing environment where we spend most of our time, and the one where we're most used to seeing Windows, in particular.

For the past three days, we've been doing just that: getting acquainted with Windows 8 using the good 'ol mouse-and-keyboard combo. And while that might read like a redundant statement (what recent version of Windows hasn't accommodated a cursor?), Win 8 is a peculiar breed -- It's the first version of the operating system where finger input wasn't an afterthought, but a first-class citizen. It's clear that this time around, Windows is optimized for touch, but we had to wonder if that Windows Phone-inspired UI would present a steep learning curve, if it would get in the way while we tried to go about business as usual. So how's that working out for us? Suffice to say, we're not in Kansas anymore, so find your most comfortable chair and meet us after the break -- we've got oh-so many details to delve into.

Continue reading Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview (video)

Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Lehm6lVhcfQ/

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Nortel, once one of the biggest telecoms company in the world but now in the death throes of bankruptcy, has selected Google's $900 million bid for its patent portfolio as the stalking horse bid. This doesn't mean that Google will automatically win Nortel's massive array of telecoms patents, but it does mean that Google is the preferred buyer.

Google, which has a history of lobbying for patent law reform, has been the target of many patent litigation suits. Google's relative infancy means that it has a lot less patents in the vault than big-hitters like Microsoft, Oracle and IBM, and buying Nortel's portfolio of 6,000 patents could provide better protection against patent litigation in the future. It's worth noting that both Apple and RIM have showed interested in the portfolio, too.

Mashable speculates that the patents -- which are nearly all telecoms-related -- will be used to defend against Oracle's attacks on Android's use of Java. We reckon that Google is simply looking to cover its future endeavors in the world of networking. In the absence of patent law reform, and continued threats to net neutrality, owning a bunch of telecoms patents sounds like a very sensible move.

Google bids $900 million for Nortel's patents to protect against litigation trolls originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/google-bids-900-million-for-nortels-patents-to-protect-from-li/

PLANAR SYSTEMS PEROT SYSTEMS SONUS NETWORKS SONIC AUTOMOTIVE SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS SILICON LABORATORIES SI INTERNATIONAL SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY

I love sofas. I love them for siestas, for reading, for playing games, for eating breakfast by the window, for cunnilingus and other fun activities. Sofas are one of my favorite things. And the Cay Sofa looks like a dream. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/pmeDP9YfEgc/i-really-want-this-shape+shifting-sofa

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