Mozilla

While Apple is focused on spreading premium-prices smartphones across the globe, browser maker Mozilla has its sights aimed squarely on the low-cost smartphone market and has announced a deal for a chipset which it said will pave the way for $25 smartphones.

Mozilla announced at Mobile World Congress that it is partnering with Shanghai-based fabless semiconductor company Spreadtrum to come up with reference designs of the low-cost Firefox OS-powered smartphones.

Mozilla today released Firefox 27, giving users of the open-source browser new security features and improved performance.

There are 13 security advisories attached to the Firefox 27 release, four of them ranked as being critical. As is common in nearly all Firefox release updates, one of the critical updates is for a group of vulnerabilities that Mozilla labels "Miscellaneous memory safety hazards."

 Mozilla has begun testing a simpler new system for synchronizing Firefox's bookmarks, open tabs, Web site passwords, and other browser settings.

Until now, the not-for-profit organization had used a complicated mechanism in which you had to type a pairing code shown on one browser into another browser. Now it's begun a shift to begun a shift to a plain old username-password approach to Firefox sync, Mozilla said Saturday.

Mozilla is out today with its latest milestone Firefox release, this time providing security fixes as well as new functionality in the open-source Web browser.

The Firefox 26 release first entered beta in early November. From a security feature perspective, the big change that Firefox 26 introduces is the concept of "click-to-play" plug-ins. Prior to Firefox 26, plug-ins such as Java would just load inside the browser whenever required by a given Website, and without the need for any specific user interaction.

Following the release of Firefox 25 just two days ago, Mozilla today announced updates to its Firefox Beta channel, which is now on version 26, on desktop as well as Android. The former has Click to Play plugins and the Firefox OS App Manager, while the latter has gained a new Home design.

Mozilla released 10 patches for three versions of its Firefox browser on Tuesday, five of which are considered critical and could be used to remotely install malicious code.

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team warned that the problems "could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code, bypass intended access restrictions, cause a denial-of-service condition or obtain sensitive information."

Another 42 days have passed which means that Mozilla will release the final version of Firefox 25 today if everything goes along as planned.

Firefox 24.0 users will receive update notifications starting later today, provided that they have not blocked the web browser from updating automatically.

Mozilla is proud to be once again sponsoring HackWeekDay at the Hack-in-the-Box security conference in Malaysia in October. The event is a chance for developers – both students and professional – to come together and prototype new apps and features for Firefox OS – security-related or otherwise. We want to build on the already strong community in the region and encourage the open-source community to support the future of the mobile web.

L33tdawg: Got code kungf00? Register here: http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2013kul/event/hackweekday/  First come, first serve and COMPLETELY FREE!

This October, developers from around the globe have an opportunity to showcase their coding skills to an international audience at the HackWEEKDAY hackathon here in Kuala Lumpur.

L33tdawg: Meet with the guys from Mozilla next month at #HackWEEKDAY (they're bringing down Firefox phones!) or at the CommSec Village at #HITB2013KUL. The entire area is FREE and OPEN TO PUBLIC!