Into Tech

Looks like our favorite Web browser is about to go mobile. Mozilla head honcho, Mitchell Baker, told the folks at APC magazine that Mozilla is working on a Firefox to go for your cellphone. It’s a long-term project (meaning it’s not coming out any time soon), but the goal is to allow it to work with all the add-ons and plug-ins that the full version works with. As long as it works on my smartphone, sign me up. – Louis Ramirez

Firefox Will Move to Mobile Phones: Mozilla CEO [APC via Gadgetell]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc., the world’s
second-largest supplier of instant-messaging, has begun
offering a new version that works inside a Web browser rather
than requiring users to download a separate piece of software.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After cramming Web browsers, e-mail
and music and video players into cell phones, the wireless
industry is now trying to make more money by adding mobile
advertising and credit-card shopping to handsets.

Looks like the French love their Linux. Either that or all the Vista talk scared them off. Starting in June members of the French parliament will be ditching their Windows machines for Linux. Roughly 1,154 parliamentary workstations will be running the open source OS and using OpenOffice.org software (along with Firefox as their Web browser) in an effort to save some cash. I doubt they’ll be using Linutops, but this goes to show Microsoft that pretty much anything you can do with Windows, you can do (cheaper) on Linux. – Louis Ramirez

French Parliament Dumping Windows for Linux [via News.com]

Yesterday, we wrote about how TiVo is fairing after launching their Series 3 DVR. Since then, we’ve had some astounding numbers come in that show US DVRs sales are down 49% for January through August, as compared to last year. Since TiVo is number one in this space, they might be taking the brunt of this hit. Seems like a sound jump to reason that most of you are renting your DVRs from your cable or satellite providers.

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By the way, I still <3 TiVo, so it pains me to write this. We always hurt the ones we love! –Brian Lam and Brian L. Clark

(Thanks for the data and kisses, NPD group)

A new version of the popular Firefox web browser makes its debut, going head to head with Internet Explorer 7.

As much as we like the technology inside it, the Samsung EW-700 looks like it got hit one too many times with the ugly stick. Get over its looks, however, and you’ll have a decent smartphone. On the media side, it’s got a 2MP camera, video player, Web browser, and MP3 player. For work it features Outlook data sync and doubles as a VoIP phone if you’re lucky enough to live in a city blanketed by free Wi-Fi. More fugly phone pics after the jump. – Louis Ramirez

In Britain, or as we say in America, Land of the Funny Talkers, robbery rose by 5% over a period of three months this year. Though the headline read something like, “iPods Alone Are Completely Responsible for Crime,” here is what the chief constable had to say:

“[Robbery increases have] a lot to do with the products that are available to be stolen these days. The mobile phone explosion is continuing. The iPod explosion is continuing. All of these gadgets that people carry around with them are very attractive to robbers, so that puts the opportunities up. We’ve obviously got to respond to that in a very positive way.”

You know what that means, time for a poll!– Mark Wilson

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News Story [policeoracle]
picture

I said I didn’t care about the new-ish Palm Treo 680 that seemed to be little more than a colored Treo 700 with a few tweaks, and its antenna chopped off. Against my judgement, many of you voted that you were excited for the shitty little budget smartphone. I feel sorry for you, because you are wrong to care. But I also wonder, since the price hasn’t been announced, and the Treo 700 is about $250 with a contract, how much would you pay for one of these things?

I mean, they’re very similar, stat wise, so how much cheaper could they be? Our guess is $199. –Brian Lam

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Palm Treo 680: Who Cares? [Giz]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O on Tuesday released a security patch to fix a “critical” hole in its Internet Explorer Web browser that the world’s biggest software maker said could allow an attacker to take control of a user’s computer.