'Net Features : mozilla

Mozilla's New TowTruck Collaboration Service in Focus

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:05:00 GMT

Mozilla Labs has just announced a noteworthy new project called TowTruck which will add a real-time collaboration service (or functionality) to any website.

TowTruck is open-source and implmented in Javascript (and with just one line of it) so there's no software or plugins to install. The service enables users to communicate (message), co-author (ideal for collaborating on forms and code), co-browse and guide each other - and all in real time via Web RTC.

One of the cooler collaboration features in TowTruck is cursor-mirroring which allows users to see a friend or colleagues cursor on the screen.

DevCon5 Offers Interactivity, Website Magazine Discount

Amberly Dressler — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:10:00 GMT

Executives and developers from Adobe, appMobile, Mozilla and Nickelodeon are just some of the speakers at DevCON5, which runs from July 24-25 at The Kimmel Center on New York University’s campus in New York City.

The conference provides attendees with ideas, best practices and information to enhance their skills and develop tactics to build HTML5 pages and apps. The event also offers opportunities to network with colleagues and the HMTL community. Additionally, hands-on demonstrations are among the event highlights, which has not always been the case.

“This is our third year, and from the first year to the third year, the thing that is very visible is how much code is out there now that wasn’t there before,” said Carl Ford, Crossfire CEO and DevCon5 Content and Community Executive Director. “When we did this show, most people were talking theoretically, and there were a few people with experience, but the browsers weren’t ready. Now, we are at a point, when people are showing stuff, they’ve already deployed it.”

Ford also says that most presenters provide actual code, GitHub references and meet-ups for where people can gather to continue to develop projects.

“Overall, it’s an interactive group that believes code sharing is a good idea,” said Ford.

Attendees can expect to learn about:

• HTML5’s capabilities, limitations and future potential

• How HTML5 can improve user experiences without Flash

• The impact of HTML5 beyond just video

• How to balance user demands with simplicity and power

• How to create “delightful” and sustainable user experiences with HTML5

• The impact of HTML’s universal experience on unique devices

• Gaming’s impact on HTML5

• How to develop a mobile Web strategy based on HTML5

• HTML5’s impact on acquisition strategies

• How to enable browser security

• Who will win the browser wars

Early bird registration for DevCon5 runs now through April 1. Website Magazine readers can receive a 20 percent discount when registering for the event by using WM as the discount code.

Font Inspector in Firefox DevTools

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:55:00 GMT

The role that typography plays in the success of a Web design (and of course to the user experience) is indisputable – if I never, ever see Comic Sans again it will be too soon. Website Magazine has covered a few different tools over the years to help designers identify fonts they may be interested in using, most recently Fount, but there’s always room for one more, right?

Mozilla has included a new font-related tool called the Font Inspector (see image below) to its Firefox Dev Tools. While currently only available in the browser’s nightly build (meaning it’s only in the pre-beta stages now), it does indicate that the popular open-source browser maker’s developers are certainly tuned in to the challenges of modern Web design.

The tool essentially enables designers to see what Web fonts and font-based icons are being used in a page (including the font name and font family, its location, a preview and the @font-face code) – providing yet another opportunity to see different approaches to typography in action.

Related Information on Fonts in Web Design:
- Typekit of Google Web Fonts?
- Textillate Brings Back Text Animation
- Tyopgraphy App Eases Design Process

AT&T WebPhone Gets Its Moment

Amberly Dressler — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:30:00 GMT

Integrating communications services with Web browsers to allow consumers to easily shift between devices and locations is why Ericsson, Mozilla and AT&T teamed up to showcase a Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) proof of concept, called AT&T Web Phone, at Mobile World Congress 2013.

The joint demonstration builds on Ericsson's Web Communication Gateway, the Mozilla Social API and WebRTC support in Firefox and the AT&T API Platform to enable the Mozilla Firefox browser to sync with a user's existing phone number and provide calling services without any plugins to download.

"We are excited to enable Web to mobile voice calls, video calls and file sharing without the need for a plugin,” said Todd Simpson, Mozilla Chief of Innovation. “This gives developers and operators a lot of opportunity to offer compelling services while maintaining direct customer relationships, so users can have an awesome, consistent communications experience."

The technology builds on WebRTC, an open Web framework that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is standardizing. This demonstration is meant to show how the Web browser can perform many functions usually confined to a mobile device, such as voice and video calls and SMS and MMS texting.

"AT&T opens our network to developers through our API platform, allowing them to create applications with AT&T services like SMS, MMS and call management seamlessly and easily integrated,” said Carlton Hill, Vice President Developers Services, AT&T. “Together with Mozilla and Ericsson, we've developed a concept that illuminates for developers and consumers the technologies made possible by our APIs."

Additionally, in a joint press release, the companies state that the proposition will allow fast innovation to new and different applications and services - whether on a mobile device or desktop computer, through the global network of developers who work on the open Firefox platform.

Developers Wanted for Mozilla Apps Marketplace

Linc Wonham — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:00:00 GMT

The just-announced Mozilla Marketplace will open for developers to begin submitting Web apps at next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

By building on open Web technologies like HTML5 and Mozilla-proposed APIs, the Mozilla Marketplace will enable developers to write one app that runs across devices and platforms. Mozilla has always maintained that its mission is to keep the Web open and put people in control of their Web experiences, and users will be able to buy apps once and use them on any HTML5-enabled devices.

By creating new APIs and putting developers back in control of every aspect of the app experience – from easy development and distribution to direct consumer interaction – Mozilla says that it is advancing the Web as a platform and closing the technology gap between Web and native apps.

The Mozilla Web Apps platform gives content owners, operators and service providers a direct connection to their customers and increases the possibilities for consumer interaction and customized experiences. The “Write once, deploy everywhere” nature of the platform should reduce the cost of creating, versioning and maintaining applications, says Mozilla.

The Mozilla Web Apps platform will feature the following:

• The Mozilla Marketplace, the first operating system- and device-independent market for apps based on open Web technologies like HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.

• New Mozilla-proposed APIs that advance the Web as a platform and will be submitted to the W3C for standardization.

• A new identity system for the Web that puts users in control of their content, tying apps to the user and not the device or platform.

The Mozilla Marketplace will open for developers to submit Web apps at Stand 7B96 in Hall 7 at Mobile World Congress on February 27, and will open to consumers later this year. The Mozilla Marketplace will feature apps in the categories of games, media, music, productivity and more.