Web-based Applications - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Firefox 4 add-on takes browsing outside the browser

  A new, experimental add-on from Mozilla Labs' Prospector project removes the standard browser interface from Firefox 4 and instead gives full priority to Web content.

• Tiny patch cuts Firefox 4's startup time in half

  While all the world scrutinized the proposed "Do Not Track" feature for Mozilla's Firefox 4 on Monday, a tiny patch quietly emerged that promises to cut the open source browser's startup time in half on Windows.

• Mozilla exec: Firefox 4 will arrive in February

  Firefox 4 is nearly ready for release, a recent post on Mozilla's developer mailing list suggests.

• Amazon EC2 ramps up cloud offerings with Oracle apps

  Amazon has brought a fleet of major PeopleSoft and JD Edward applications to its Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) service, following a promise in September to do so. The new services are certified by Oracle.

• What will you build with app inventor for Android?

  After several months in private beta, Google's App Inventor for Android is now available for general use, so any business or individual can start using the technology to create Android apps of their own.

• Google polishing Chrome browser for businesses

  Google on Wednesday unveiled administrative tools designed to make its Chrome browser a compelling choice for businesses.

• Google's Chrome web store looks set to launch

  Though most recently expected to debut in October, Google's Chrome Web Store may now finally be on the verge of launching.

• How to move from a physical to virtual infrastructure

  After finally getting the go-ahead to proceed with a project to virtualize a small business infrastructure, it may seem that the hard part is actually making it all happen. In many cases, however, the hardest part is getting the budget together to acquire all the hardware and software necessary -- actually making the switch is the easier task.

• Firefox F1 fights back against RockMelt

  The timing might sound suspicious to some observers, but Mozilla has just announced a social networking plugin for Firefox that offers some of the features found in the much-heralded RockMelt social browser, the limited-availability beta of which was announced a few days ago.

• What Dell's purchase of cloud company signals

  A little-noted announcement earlier this month could have huge implications for cloud take-up in smaller businesses. Dell has snapped up Boomi, a company that describes itself as a "cloud integrator."

• Build a custom browser with Mozilla Chromeless

  No matter how many choices there are in the Web browser arena, it's a pretty safe bet that many of us would love to tweak some aspect of the interface on our browser of choice, if given the opportunity. After all, no one product can satisfy everyone perfectly.