Mozilla and National Science Foundation seek developers to build “apps from the future”

Posted by Matt Thompson

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Today, Mozilla and the National Science Foundation announced eight winning ideas that offer a glimpse of what the internet of the future might look like. Next up: invite developers everywhere to make these and other big ideas a reality.

Eight teams were awarded prizes today for their submissions to the Brainstorming Round of “Mozilla Ignite,” an open innovation challenge that invites developers and the general public to imagine and build applications that make use of ultra-fast, deeply programmable networks up to 250 times faster than today’s internet.

The proposed apps are aimed specifically at areas that create public benefit. Categories range from education, healthcare, public safety and clean energy to transportation, workforce development and advanced manufacturing.

Development Round now open

Now that the initial “Brainstorming Round” is complete, the challenge moves into the “Development Round.” Developers can enter the challenge now to help build one of the winning ideas announced today, or submit their own completely new proposal.

$485,000 is available in funding to support winning proposals, and all are welcome to submit at mozillaignite.org. Winners will receive funding, mentorship from world-leading judges, and access to the National Science Foundation’s Global Environment for Network Innovation (GENI), one of the most advanced test-bed networks in the world.

Brainstorming apps from the future

Here are the eight winning ideas announced today from the Mozilla Ignite Challenge’s “Brainstorming Round:”

  • Real-Time Emergency Response Observation and Supervision
    Jeremy Cooperstock, Shared Reality Lab, McGill University
    This app saves lives. The goal: arm firefighters, rescue workers and first-responders with powerful new real-time data and communications. Combining live, high-quality video from multiple feeds with real-time sensor data — like heat and smoke levels — could dramatically improve decision-making and coordination.
  • Real-time 3D Interactive Telepresence
    Andor Salga, Seneca College, author of XBPointStream
     A giant leap beyond video-conferencing. This app proposes using 3D Kinect sensors for two-way, three-dimensional “tele-presence,” allowing doctors to gain a real-time views of their patients, or let teachers to teach remote classes in 3D.
  • Remote Process Control Using a Reliable, Real-Time Protocol
    George Adams, Purdue University
    Reliable, super-fast remote control. Gigabit networks can provide new ways of controlling processes from afar, allowing engineers, artists, and experimenters to remotely control advanced manufacturing processes like 3D printing — regardless of how close they are to the means of production.
  • Long-Term Monitoring and Crisis Management System
    Amr Ali, Biomedical Engineer and Dmitri Boulanov, Software Engineer, Boston University 2010
    Ubiquitous sensors plus high-speed networks can revolutionize healthcare. This app would allow you and your doctor to aggregate and analyze your health data in real-time, detecting and preventing potential crises before they occur.
  • High Quality Open Source Web Conferencing
    Fred Dixon, BigBlueButton
    Combining high-speed networks with new web standards like HTML5 and WebRTC. The result: a robust remote classroom experience and high-quality education for any student equipped with a simple web browser, no matter where they’re located.
  • Kinect Health 3D
    Bob Summers, graduate of Virginia Tech and MIT
     Helping users get in shape with peers — from the convenience of their living rooms, using real-time 3D scans of participants plus high speed computing resources in the cloud to monitor and share their progress over time.
  • Smart Streets for Smart Cars
    Eric Endlich and Julian Valencia, EndlichStudios
    Cars are getting smarter, so why shouldn’t streets? From traffic lights that dynamically respond to changes in traffic, to street lamps that automatically dim to save energy, to roads that communicate real-time traffic updates and emergency broadcasts to drivers.
  • The Rashomon Project: “Multi-Perspective Chronology”
    Camille Crittenden, Data and Democracy Initiative at CITRIS, UC Berkeley
     Using social video improve our understanding of complex events. Rashomon would allow visitors to study an event from multiple perspectives, zooming in on particular moments to examine sequences in detail.

What would you do with “super network” power?

Mozilla Ignite’s Will Barkis says app ideas like these are aimed at demonstrating what’s possible with deeply programmable, gigabit-per-second networks. “In the same way that earlier ‘killer apps’ like spreadsheets and email made the case for home computing, we’re looking for next-generation apps that make the case for how new ‘super networks’ can spur a whole new era of innovation.”

Suzi Iacono from the National Science Foundation says the goal is to create 60 transformative apps over the next three to five years. “We’re looking for apps with real impact in areas of public benefit, and it’s so exciting to see the enthusiasm and brilliance coming through already in some of these submissions.”

Get involved

Introducing the 2012 Mozilla Festival: making, freedom and the web

Posted by Matt Thompson

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Join us for three days of inspired making, learning and celebration in London. Today we’re extremely proud to launch the new 2012 Mozilla Festival web site — and invite you to join us November 9-11 in London, UK.

“We want everyone to tap the full creative power of the web. The Mozilla Festival is a magnet for people interested in learning about — and playing with — the web’s future.” –Mark Surman, Executive Director, Mozilla

Gathering educators, youth, coders, gamers, media-makers and you

This year’s Mozilla Festival will gather more than 800 passionate people with diverse backgrounds and skill-sets. The goal: push the frontiers of the open web, learn together, and make things that can change the world.

Coders, designers, journalists and educators will join with filmmakers, gamers, makers and youth from more than 40 different countries. Together they’ll participate in a series of design challenges, learning labs and fireside chats spread across four floors of the Ravensbourne design and media campus in East London.

Unlike traditional conferences, the emphasis at the Mozilla Festival is on hands-on making and collaboration — rather than passive consumption or listening to other people talk. It’s “more hack, less yack.” And a big tent for everyone — including partners, local communities and you — who shares Mozilla’s vision for a more open, web literate world.

“Technology is at the point where learners don’t just use the tools, but make the tools. This happens at places like the Mozilla Festival, where geeks and practitioners get together.” – Joi Ito, Mozilla Foundation Board Member, Director of MIT Media Lab

This year’s key themes:

Get involved

Firefox for Android Gets Speedy and Powerful Upgrade for Tablets

Posted by Mozilla

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We’re proud to announce a redesigned Firefox for Android for tablet devices is now available for download in the Google Play store. The same dramatic improvements that made Firefox for your Android phone super fast are now available for tablets. You’ll notice everything is quicker, from startup and page load times to panning and zooming and Web app performance.

Firefox for Android makes it easy to get to your favorite sites with one touch with a personalized start page and a fresh, streamlined look. This release includes a new Awesome Screen that delivers all of your browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and form data. You can also import your personalized Firefox experience with Firefox Sync.

Firefox for Android supports Flash for Honeycomb tablet devices so you can interact with more Web video and games on the go.

To make browsing on your mobile phone or tablet even easier, Firefox for Android lets you switch between the desktop and mobile version of a website by selecting “Request Desktop Site” from the browser Menu.

Firefox for Android helps you easily navigate the mobile Web with a number of feature updates and stability improvements like Find in Page and Text Selection.

Based on the same open technology platform as the desktop version of Firefox, Firefox for Android ships with the highest level of privacy and security features in mobile browsing. Firefox respects your privacy and protects your security with features like Do Not Track, Master Password, HTTP Strict Transport Security and more.

New HTML5 capabilities in Firefox for Android enable developers to create rich Web apps and websites based on HTML5, JavaScript, CSS and other open Web standards. As the advocate for the Web, Mozilla exposes new Web APIs and submits them to standards groups to move the Web forward as a platform. Among the standards that Mozilla helped build are Camera API, Vibration API, Mobile Connection API, Battery Status API, Screen Orientation API and Geolocation API.

Play Mozilla’s HTML5 BrowserQuest multi-player role playing game across desktop and mobile Web experiences to see just how powerful, fast and fun the Web can be.

For more information:

Firefox Now Uses Less Memory to Make Browsing Faster

Posted by Mozilla

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Firefox makes your Web experience faster by reducing memory usage when browsing with certain add-ons. The improvements make browsing smoother and more responsive.

Firefox adds features that make it easier for developers to build amazing Web experiences. The new JavaScript Debugger is a fast, built-in tool to give greater insight into Web application code. Developers can also use the JavaScript Debugger over a local network to remotely debug apps running on Firefox for Android, greatly simplifying mobile Web development.

Firefox introduces support for compressed textures, allowing game developers to take full advantage of video memory to build graphics-heavy games without losing performance. Firefox makes animations smoother with an improved JavaScript engine and enhancements to WebGL. Firefox also provides game and other interactive content developers precision to within thousandths of milliseconds with high precision timing. You can see Firefox’s new gaming enhancements in this demo.

For more information:

Firefox Add-ons Cross More Than 3 Billion Downloads!

Posted by Erica Jostedt

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We are excited to announce that we just crossed more than 3 billion downloads* of Firefox Add-ons! That’s almost half of the world’s population and more than the number of people on the Internet today.

Mozilla introduced add-ons to the Web in 2004 with the Firefox Add-ons Gallery and first brought them to phones in 2009 as a way for you to customize the features, functionality and look of your Web experience to make Firefox truly your own. Firefox Add-ons enable you to customize the features, functionality and look of your Web experience. With add-ons, you can personalize Firefox to fit your needs and interests in music, games, entertainment, sports, appearance, language support and more.

More than 85 percent of Firefox users have at least one add-on installed and of those people with add-ons installed, they have an average of five add-ons. The most popular add-ons include AdBlock Plus, Firebug, NoScript, Personas Plus and Video DownloadHelper. Most popular categories include privacy and security, search tools, bookmarks and themes.

There are more than 150,000 user-created collections of Firefox Add-ons to choose from, including Family Organizer, Traveler’s Pack, Sports Fanatic, The Paranoid Kit, Web Developer’s Toolbox and Online Shopping.

This amazing milestone was made possible by the hundreds of millions of Firefox users and more than 25,000 Firefox Add-ons developers around the globe. To thank you, we wanted to share the below infographic for a snapshot of Firefox Add-ons statistics and milestones.

Thank you! We hope you continue to enjoy using Firefox!

* This number includes only downloads from the Firefox Add-ons Gallery and does not include themes.

Customize Firefox to Show Support for Your Country

Posted by Mozilla

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Mozilla Firefox is a global community of passionate people working together to make the Web better. This summer, athletes from around the world are coming together to support and represent their countries in a global competition. To celebrate the spirit of community and togetherness, we’ve created an Add-ons Collection of National Flag themes for the hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the globe. You can customize Firefox with your nation’s flag and join us in celebrating the global spirit of community.

We wanted to offer another fun way to commemorate this summer’s events and are always looking for creative and fun ways to showcase modern Web technologies (like CSS, JavaScript and HTML5). Check out the sneak peek of what the Firefox Home Page will look like tomorrow.

New Security and Developer Features Now in Firefox

Posted by Mozilla

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Firefox has new features that make browsing more secure and Web applications like games more powerful.

We automatically make your Google searches secure in Firefox to protect your data from potentially prying eyes, like network administrators when you use public or shared WiFi networks. Google is currently the only search engine that allows Firefox to make your searches private, but we look forward to supporting additional search engines with this feature in the future.

Firefox makes it easier to see a website’s verified identity by changing the way that we display the icon to the left of the URL.

For developers, Firefox now supports Pointer Lock API to allow applications, including first-person games to better control the mouse. Firefox now supports native fullscreen mode on OS X Lion 10.7 for a better experience with videos and Web games like Mozilla’s BrowserQuest.

For more information:

Mozilla Testifies at US Senate Commerce Hearing on Do Not Track

Posted by handerson

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On Thursday, Mozilla participated in the US Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Do Not Track. The purpose of the hearing was to explore whether voluntary self-regulation efforts of the ad industry are sufficient to negate the need for legislative action. In addition to Alex Fowler who represented Mozilla, the Committee heard from Peter Swire, law professor and privacy expert from Ohio State University, Berin Szoka from TechFreedom, and Bob Liodice who represented the Digital Advertising Association. The complete testimony of the witnesses can be found here and a video archive of the hearing is available online.

The witnesses provided a divergence of opinions. The DAA representative maintained that the current About Ads opt-out icon system is sufficient and that regulation was not necessary. Professor Swire argued that without the potential threat of regulation, privacy protections receive insufficient industry attention. Mr. Szoka maintained that existing regulations were sufficient.

The questions from the Chairman and Committee members showed a similar divergence. Two dominant themes were expressed: i) concern that consumer online privacy is not sufficiently protected; and ii) concern that regulation could adversely impact the online ad economic ecosystem.

Mozilla took the position that:

  • Industry self-regulation can work when it’s a multi-stakeholder process that reflects the views of all of the relevant parties involved in data transactions.
  • Regulatory measures can introduce unintended consequences that can be harmful to a fragile web ecosystem.
  • Enabling economic ecosystems on the web is essential to a robust and healthy Internet; however, commercial imperatives and user choice/control are not mutually exclusive. They can and must coexist through a combination of technical capabilities and user-centric business and data practices.
  •  The multi-stakeholder process occurring at the W3C will result in a consensus on both the meaning of DNT and how websites should respond.

The Commerce Committee will likely continue its evaluation and monitor the progress of the Do Not Track agreement between leading online advertising companies and the White House announced in February of this year.

Mozilla Gains Global Support For a Firefox Mobile OS

Posted by Mozilla

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•    First devices featuring Firefox OS to be manufactured by TCL Communication Technology (Alcatel) and ZTE
•    Leading global network operators back initiative, including Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica and Telenor

Industry support is growing behind Mozilla’s plans to launch a new fully open mobile ecosystem based on HTML5. The operating system, which Mozilla today confirmed will use its Firefox brand, will power the launch of smartphones built entirely to open Web standards, where all of the device’s capabilities can be developed as HTML5 applications.

Mapping to key Firefox footprints around the globe, leading operators Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica and Telenor  are backing the open Firefox OS as an exciting new entrant to the smartphone marketplace. They have also identified the potential of the technology to deliver compelling smartphone experiences at attainable prices.

Device manufacturers TCL Communication Technology (under the Alcatel One Touch brand) and ZTE today announced their intentions to manufacture the first devices to feature the new Firefox OS, using Snapdragon™ processors from Qualcomm Incorporated, the leader in smartphone platforms. The first Firefox OS powered devices are expected to launch commercially in Brazil in early 2013 through Telefónica’s commercial brand, Vivo.

The Firefox OS for mobile devices is built on Mozilla’s “Boot to Gecko project” which unlocks many of the current limitations of web development on mobile, allowing HTML5 applications to access the underlying capabilities of a phone, previously only available to native applications. Telefónica’s Digital unit joined forces with Mozilla earlier this year to take this work and showcase a new phone architecture where every phone feature (calling, messaging, games, etc.) is an HTML5 application.

Due to the optimization of the platform for entry-level smartphones and the removal of unnecessary middleware layers, mobile operators will have the ability to offer richer experiences at a range of price points including at the low end of the smartphone price range, helping to drive adoption across developing markets.

Mozilla and all other participants are committed to ensuring the project is fully open and the reference implementation of the required Web APIs is being submitted to W3C for standardization.

“The introduction of the open mobile OS continues the Mozilla mission to promote openness, innovation and opportunity on the Web for users and developers.  As billions of users are expected to come online for the first time in the coming years, it is important to deliver a compelling smartphone experience that anyone can use,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla. “The large number of operators and manufacturers now supporting this effort will bring additional resources and diversity to our global offerings.”

About Mozilla
Mozilla has been a pioneer and advocate for the Web for more than a decade. We create and promote open standards that enable innovation and advance the Web as a platform for all. Today, hundreds of millions of people worldwide use Mozilla Firefox to discover, experience and connect to the Web on computers, tablets and mobile phones. For more information please visit https://www.mozilla.org/

Supporting Quotes from Operators

Matthew Key, Chairman & CEO of Telefónica Digital commented, “Firefox OS will bring a better smartphone experience to a higher proportion of the population at a lower cost. This is crucial for us to accelerate the adoption of smartphones in developing markets. The breadth of support for this initiative across the industry makes it clear that there is an opportunity in the market for a new, open mobile ecosystem.”

Fared Adib, Product Chief at Sprint said, “Sprint continues to support an open mobile ecosystem that enables choice for Sprint customers and a healthy competitive ecosystem for the technical community. Firefox Mobile OS can help us drive an HTML 5-based platform for creating lower cost smartphone options for prepaid, postpaid and wholesale customers.”

Thomas Kiessling, Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Deutsche Telekom said, “Deutsche Telekom’s objective is to provide our customers a choice from a variety of attractive, and best of breed, products and services – from DT as well as from our partners. Partnering is key for Deutsche Telekom and our cooperation with Mozilla is one important initiative for us. We support Mozilla’s Firefox OS project since we really believe that it embodies openness, innovation, and competition, and it is part of a growing cloud and HTML5-based ecosystem. As a function of our commitment, our Innovation Laboratory’s Silicon Valley Center is working closely with Mozilla’s development team and e.g. is contributing NFC enabling software to Boot to Gecko Platform.”

Orlando B. Vea, Chief Wireless Advisor of Smart said, “We welcome the introduction of the Firefox OS, and we recognize the exciting potentials of an HTML5-based, fully open mobile ecosystem. As the leading wireless services provider in the Philippines, we are keen to work with industry players like Mozilla to create relevant and delightful mobile Internet experiences for Filipino mobile users as we make data connectivity even more pervasive in the country.”

“Firefox entering the smartphone market is a welcome development and we look forward to seeing HTML5 bring mobile technology to new levels not thought possible before,” Vea added.

Cesare Sironi, Head of Innovation and Industry Relations, Telecom Italia commented, “Mobile operating systems natively based on HTML5 will lower the barriers to provide our customers with performing and innovative mobile applications and services. Open web technologies are the key for the development of a sustainable and valuable application ecosystem.”

Kristin Skogen Lund, CEO Telenor Digital Services commented, “We are pleased to be part of the coalition supporting the launch of the new open mobile ecosystem. This will enable free and open service distribution to our customers, in addition to providing attractive smartphones at attainable prices, which is especially important for the adoption in emerging markets”.

Essa Al Haddad, Chief Commercial Officer at Etisalat Group said: “Etisalat aim to enrich the user experience and improve the life of its customers by providing enhanced services across a complete portfolio of devices and operating systems. Firefox OS will provide an open source platform to our customers and various ecosystem players, such as application developers, to experience innovative services. Thanks to this strategic initiative, the industry will benefit from a sustained growth in mobile data and the development of cutting edge applications, as well as the promise of affordable smartphone devices that provide an enriched customer experience.”

Mozilla Launches a Speedy and Powerful Upgrade to Mobile Browsing with Firefox for Android

Posted by Mozilla

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As a pioneer of the Web, Mozilla unlocked the Web experience on the desktop with Firefox and we are doing it again in mobile. We’re proud to announce a new Firefox for Android is now available for download in the Google Play store. The new Firefox for Android is a snappy and dynamic upgrade to mobile browsing that makes it faster and easier to get where you want to go on the Web.

Super Fast
We redesigned Firefox for Android to make it a screaming fast and personalized upgrade to mobile browsing that lets you take your Web experience everywhere you go. You’ll notice dramatic performance improvements that make Firefox on your Android phone super fast with everything from startup and page load times to panning and zooming and Web app performance when you just want to play Mozilla’s BrowserQuest game with your friends.

Firefox for Android is significantly faster than the stock browser that ships on Android phones according to the leading industry benchmarks, such as Sunspider. In addition, we developed a new benchmark, called Eideticker, that measures the actual user Web experience and we built Firefox for Android to it, yielding an experience that is two times faster than the stock browser.

Upgrade to Mobile Browsing
Firefox for Android has a fresh, streamlined look with a personalized start page that saves you time getting where you want to go on the Web. The new Awesome Screen powered by Firefox Sync delivers all your browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and form data to your Android phone. We also optimized your favorite features like tabbed browsing, Firefox Sync and Firefox Add-ons to deliver the best mobile browsing experience possible.

Firefox for Android supports Flash so you can watch videos, play games and interact with more Web content on your Android phone.

firefoxandroidstartpage.png

Based on the same open technology platform as the desktop version of Firefox, Firefox for Android offers the highest level of privacy and security features in mobile browsing. Firefox respects your privacy and protects your security with features like Do Not Track, Master Password, HTTP Strict Transport Security and more.

Upgrade to the Web Platform
New HTML5 capabilities in Firefox for Android enable developers to create rich Web apps and websites based on HTML5, JavaScript, CSS and other open Web standards. As the advocate for the Web, Mozilla exposes new Web APIs and submits them to standards groups to move the Web forward as a platform. Among the standards that Mozilla helped build are Camera API, Vibration API, Mobile Connection API, Battery Status API, Screen Orientation API and Geolocation API.

You can play Mozilla’s HTML5 BrowserQuest multi-player role playing game across desktop and mobile Web experiences to see just how powerful, fast and fun the Web can be.

For more information: