With 2009 fast approaching, details for IE Mobile 6 have started to appear. The latest mobile Internet browser from Microsoft should bring a positive change to the web browser market.
Currently, there are still no screenshots available, as Microsoft has made all beta testers and OEM’s sign NDA’s, but details on the new browser are starting to emerge. Here are some of the key features for IE Mobile 6.
- A full HTML rendering engine (unfortunately based on IE6).
- Support for Adobe Flash Lite 3.1, something still not found on Apple’s iPhone.
- AJAX and JScript 5.7 support.
- Support for touch, including scrolling and zooming.
- Ability to switch between full and mobile versions of websites.
With these unique, and some innovative features, IE Mobile 6 may make up some ground in the mobile browser market, but is it enough to entice Opera Mobile or even iPhone Safari users?
Internet Explorer, Safari
IE, Internet Explorer, iPhone, Safari
Google has finally taken Chrome off its training wheels and removed its beta tag. The move comes after Google says the browser has met strict performance and reliability requirements.
Released just over 100 days ago, the beta version has been downloaded roughly 10 million times and taken around 1% of the browser market. Far shy of Microsoft’s 70% for Internet Explorer.
The latest release doesn’t include any new features, and is still only available for Windows, but does fix a few of the remaining bugs.
Users already using Chrome will have their browser automatically updated in the next few days, or alternatively you can download the new version from the Google Chrome website. Happy browsing!
Chrome, Internet Explorer
Chrome, Google Chrome, IE, Inernet Explorer
Microsoft has just released the IE Cumulative Security Update for December 2008.
The security update is rated critical and fixes four privately reported vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution when users view web pages with malicious code.
The security patch fixes IE 5.01, IE6 and IE7 on all versions of Windows, and the update is available on Windows Update.
Internet Explorer
IE, Internet Explorer, Security Patches
With all the news that Google Chrome’s market share has droped since it’s release, I thought it was only fitting to add some more statistics to the fire.
On another technology site that I run, browser stats were as follows for the month of September:
Browser Market Share for September
Through the month of September, Chrome’s usage has dropped around 30% from its release. Usage seems to have stabalised since then.
Of interesting note, is that Google Chrome has still gained a larger market share than Opera. It should also be noted that Chrome is still only available on Windows. Perhaps it’s market share will again increase when offical Mac and Linux versions are released.
Perhaps Google Chrome hasn’t shaken up the market as much as everyone predicted. Did you try Google Chrome and are you still using it?
Browser Watch, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari
Browser Share, Chrome, Firefox, Google Chrome, IE, Linux, Mac, Opera, Safari
ExitReality has today released a plugin that allows users to surf the web in 3D. This will allow surfers the chance to walk through their favourite websites as if they were playing a computer game.
The 3.5MB plugin will turn any normal website into a compelling virtual room.
The idea from ExitReality’s founder Danny Stefanic has been in development for 13 years.
Mr Stefanic says “It is the entire web in 3D - making 40 billion virtual worlds - and it will instantly transform 2D content into 3D“.
Flickr can be turned into a virtual art gallery, while YouTube can be turned into a virtual cinema. It’s second life for every day people.
Currently, the browser plugin only works on Windows and is compatible with both Internet Explorer and Firefox. The plugin can be downloaded from the ExitReality website.
Browser Watch, Firefox, Internet Explorer
3D Browser, ExitReality, Firefox, IE, Internet Explorer
With the release of Google Chrome, John Resig has performed JavaScript benchmark tests on a wide variety of browsers on both Windows Vista and XP. These browsers include:
- Chrome 0.2
- Safari 4
- Safari 3.1.2
- Opera 9.5.2
- Firefox 3.1
- Firefox 3.0.1
- IE7
- IE8 Beta 2
Testing, using three benchmarking tools; SunSpider, V8 Benchmark, and Dromaeo, has produced some interesting results. Results show that Google Chrome is ahead in all but one benchmark test - very impressive for a browser that is still in its early beta stages. It shows the performance of the new V8 JavaScript engine and the power of the WebKit rendering engine found in both Chrome and Safari.
You can read the full JavaScript Performance Rundown article to see the other (not-so)surprissing results.
Browser Watch, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari
Benchmark, Dromaeo, Firefox, Google Chrome, IE, IE8, JavaScript, JavaScript Benchmark, Opera, Safari, SunSpider, V8 Benchmark, Windows Vista, Windows XP