Engadget has their hands-on on with Google Chrome on Android! Check it out!

Google Chrome For Android

Introduction
In 2008, we launched Google Chrome to help make the web better. We’re excited that millions of people around the world use Chrome as their primary browser and we want to keep improving that experience. Today, we’re introducing Chrome for Android Beta, which brings many of the things you’ve come to love about Chrome to your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet. Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices.

Speed
With Chrome for Android, you can search, navigate and browse fast-Chrome fast. You can scroll through web pages as quickly as you can flick your finger. When searching, your top search results are loaded in the background as you type so pages appear instantly. And of course, both search and navigation can all be done quickly from the Chrome omnibox.

Simplicity
Chrome for Android is designed from the ground up for mobile devices. We reimagined tabs so they fit just as naturally on a small-screen phone as they do on a larger screen tablet. You can flip or swipe between an unlimited number of tabs using intuitive gestures, as if you’re holding a deck of cards in the palm of your hands, each one a new window to the web.

One of the biggest pains of mobile browsing is selecting the correct link out of several on a small-screen device. Link Preview does away with hunting and pecking for links on a web page by automatically zooming in on links to make selecting the precise one easier.

And as with Chrome on desktop, we built Chrome for Android with privacy in mind from the beginning, including incognito mode for private browsing and fine-grained privacy options (tap menu icon, ‘Settings’, and then ‘Privacy’).

Sign in
You can now bring your personalized Chrome experience with you to your Android phone or tablet. If you sign in to Chrome on your Android device, you can:

• View open tabs: Access the tabs you left open on your computer (also signed into Chrome) – picking up exactly where you left off.
• Get smarter suggestions: If you visit a site often on your computer, you’ll also get an autocomplete suggestion for it on your mobile device, so you can spend less time typing.
• Sync bookmarks: Conveniently access your favorite sites no matter where you are or which device you’re using.

Availability
Chrome is now available in Beta from Android Market, in select countries and languages for phones and tablets with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. We’re eager to hear your feedback. Finally, we look forward to working closely with the developer community to create a better web on a platform that defines mobile.

Google Chrome Blog: Introducing Chrome for Android
Engadget: Chrome Beta for Android hands-on (video)

What’s New In Firefox 8.0?

• Add-ons installed by third party programs are now disabled by default
• Added a one-time add-on selection dialog to manage previously installed add-ons
• Added Twitter to the search bar for select locales. Additional locale support will be added in the future
• Added a preference to load tabs on demand, improving start-up time when windows are restored
• Improved performance and memory handling when using
• Added CORS support for cross-domain textures in WebGL
• Added support for HTML5 context menus
• Added support for insertAdjacentHTML
• Improved CSS hyphen support for many languages
• Improved WebSocket support
• Fixed several stability issues
• Fixed several security issues

Firefox 8 will be the last release of Firefox for 2011. I am guessing by the end of 2012, we will have like Firefox 15 at the rate Mozilla is going. Currently, Firefox 9.0 to Firefox 11 are already in the roadmap. This will be the last blog post featuring Firefox since it has been updating way too often.

Direct Download Links To Firefox 8.0

• Windows (English US)
• Mac OS X (English US)
• Linux (English US)

Links

• Official Blog Post: Mozilla Firefox Adds Twitter Search and New Features that Make Web Browsing Easier
• Release Notes: Firefox 8.0

Google announce Galaxy Nexus & Android 4.0 yesterday in Hong Kong. The Galaxy Nexus is made by Samsung and will be available sometime in November 2011.

Galaxy Nexus

Galaxy Nexus Specifications

• Network: HSPA＋ 21Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps 850/900/1900/1700/2100 EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
• Processor: 1.2 GHz Dual Core Processor (OMAP 4460)
• Display: 4.65″ 1280×720 HD Super AMOLED
• OS: Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
• Main (Rear) Camera: 5 MP AF with LED Flash with zero shutter lag and fast shot2shot
• Sub (Front) Camera: 1.3MP for Video Call
• Connectivity: Bluetooth technology v 3.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/ 5GHz), NFC
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, Light, Proximity, Barometer
• Memory: 1GB(RAM) ＋ 16GB/ 32GB Internal memory
• Size: 135.5,, x 67.94,, x 8.94mm, 135g
• Battery: Standard battery, Li-on 1,750 mAh

What’s New In Android 4.0

Beauty and simplicity
With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets.

The desktop-class browser is significantly faster, featuring a refined tab manager and the ability to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Ice Cream Sandwich also features the best mobile Gmail experience to date, with a new design that lets you quickly swipe through your inbox and search messages even when you’re offline. Calendar boasts a clean new look and you can zoom into your schedule with a pinch.

Connect and share
People are at the heart of Ice Cream Sandwich. We rethought how you browse your contacts with the new People app, which combines high-resolution photos and updates from Google+ and other social services. It’s also easier to capture and share your life with family and friends. Galaxy Nexus sports a high-end camera with zero shutter lag, automatic focus, top notch low-light performance and a simple way to capture panoramic pictures. Shoot amazing photos or 1080p video, and then edit and share them directly from your phone.

Beyond smart
Galaxy Nexus isn’t just a smartphone—it’s beyond smart. Ice Cream Sandwich gives you complete control over the amount of mobile data you use by helping you better understand and manage it. We’re also introducing Android Beam, which uses near field communication (NFC) to instantly share webpages, YouTube videos, maps, directions and apps by simply tapping two phones together. Face Unlock uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock your phone with nothing more than a smile.

Links

• Official Site: Android 4.0 Highlights
• Official Site: Galaxy Nexus
• Official Blog Post: Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus
• Press Release: Samsung and Google introduce GALAXY Nexus
• Engadget: Samsung and Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich event liveblog!

I am a huge fan of ESET NOD32 and have been using it since v2. All my computers and even my mom’s office computers are protected by NOD32. It is fast, real fast and does not take up much disk space at all because of the use of assembly language in the products.

Other competitors started with a bloated antivirus software and try to un-bloat it because these days no one wants a bloated antivirus software to bog down their computer while ESET starts off with a lightweight antivirus. This give ESET a significant competitive advantage.

The CTO of ESET, Pavol Luka, was there as well. He was working for ESET since the 1990s before he entered university. He left ESET to pursue his education and joined back again upon graduation. He does coding and did some coding for NOD32 Antivirus v2. So he know his stuff well!

Pavol Luka (ESET CTO) and I

If you are wondering how the company got its name ESET, it is named after an Egyptian goddess, Isis.

NOD32 got its name from a TV medical drama series in Czechoslovakia back in 1977, titled, Nemocnica na Okraji Disku (Hospital at the End of the City) and 32 means 32-bit which they release it back in 2003 for Windows (before that it was just named NOD for MS-DOS).

ESET Smart Security 5 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 offer various new and improved features including:

• ESET Live Grid, cloud-based reputation and protection technology
• New Removable Media Control, with more granular control of external devices
• Parental Control (ESET Smart Security 5 only)
• Advanced Host-based Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS)
• Gamer Mode

ESET Smart Security 5 Box

ESET Smart Security 5 Box Contents

Another reason why I am using NOD32 AntiVirus for my mom’s office because the prices are very reasonable.

The prices of ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 & Smart Security 5 are as follows:
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5

• 1 User, 1 Year- SGD$29
• 1 User, 2 Years – SGD$45
• 3 Users, 1 Year – SGD$49
• 3 Users, 2 Years – SGD$75

ESET Smart Security 5

• 1 User, 1 Year- SGD$39
• 1 User, 2 Years – SGD$59
• 3 Users, 1 Year – SGD$59
• 3 Users, 2 Years – SGD$89

You can get 1 user (for 1 or 2 years) and 3 users (for 1 or 2 years) off the shelves at most computer stores, but if you need more customization like 5 users for 2 years, you need to get them from the distributor which is Version 2 in Singapore via their online store.

Official Sites

• ESET
• ESET NO32
• ESET Smart Security
• ESET Online Store

iPhone

• iPhone 4 (GSM) (5.0/9A334)
• iPhone 4 (CDMA) (5.0/9A334)
• iPhone 3GS (5.0/9A334)

iPod Touch

• iPod Touch 4G (5.0/9A334)
• iPod Touch 3G (5.0/9A334)

iPad

• iPad 2 (GSM) (5.0/9A334)
• iPad 2 (CDMA) (5.0/9A334)
• iPad 2 (Wi-Fi Only) (5.0/9A334)
• iPad 1 (5.0/9A334)

Both HTC Radar (RRP: SGD$569) and Samsung Omnia W (RRP: SGD$498) will be the first Windows Phone 7.5 to be released in Singapore. The HTC Radar will be available next month (October 2011) while the Samsung Omnia W will be available sometime in Q4 2011.

The Mango release is available for free to all Windows Phone 7 customers. Microsoft will begin delivery of the update to existing Windows Phone 7 users from today and gradually ramp up delivery so that the update will be broadly available to most existing customers by the end of October 2011.

Based on the official site, Where’s my phone update?, both SingTel and StarHub are in the status of “Delivering update” which means:

Microsoft has started to send out the update. Important: To help ensure quality, software updates are typically sent out gradually and/or in batches, so it might take several weeks before you receive notice that an update is available for your phone.

Official Site: Windows Phone 7.5
Official Status Page: Where’s my phone update?
Press Release (Windows Phone 7.5): Microsoft Puts People First With The Launch Of The Latest Version Of Windows Phone In Singapore
Press Release (HTC Radar): HTC Unveils HTC Radar, HTC’s First Windows Phone 7 With Mango Update
Press Release (Samsung Omnia W): Samsung delivers a unique experience with Omnia W, a smartphone that puts people first

What’s New In Firefox 7.0?

• Drastically improved memory use
• Added a new rendering backend to speed up Canvas operations on Windows systems
• Bookmark and password changes now sync almost instantly when using Firefox Sync
• Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis
• Added support for the Web Timing specification
• Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox. This can be enabled by installing an add-on
• Fixed several stability issues

Firefox will have one more release before 2011 ends, Firefox 8 is scheduled to be released on 8th November 2011.

Direct Download Links To Firefox 7.0

• Windows (English US)
• Mac OS X (English US)
• Linux (English US)

Links

• Official Blog Post: Mozilla Firefox Significantly Reduces Memory Use to Make Web Browsing Faster
• Release Notes: Firefox 7.0

The official word came from WhatsApp’s blog post:

On Saturday September 25th, after months of hard work, our Windows Phone client went live in the Marketplace!

WhatsApp Messenger for Windows Phone is available to those running version 7.5 (Mango) release on their device. We are sorry if you don’t have Windows Phone 7.5 yet, but very soon all of the current Windows Phone 7.0 devices will get upgraded to 7.5 and you will be able to download and enjoy our app.

The release of WhatsApp For Windows Phone 7.5, brings the support for WhatsApp across 6 different platforms:

• iPhone (OS 3.1 or newer)
• Android (OS 2.1 or newer)
• BlackBerry (OS 4.5 or newer)
• Nokia Symbian S60 (3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 or newer)
• Nokia S40 (6th edition or newer)
• Windows Phone (OS 7.5 or newer)

WhatsApp Blog: Windows Phone = SIX

What is Lobangclub?

Lobangclub is a free Singaporean app that finds you the best deals on any product. We do this by contributions from you, our community of shoppers. We already have over 500,000+ products in Singapore.

How to use?

• Step 1: Scan a barcode on the product you want to buy.
• Step 2: You will receive a list of all the shops in Singapore that sell that product and the prices.
• Step 3: You can help us by either contributing a price or verifying that the price is correct.

It uses your Facebook credentials for login and the UI is pretty good.

I tried the barcode scanning on 2 items (Panadol ActiFast & Nescafe Blend 37), it works perfect and even give you a picture of the product after you scanned the barcode.

I am able to get the price for the Nescafe Blend 37 but no price is available for the Panadol ActiFast. If there are no prices available, you can tap on the “Got lobang?” button and it will bring you to a screen for you to add the price, location of the item and even indicate a sale period.

I wish they have a karma or reputation points system, to entice users to submit prices and the community can mark them accurate by a “like” or something.

Profile Screen (Left), History (Right)

Scanning Screen (Left), After Scan Screen (Right)

Add Lobang Screen

App Store: Lobangclub – Singapore price comparison barcode scanner

Since I am given a copy of Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 (what a long software name) to try it out and so happen my ESET NOD32 Antivirus subscriptions is expiring soon, I will give Trend Micro a chance to see how well it fair against ESET. But before that can happen, I need to format my computer because for some reasons Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 refuses to install on my computer. Obviously I am not using a pirated Windows 7, it is original from my NUS MSDN Account. Since Li Xiang still need my computer to do some design work for her friend’s wedding, I can only format it after mid October 2011.

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 retail prices:

• SGD$39 for 1 user/1 year
• SGD$54.60 for 1 user/2 years
• SGD$109 for 3 users/1 year
• SGD$152.60 for 3 users/2 years

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 renewal prices:

• SGD$27.30 for 1 user/1 year
• SGD$54.60 for 1 user/2 year
• SGD$76.30 for 3 users/1 year
• SGD$152.60 for 3 users/2 years

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 SafeSync prices:

• SGD$39.95 for 20GB/year
• SGD$59.95 for 50GB/year
• SGD$99.95 for 100GB/year

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 features:

• Antivirus & Antispyware
• Fake Antivirus Cleaner
• Unauthorized Change Protection
• Personalized Titanium Interface
• Facebook, Twitter, MySpace Protection
• Mobile Protection (Android)
• Web Threat Protection
• Spam Blocker
• Windows Firewall Booster
• Parental Controls
• System Tuner
• Data Theft Protection
• Secure Erase
• Trend Micro Vault
• SafeSync Online Backup (10GB)
• Wireless Authentication
• Trend Micro Toolbar

Box Front

Box Back

Box Contents

Threats Report (Taken From Press Release)

Status Report (Taken From Press Release)

The new Metro UI look awesome, hopefully this time round, Microsoft will make the UI consistent throughout the whole Windows. Microsoft has learned from their mistake and the Metro UI is now built for touch rather than mouse from the group up. It is just wrong slapping a touch UI to Windows 7, it just does not work.

Smilar to OS X Lion, Windows 8 will have its own App Store for you to buy software. I hope the software prices are reasonably priced. Windows 8 also supports ARM-based chipsets. In the press release, they did mentioned “One Windows”, I am hoping they meant there is only one edition of Windows 8 and not so many editions like its predecessors, it just confuse the crap out of consumers.

You can try out the Microsoft Windows 8 Developer Preview for free (no activation is required), just head to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516/ and download the ISO. The x64 variant is 3.6GB and x86 one is 2.8GB.

Here are some highlights extracted from the press release:

Touch-First User Interface

• Metro style. Windows 8 introduces a new Metro style interface built for touch, which shows information important to you, embodies simplicity and gives you control. The Metro style UI is equally at home with a mouse and keyboard as well.
• Touch-first browsing, not just browsing on a touch device. Providing a fast and fluid touch-browsing experience, Internet Explorer 10 puts sites at the center on new Windows 8 devices.

More Ways to Engage With Powerful, Connected Apps

• Powered by apps. Metro style apps built for Windows 8 are the focal point of your experience, filling your entire screen so there are no distractions.
• Apps can work together. Apps communicate with each other in Windows 8. For example, you can easily select and email photos from different places, such as Facebook, Flickr or on your hard drive.
• Your experience syncs across your devices. Live roams all the content from the cloud services you use most – photos, email, calendar and contacts – keeping them up-to-date on your devices. With SkyDrive, you can access your files, photos and documents from virtually anywhere with any browser or with Metro style apps in Windows 8.

Enhanced Fundamentals

• The best of Windows 7, only better. Windows 8 is built on the rock-solid foundation of Windows 7, delivering improvements in performance, security, privacy and system reliability. Windows 8 reduces the memory footprint needed – even on the lowest-end hardware – leaving more room for your apps.
• Preserving power-user favorites and making them better. For those who push the limits of their PC, Windows 8 features an enhanced Task Manager and Windows Explorer and new, flexible options for multimonitor setups.

New Developer Opportunities

• Windows Store. The Windows Store will allow developers to sell their apps anywhere Windows is sold worldwide, whether they’re creating new games or familiar productivity tools.
• Build using more languages. Windows 8 lets you leverage your existing skills and code assets to create great experiences using the programming language you prefer.
• Rich hardware integration leads to richer experiences – particularly for games. DirectX 11 gaming power underlies Windows 8, allowing the easy creation of full-screen games with smooth, flicker-free action.

New Generation of Hardware

• One Windows – many shapes and sizes. Support for ARM-based chipsets, x86 (as well as x32 and x64) devices, touch and sensors means Windows 8 works beautifully across a spectrum of devices, from 10-inch tablets and laptops to all-in-ones with 27-inch high-definition screens.
• Always connected. With Windows 8, new ultrathin PCs and tablets turn on instantly, run all day on a single charge and stay connected to the Internet so your PC is ready when you are. Next-generation system on a chip (SoC) support will also enable greatly extended standby and low-power states.
• Tap the full power of your PC. Windows 8 runs on PCs and is compatible with the devices and programs you use today on Windows 7, without compromise, to deliver the performance you expect of a PC.

Lock Screen

Start Screen

App Screen Showacasing Keyboard

Press Release: Microsoft Reimagines Windows, Presents Windows 8 Developer Preview

I tweeted about it and mentioned @yelp. They replied me 2 days later via Twitter asking me which country I am in, I told them Singapore and in a few hours time, they opened it for Singapore App Store! Kudos to the Yelp Mobile Team!

I am sure this will benefit users who do have a Singapore iTunes Account but not a US one.

You do not need to register a Yelp account to view Yelp, but if you are going to register an account, you need to register an account through a US Proxy as it does location/IP check or you can always wait till you get to the US and register an account.

App Store Link: Yelp (Universal)

I wonder will they sell those existing TouchPads at a discount since it has EOLed, I don’t mind getting a 16GB one for less than SGD$200.

In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

They might even sell off their PC division (Personal Systems Group):

As part of the transformation, HP announced that its board of directors has authorized the exploration of strategic alternatives for the company’s Personal Systems Group. HP will consider a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction.

Press Release: HP Reports Third Quarter 2011 Results and Initiates Company Transformation

What’s New In Firefox 6.0?

• The address bar now highlights the domain of the website you’re visiting
• Streamlined the look of the site identity block
• Added support for the latest draft version of WebSockets with a prefixed API
• Added support for EventSource / server-sent events
• Added support for window.matchMedia
• Added Scratchpad, an interactive JavaScript prototyping environment
• Added a new Web Developer menu item and moved development-related items into it
• Improved usability of the Web Console
• Improved the discoverability of Firefox Sync
• Reduced browser startup time when using Panorama
• Fixed several stability issues
• Fixed several security issues

Firefox is not done yet for 2011, Firefox 7 is scheduled to be released on 27th September 2011 and Firefox 8 is scheduled to be released on 8th November 2011.

Direct Download Links To Firefox 6.0

• Windows (English US)
• Mac OS X (English US)
• Linux (English US)

Links

• Official Blog Post: New Tools in Mozilla Firefox Help Developers Drive the Web Forward
• Release Notes: Firefox 6.0

It seems that Xcode 4.1 (AppStore link) is free (usual USD$4.99) for OS X Lion only and FaceTime is included in OS X Lion (AppStore Link) (usual USD$0.99).

Website: Apple (Singapore) – Mac OS X Lion
Mac AppStore: Mac OS X Lion

MacBook Air
MacBook Air now includes the Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5/i7 processor, Thunderbolt I/O and backlit keyboard. It also seems that the white MacBook is phrased out in favor of the lowest end MacBook Air which starts at SGD$1,288. MacBook Air supports Bluetooth 4.0 with Bluetooth Low Energy.

• 11-inch: 64GB – SGD$1,288
  • 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 2GB memory
  • 64GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 11-inch: 128GB – SGD$1,588
  • 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 4GB memory
  • 128GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 13-inch: 128GB – SGD$1,688
  • 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 4GB memory
  • 128GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 13-inch: 256GB – SGD$2,088
  • 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor
  • 4GB memory
  • 256GB flash storage
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000

Website: Apple (Singapore) – MacBook Air
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – MacBook Air

Mac Mini
Similar with the MacBook Air, the Mac mini also receives the updated Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5/i7 processor and Thunderbolt I/O treatment and it seems that the optical drive got ditched by Mac mini. The death of CD is sooner than you think! Also Mac mini supports Bluetooth 4.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy. In the higher end Mac mini (SGD$1,088) discrete graphics (AMD Radeon HD 6630M) is being supported for the first time.

• 2.3GHz: 500GB – SGD$788
  • 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • 2GB memory
  • 500GB hard drive
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 2.5GHz: 500GB – SGD$1,088
  • 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
  • 4GB memory
  • 500GB hard drive
  • AMD Radeon HD 6630M
• 2.0GHz: Dual 500GB – SGD$1,348
  • 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
  • 4GB memory
  • Dual 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000
  • OS X Lion Server

Website: Apple (Singapore) – MacBook Air
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – MacBook Air

Thunderbolt Display
Looks like Apple rebranded Cinema Display to Thunderbolt Display. It now supports Thunderbolt and acts as a docking station for MacBook Pro/Air with a Thunderbolt cable and MagSafe connector. It is a 27″ monitor (16:9 – 2560px x 1440px) with LED backlight and IPS panel. It has built-in FaceTime HD camera and microphone to make video calls and ambient light sensor to adjusts your screen brightness accordingly. It is going for SGD$1,348!

Website: Apple (Singapore) – Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)
Shop: Apple Store (Singapore) – Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)

Mozilla’s shift to a rapid release development cycle delivers cutting edge Firefox features, performance enhancements, security updates and stability improvements to users faster.

The latest version of Firefox includes more than 1,000 improvements and performance enhancements that make it easier to discover and use all of the innovative features in Firefox. This release adds support for more modern Web technologies that make it easier for developers to build amazing Firefox Add-ons, Web applications and websites.

What’s New In Firefox 5.0?

• Added support for CSS animations
• The Do-Not-Track header preference has been moved to increase discoverability
• Tuned HTTP idle connection logic for increased performance
• Improved canvas, JavaScript, memory, and networking performance
• Improved standards support for HTML5, XHR, MathML, SMIL, and canvas
• Improved spell checking for some locales
• Improved desktop environment integration for Linux users
• WebGL content can no longer load cross-domain textures
• Background tabs have setTimeout and setInterval clamped to 1000ms to improve performance
• Fixed several stability issues
• Fixed several security issues

Looks like they are not done this year, according to Firefox’s Roadmap, Firefox 6.0 and Firefox 7.0 will be released within this year as well.

Direct Download Links To Firefox 5.0

• Windows (English US)
• Mac OS X (English US)
• Linux (English US)

Links

• Official Blog Post: Mozilla Delivers New Version of Firefox – First Web Browser to Support Do Not Track on Multiple Platforms
• Release Notes: Firefox 5.0

TAIPEI, Taiwan – June 2, 2011 – At 2011 Computex today, Microsoft Corp. showed hardware partners the next version of Windows, internally code-named “Windows 8″, to help the partners build devices that take advantage of the new user experience. As part of this technical preview, Mike Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem at Microsoft, demonstrated how “Windows 8″ is optimized for newer touch-centric hardware, including tablets, while still delivering the flexibility, connectivity and power that people have come to expect from Windows today.

The technical demonstration also highlighted the new operating system’s ability to work across both x86 and ARM-based architectures, with a variety of early prototypes shown running the new operating system. Microsoft and silicon chip makers AMD, Intel Corporation, NVIDIA Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. initially announced plans in January to work together on the next version of Windows.

“Our aim with ‘Windows 8′ is to make the user experience a natural extension of the device, from the time you turn on your PC through how you interact with the applications you know and love,” Angiulo said. “This represents a fundamental shift in Windows design that we haven’t attempted since the days of Windows 95, presenting huge opportunities for our hardware partners to innovate with new PC designs.”

The new user experience also extends to how applications will run on “Windows 8″, with controls naturally fitting into the device experience. Developers also will be able to use common Web technologies, such as HTML5 and JavaScript, to create applications for the PC, further easing integration and adoption.

To aid developers in building applications for the new operating system, Microsoft formally opened registration for its new developer conference, BUILD. The conference will take place Sept. 13–16, 2011, in Anaheim, Calif. More information and online registration for BUILD is available at http://www.buildwindows.com.

Press Release: Microsoft Previews ‘Windows 8′

If you are in for some stats, check out the live Firefox 4.0 download stats at http://glow.mozilla.com/.

What’s New in Firefox 4:

• Performance: Firefox is up to six times faster than the previous release. With improved start-up and page load times, speedy Web app performance and hardware accelerated graphics, Firefox is optimized for rich, interactive websites.

Streamlined Interface

• App Tabs: give a permanent home to frequently visited sites like Web mail, Twitter, Pandora, Flickr.
• Switch to Tab: easily find and switch to any open tab from your Awesome Bar without opening duplicate tabs.
• Panorama: drag and drop tabs into manageable groups to save time while navigating many open tabs.

Private and Secure Synchronization

• Firefox Sync: access your Awesome Bar history, bookmarks, open tabs, passwords and form data across multiple computers and mobile devices.

Most Customizable

• New Add-ons Manager: easily discover and install more than 200,000 add-ons to customize the features, functionality and look of Firefox.

Private and Secure

• Do Not Track: Firefox is leading the Web towards a universal standard Do Not Track feature that allows users to opt-out of tracking used for behavioral advertising.
• Firefox puts privacy first, fixing flaws in some Web standards to prevent others from accessing your browser history.
• HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS): automatically establishes secure connections to stop “man in the middle” attacks and keep sensitive data safe from interception during the log-in process.
• Content Security Policy (CSP): prevent cross-scripting attacks by allowing sites to explicitly tell the browser which content is legitimate.

Cutting Edge Tools for Web Developers:

• The JavaScript engine incorporates the new JägerMonkey JIT compiler, along with enhancements to the existing TraceMonkey JIT and SpiderMonkey’s interpreter for faster page-load speed and better performance of Web apps and games.
• HTML5 support in Firefox includes hardware accelerated, high-definition video (WebM), 3D graphics, offline data storage, professional typography, touchscreen interfaces and the Mozilla Audio API to help create visual experiences for sound and more.
• Firefox 4 also improves existing tools like CSS, Canvas and SVG to enable developers to make exciting Web pages.
• Firefox provides uninterrupted browsing when there is a crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins. If one of these plugins crashes or freezes, it won’t affect the rest of Firefox. Simply reload the page to restart the plugin.

Links:

• Video tour of what’s new in Firefox 4
• Full details on Features
• Firefox 4 Reviewer’s Guide
• Screenshots and logos
• Long, technical release notes
• Share Firefox 4 with your friends on Facebook and Twitter

Direct Download Links To Firefox 4.0:

• Windows (English US)
• Mac OS X (English US)
• Linux (English US)

AUSTIN, Tex. – March 14, 2011 – Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of the latest version of the world’s most-used browser with the release of Windows Internet Explorer 9 in 39 languages at an event at the SXSW Interactive conference. Internet Explorer 9 is Microsoft’s most-downloaded browser beta of all time, with more than 40 million downloads, and it has already has gained more than 2 percent usage on Windows 7. Already more than 250 top sites from around the globe are taking advantage of the capabilities in Internet Explorer 9 to deliver differentiated experiences to their customers, with many featured on http://www.BeautyoftheWeb.com. Together, these partners reach more than 1 billion active Internet users on the Web.

Top Sites and Designers Take Advantage of Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer 9 is designed to bring sites front and center through Windows 7, enabling a more immersive, more beautiful Web experience. Features such as Pinned Sites and Jump List enable people to put their websites directly on the Windows 7 Taskbar, as though they were native applications, and then to quickly and easily perform tasks related to those websites, such as check their inboxes, change the music station, accept friend invitations or see breaking news.

Fast Is Now Beautiful: Internet Explorer 9 With Hardware Acceleration
The new version of Internet Explorer takes advantage of the power of modern Windows PC hardware to improve all-around Web browsing performance. It is the only browser with hardware-accelerated HTML5 spanning all graphics, text, audio and video. Internet Explorer 9 harnesses the power of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), unlocking 90 percent of the PC’s power that went previously untapped by Web browsers.

Improving Privacy and Security Online
Because the Web is increasingly less secure and private, Internet Explorer 9 is designed to be a trusted browser because it contains a robust set of built-in security, privacy and reliability technologies that keep customers safer online.

Press Release: Microsoft Announces Global Availability of Internet Explorer 9

Direct Download Links From Microsoft:

• Windows 7 x86
• Windows 7 x64
• Windows Vista x86
• Windows Vista x64

iPhone

• iPhone 3GS (4.3/8F190)
• iPhone 4 (4.3/8F190)

iPod Touch

• iPod Touch 3G (4.3/8F190)
• iPod Touch 4G (4.3/8F190)

iPad

• iPad 1 (4.3/8F190)
• iPad 2 (4.3/8F191)

iPhone 3G has been deprecated along with iPod Touch 2G and hence there are no iOS 4.3 for them.