Mozilla taking its time with Firefox 3 beta

Mozilla plans on releasing a pre-beta version of Firefox 3 every six weeks or so. Just don’t expect a beta to come before Mozilla is happy with the browser.

As Ars Technica reports that means a late July beta is history.

In a note to the Mozilla development planning group Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering, said:

We are driven by quality, not time. We want to Firefox 3 to be something that we are all proud of. This means features that delight users and the same or higher quality than previous releases. “Quality” includes performance (Tp/Ts/TDHTML/etc), footprint, web compatibility, regressions, and general fit and finish. Having said that, we want to move the web forward and are in a competitive market. So we should converge on a release as fast as possible.

In a nutshell, Alpha 7 of Firefox will happen the end of July, but it won’t make the cut for beta. That means Firefox 3, which has been chugging through multiple alphas, isn’t ready for mass adoption–or even testing–yet. The new roadmap is here.

Other notable comments from Schroepfer:

“The Firefox front-end has had significantly less development time than the platform and has yet to have the opportunity to innovate on top of infrastructure built for places, password manager, and others. So we’d like to give them until M8 (Sept. 5) to continue to develop user-visible features on top of the core infrastructure.”

“A milestone schedule with a release every 6 weeks (4 weeks till code freeze from last milestone, 2 weeks of stabilization/build work) seems to work the best. Note that actual tree closures will in practice likely be shorter than 2 weeks if there are not multiple re-spins.”

“We’ll switch from Alphas to Betas as soon as we believe Firefox is stable and usable enough for daily browsing for a large number of people. Until we hit this criteria we’ll continue to release Alphas on the 6 week cadence above. Criteria:

1 Footprint at or below that of 1.8. This is being measured regularly through Talos working set size (http://tinyurl.com/252ka3) and through informal dogfooding.

2 Most sites should display properly and regression free (from previous major release)

3 No known common dataloss bugs

4 No common hangs or crashes

5 No problems with major features in common use cases.”

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Newest Firefox 3.0 Preview Sets Stage for Beta

Mozilla Corp. Monday unveiled the last planned alpha update to Firefox 3.0 before it brings the new browser into the daylight of beta testing.

Alpha 6 of Firefox 3.0, a.k.a. Gran Paradiso, includes an upgraded SQLite engine, the database that serves as the back end storage house for Places, a new history and bookmark manager. Other Alpha 6 upgrades include improved cookie performance; support for site-specific preferences, such as text size; and enhancements of the add-on and download tools.



As usual, Mozilla waved off casual users. "Gran Paradiso Alpha 6 is intended for Web developers and the Mozilla testing community only, with regular end users strongly advised to stick with the stable Firefox 2 for now," the company-hosted mozillaZine site said.

Mozilla plans to release the first public version of Firefox 3.0 Beta 1 on July 31. According to the updated rollout schedule, Beta 2 will appear in September, and the final release is due sometime before the end of the year.

In other Firefox news, Mozilla's upgrade offer to users of Version 1.5 has resulted in more than 3 million downloads of Firefox 2.0 since last Thursday. Upgrades topped out at around 30 per second but have settled down at about 13 per second, Mozilla said. Users are asked to choose whether to update to 2.0, delay the update or permanently reject it. Mozilla is trying to get all users to upgrade to the current browser because support for Firefox 1.5 ended in May. That same fate will befall Firefox 2.0 six months after Version 3.0 launches.

Alpha 6 can be downloaded for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux at the Mozilla.org site.

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Google Announces Beta Version of Google Desktop for Linux

Google has announced the release of a beta version of Google Desktop for Linux. Now available on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, the Google Desktop application allows users of every major operating system to search their desktop and the Web as quickly, easily and comprehensively as they search the Web with Google.

Major features of Google Desktop for Linux (beta) include:

- Comprehensive Indexing: Users can search the full text of virtually all their computer's content, including text, PDF, PS, source code, HTML files, email from Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org documents, Man and Info pages, folders, images, and music. Google Desktop for Linux can even find previous versions of files or recover those that have been accidentally deleted.

- Quick Search Box: The Quick Search Box is the fastest way to do Web and desktop searches. Hitting the command key twice calls it up, instantly displaying results as users type.

- Gmail and Web History Search: Not everything users are looking for resides on their computer. Google Desktop for Linux makes it easy for users to simultaneously search their Gmail webmail, Web search history and the Web at large. And because their index is stored locally on their own computer, users can even access their Gmail and Web history while they're offline.

With this release, Google Desktop joins the Picasa, Google Earth and Google Toolbar for Firefox applications among Google's offerings for Linux. In addition to creating products that run on Linux, Google supports the Linux community in a variety of ways, such as releasing open source code, running the Summer of Code and hosting tens of thousands of open source projects on Google Code.

Google Desktop for Linux (beta) was developed by Google's Beijing engineering team, and is available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, Korean and Portuguese. It runs on Debian 4.0, Fedora Core 6, Ubuntu 6.10, SUSE 10.1, and Red Flag 5, and can be downloaded for free at desktop.google.com.

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Google extends pay-per-action advertising beta worldwide

Advertisers currently in the beta test should see an alert in their AdWords account informing them that they can create PPA ad campaigns.

Google plans on Thursday to open its pay-per-action (PPA) advertising beta test to a wider set of its AdWords advertisers, including those outside the U.S.

Advertisers currently in the beta test, which began in March, should see an alert in their AdWords account informing them that they can create PPA ad campaigns. And other AdWords users who have enabled AdWords conversion tracking and have received over 500 conversions from cost-per-click or cost-per-impression ad campaigns the past 30 days will automatically be added to the PPA beta test "on a rolling basis."

PPA ads allow advertisers to pay only when a specific action occurs, such as signing up for a newsletter or purchasing a product. While they are often seen as a way to combat click fraud, or invalid clicks in Google parlance, Rob Kniaz, Product Manager for AdWords Pay-Per-Action, insists Google doesn't think of it that way.

Kniaz sees PPA ads complementing Google's other ad programs. "Most advertisers tell us they're insatiable for getting as many conversions as possible," he said. "This really feeds their hunger [for that]."

"If you have some measurable action online," Kniaz added, "this is a good way to monetize it."

Alexandre Douzet, EVP and GM of TheLadders.com, a high-end job search site, said in a statement that PPA advertising helps his company make the most of its marketing budget.

"At TheLadders.com, we are big proponents of marketing efficiency, so the ability to supplement our existing cost-per-click campaigns with a model that rewards qualified leads makes a lot of sense to us," he said.

Google is only showing PPA ads on sites in its AdSense network. AdSense publishers have the option of selecting PPA ads for display individually, by group, or by keywords related to their sites.

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Google To Release "Stalker Search" in Public Beta

We speak lightly of the "Google empire", about Google's "big brother" tendencies, and the many instances in which Google has acted "evil". But as nervous as we may be, Google consistently uses their mass of data to develop better search products. Google does a phenomenal job of consolidating meaningful information and translating it into more relevant results. Furthermore, Google has consistently resisted government access to search records and has publicized users' ability to turn off personal data gathering. We have been candid about Google's collection of personal information because it has, to date, yielded greater benefits to us than privacy risks.


But in the past few weeks, Google may have finally crossed the threshold of Too Much Information. Consider the following:

"Google Partners with States for Public Information Search": In April, Google announced that it will work with four state governments (Arizona, California, Utah and Virginia) to make public records more accessible. Information related to education, real estate, health care and the environment will soon be fully indexed and searchable, including social security numbers, financial records, health histories, and more.

"Google Image Search Adds Facial Recognition": Last week, Google quietly added facial-recognition capabilities to its image search. By including the string "&imgtype=face" after a given search, Google will return only photos with recognizable faces. Ars Technica speculates, "one day Google's image search may be able to find faces of specific people based on image analysis/recognition alone instead of relying on the text associated with that image to identify the person in the photo." There are already image search services that do this, but they require users to upload their own photos for analysis. Google image search, on the other hand, already has an enormous database that could easily match names and faces.

"Google Street View Photographs Real People": Yesterday, Google released Street View for Google Maps. Street View shows a 360 degree eye-level image of city streets, as documented by Google's traveling camera. Street View has already captured thousands of recognizable people, including potential burglars, sun bathers, porn-store patrons, and even one dead man. It was all very entertaining until people began finding their own photos. Some ground-floor city residents are especially upset, like this woman, whose cat Monty was photographed through the window of her apartment.

So, mix Google's searchable public records, facial recognition and car-side camera (that can take photographs inside your house) with the existing Personal Search History and Google's extended data retention aaannnd voila! You've just created a stalker technology better than the combined dreams of Homeland Security, the Facebook Feed, and your Mom.

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Free Text Messaging Gadget for Google Desktop unveiled by CallWave in beta

Mobile application provider CallWave has just released the beta version of its Free Text messaging gadget for Google Desktop. This tool allows mobile users to send text messages directly from their desktop itself.

The new text messaging gadget from CallWave will run in the “Communication” section of Google Desktop, and will allow users to view a list of contacts as well as select the person they would like to send a text message to.

A CallWave company official said that with consumers having difficulty text messaging using a mobile phone, its text messaging gadget will make it easier for users to contact members straight from their own PC.

CallWave’s new Free Text Messaging gadget also supports CallWave’s existing services such as CallWave Vtxt, a voice-to-text transcription service that integrates voice and text into an archive that can be accessed from a personal Web page.

“One of the largest barriers to text message usage is that it is difficult to text on a cell phone’s small interface,” said Kelly Delany, vice president of corporate marketing at CallWave, based in Santa Barbara, Calif.

“CallWave developed its text messaging gadget to simplify everyday communication activities - using the desktop to manage tasks that are difficult to do on a mobile phone”, she added.

Replies to messages can be sent to the users’ handset or email, depending on what their personal settings are. In the future, users will also be access to their stored messages stored in a searchable archive, which can be accessed from the users’ personal Web page.

The new gadget for Google Desktop from CallWave is available in beta. Users will be able to send unlimited messages during the beta phase from the United States and Canada.

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CRM for Google out of beta testing

customer relationship management tool designed to work with Google Apps is out of beta testing and available to the public, the makers of the product announced Monday.
CRM for Google, made by Etelos, is an attempt to integrate the functionality of a full-scale CRM system with the user interfaces of both Google Apps and Google personalized home pages, the vendor says. The beta version was released in late February, just after Google unveiled the enterprise version of Google Apps, a set of communication and collaboration tools.
Etelos says more than 1,500 businesses requested beta accounts. The version released today includes a marketing tool kit, contact management with customizable contact forms, task management, call scheduling and sales prospect tracking. There are also add-on modules such as blog publishing, an e-commerce catalog management and podcasting.
There are three price levels. The personal edition is free; the professional edition allowing multiple users to share tasks and projects is US$12 per user per month; and the enterprise edition giving users the ability to customize the application and select what type of data storage environment they will use costs US$40 per user per month.
Etelos is also in beta testing with a product called The Outlook Thing, which integrates Outlook contacts with CRM based on the Google home page or Google Apps.

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Google Unveils Voice Local Search Beta

Google has opened up the Voice Local Search beta for public use
It looks like Google still wants to take over the world, one service at a time. Google recently unveiled the Voice Local Search beta, a new service that allows users to dial a number and get local business information for free.
The Google service will first ask users to either say or enter a city and state, which can be done in three different manners -- either by saying the city and state, saying the zip code, or typing the zip code with the phone's keypad.
Users will then be able to search for local business by either name or category -- for example, you can search for "Performance Bicycle" or "bike shop." The service will then search and connect users to the service for free.
Unfortunately the service is only available in English for businesses and phones located in the United States.
To use the service, dial 1-800-GOOG-411.
As always with beta programs, don't expect it to work normally all the time. Google Voice Local Search may experience periods where it is unavailable, along with not working for all users.
Even though this service is another one that Google will likely have in beta forever, hopefully some of you guys find it useful.
There is a small handful of other services similar to the one Google launched, but Yahoo noticeably does not have one yet. I wouldn't be shocked if you read another news article/blog that describes a type of Yahoo 411 service.

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Free Text Messaging Gadget for Google Desktop unveiled by CallWave in beta

Mobile application provider CallWave has just released the beta version of its Free Text messaging gadget for Google Desktop. This tool allows mobile users to send text messages directly from their desktop itself.

The new text messaging gadget from CallWave will run in the “Communication” section of Google Desktop, and will allow users to view a list of contacts as well as select the person they would like to send a text message to.

A CallWave company official said that with consumers having difficulty text messaging using a mobile phone, its text messaging gadget will make it easier for users to contact members straight from their own PC.

CallWave’s new Free Text Messaging gadget also supports CallWave’s existing services such as CallWave Vtxt, a voice-to-text transcription service that integrates voice and text into an archive that can be accessed from a personal Web page.

“One of the largest barriers to text message usage is that it is difficult to text on a cell phone’s small interface,” said Kelly Delany, vice president of corporate marketing at CallWave, based in Santa Barbara, Calif.

“CallWave developed its text messaging gadget to simplify everyday communication activities - using the desktop to manage tasks that are difficult to do on a mobile phone”, she added.

Replies to messages can be sent to the users’ handset or email, depending on what their personal settings are. In the future, users will also be access to their stored messages stored in a searchable archive, which can be accessed from the users’ personal Web page.

The new gadget for Google Desktop from CallWave is available in beta. Users will be able to send unlimited messages during the beta phase from the United States and Canada.

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Google Image Labeler Uses Human Labor

Google Image Labeler launched today. It’s a game, based on Luis von Ahn’s ESP Game, that puts two random users together and asks them to label/tag an image. The idea is that if two people come up with the same label, it is probably a good one and will make Google’s image search better.

See Google Blogoscoped for the initial story and Danny Sullivan who found a ton of additional facts, including a video by Luis von Ahn stating that this game could effectively label all Google indexed images in two months.

I tried the game. It’s fun, in a why-am-I-doing-this kind of way. I focused on labeling everything I saw as “purple” and “Donald Trump”.

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Google switches on TV search beta

Google has launched a service designed to search TV content from US broadcasters including PBS, NBA, Fox News and C-SPAN.

The Google Video beta enables users to search across the closed captioning content of a growing number of TV programmes that the firm began indexing in December 2004.

Entering a query will return a list of relevant programmes with still images and text excerpts from the exact point in the programme where the search word or phrase was spoken, the search giant claimed.

"What Google did for the web, Google Video aims to do for television," said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of products.

"This preview release demonstrates how searching television can work today. Users can search the content of TV programmes for anything, see relevant thumbnails, and discover where and when to watch matching programmes.

"We are working with content owners to improve this service by providing additional enhancements such as playback."

The service offers a preview page which displays up to five still images and five short text segments from the closed captioning of each programme. It also provides information on upcoming episodes and shows when a programme will next be aired.

Viewers can search within a show for specific words or search more broadly for programme details and episode information.

Google said that the beta release of its video offering does not include Google AdWords advertising or playback options.

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