Firefox 5 released

Almost three months following Firefox 4′s release, Mozilla has posted final builds for Firefox 5 ahead of the official release date of June 21. The new accelerated release schedule Mozilla is using for Firefox development will see the next version of Firefox, Firefox 6, go into beta about two weeks following Firefox 5′s release.

The new release looks and runs very similar to Firefox 4, but it has a few changes under the hood. The official changelog will be made available here.

• Support for CSS transitions has been added
• The preference for “Do Not Track” has been moved to aid easier discoverability by users
• Improvements for canvas, JavaScript, and networking performance, and memory usage
• Improved standards support for HTML5, XHR, MathML, SMIL, and canvas
• Improvements to spell checking for various languages
• Improvements to Linux desktop environment integration
• Performance improvements for background tabs
• WebGL fixes: a fix for cross-domain textures and a fix to address the memory stealing issue

While Mozilla is pushing out new updates for Firefox, it is also working on a plan to end support for Firefox 3.5, which is now almost two years old. Users that are still on Firefox 3.5 may see a forced upgrade to 3.6.18 in the coming days.

 

Download links are available below:

• Windows (32-bit)
• Linux (32-bit) or Linux (64-bit)
• Mac OS X

Manfrotto Is Making One Crazy Looking Tripod Head (Video)

  When deciding to buy tripods, ball heads, lightstands, and umbrella brackets, I quickly learned that it’s worth it’s weight in gold to buy the best there is out there, and the best is usually made by Manfrotto. So I was a little curious when I heard they were releasing a new tripod head that allows smooth pivoting found in a video fluid head with the quick versatility found in photo ball head. Drew Gardner got his hands on the new Manfrotto MH055 Photo-Movie tripod head, and I must say this thing looks like it was made by aliens or something. It should be interesting to see the reviews on this once it comes out in June. Nothing is more annoying than having to carry around two different tripod heads for stills and photos so maybe this could be our answer. Check out the video below for a demonstration on why photo heads can’t be used for video and vice versa.

A Relatively Cheap Way To Get Started With Timelapse (Video)

Timelapse videos have becoming incredibly popular over the last year. If you happen to be one of the many photographers interested in getting into this growing feild, you may want to check out Kessler’s new basic controller. This gear is by no means cheap but it is far less expensive than it used to be. Check out the video over below created by Tom Guilmette.

Watch EA Sports Shoot The Madden 2012 Cover Live In Time Square (Video)

 

Here’s a clever idea… EA decided to make the cover shoot for Madden 2012 a promotion in itself. How did they do it? Well they created a studio in the center of Time Square in NY and allowed thousands of people to watch the photoshoot take place live, and in person.

BTS Of Nike Chosen Campaign: Extreme Sports At Night (Video)

 

I just ran across an incredible ad by Nike called “Nike Chosen.” The concept was to grab the best surfers, snowboarders, skaters, motocross, and BMX riders and film them doing their thing at night. The BTS footage (that can be found in the full post) is not as informative as I would like but if you pay attention to the details, there is a lot to be learned. The lighting, especially for the surfing session, is really amazing and although you may not ever do a shoot of this size, the same techniques could be used for your still photography at night.

Royal Dutch Mint Releases Coins With QR Codes

QR Codes are becoming more and more popular, and have started to pop up everywhere, now the Royal Dutch Mint has released some new coins with QR codes built in, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Mint in Utrecht.

The mint will be releasing a limited run of these coins in both gold with will cost 10 Euros and Silver which will cost 5 Euros, and if you scan the code on the coin it will your mobile phone it will take you to the Dutch Royal mints website.

We are not sure exactly how well the QR code will actually work when scanned from one of the coins, as the bigger of the two coins measures just 33mm in diameter.

Source The Rich Times, Crunch Gear

 

Windows 8 Menu Brings Windows 8 UI For Tablets To Windows 7

The recently held Microsoft D9 conference revealed many new features of upcoming Windows 8. Amongst all the features and UI related enhancements, replacement of classic Windows Start Menu with Windows 8 Side Menu is the most significant. It adds a tile at the right side of the screen, allowing you to access Share, Connect, Search, and many other features. This newly designed Start Menu is however for Windows 8 tablets, but according to official dev community it will going to work smoothly on PCs running Windows 8 as well. It not only revamps the whole way to initiate system search but offers direct access to your most favored web links and apps too. If you’re a Windows enthusiast and can’t wait to use newly released Windows 8 Start search on Windows 7, Windows8Menu is a Windows 7 application that emulates somewhat similar design and functionality of Windows 8 Start Menu.

It must be noted here that application is in pre-alpha stage, therefore, you may encounter some interface and functionality related bugs. It uses a bunch of images as background screens which can be replaced anytime. Open the downloaded package followed by pics folder to replace the wallpapers with your images. In pics folder, you can replace user.bmp with your profile picture. After you’ve replaced the images, run Win8Menu executable file with administrative privileges to get a preview of Window 8 tablet UI.

Apple May Hold New Mac Hardware Releases Until OS X Lion Launch?

Apple’s Mac OS X Lion will be available as a digital download from the Mac App Store some time next month, and we have been hearing rumors that a new MacBook Air is about to launch, although it seems Apple may hold this back and other new hardware until OS X Lion is released.

According to Apple Insider, Apple want to ship all their new hardware out with Mac OS X Lion, rather than release it now with users having to upgrade after just a few weeks or a month.

We still don’t have an official launch date for Mac OS X Lion as yet, all we know is that it will be available in July, as soon as we get some more information on the exact launch date we will let you guys know.

Source Dvice

Google Chrome 13 Enters Beta (video)

Google Chrome 13 browser has just entered the beta stage of its development live and brings with it some new features users have waited for since its initial launch back in September 2008.

Theses features include Instant Pages and a Print Preview feature which was first asked for after the launch back in 2008. Well its now arrived and provides the ability to preview your page before you print saving your toner and paper. After the jump is a video demoing the new Instant Pages feature now within Chrome 13 beta.

The new Print Preview feature uses Chrome’s built-in PDF viewer to show the page and updates automatically as you adjust your print settings. You can also choose to save any web page as a PDF file, using the “Print to PDF” option that’s automatically included in the printer list.

Using the Instant Pages in Chrome, you can save time waiting for pages to load as Instant pages will automatically generate webpages that load instantly.

Facebook iPad App Coming Soon

We have been hearing quite a lot this week about Facebook and their plans for mobile devices and tablets, first we saw details of Facebook’s new iPhone photo sharing app, and then there was the new of Facebook’s Project Spartan, which is reported to be a HTML5 based web store for apps.

Now comes the news that Facebook is about to launch its own dedicated Facebook app for the Apple iPad, according to the New York Times, and the app has been designed to be optimized for the iPad, and apparently Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been involved heavily in the applications development.

According to the report the Facebook iPad app features a ‘slick design’ and has been specifically designed with the iPad’s touchscreen interface in mind, and it is also reported to offer full screen images and video.

We are looking forward to seeing what the Facebook App is like when it launches, as soon as we get some more information on when it will be available we will let you guys know.

Source OSM

PowerSkin Juice Case For HTC 4G, Inspire And Desire HD (video)

If you find the battery life running a little low on your HTC smartphone it might be time to add a juice pack to help provide a little more power for those extended periods away from the grid.

If you are looking for a little extra battery power, PowerSkin has just unveiled their new battery case for the HTC 4G, Inspire and Desire HD which has been designed to double the devices battery life. It also provides a protective case to help protect your smartphone from drops and bumps. Watch the video after the jump to see a brief walk through of the PowerSkin.

The Powerskin is fitted with a 1500mAh battery estimated to provide up to eight hours of added battery life to your HTC smartphone. If this suits your needs the PowerSkin is now available for $60 from online stores.

Angry Birds ‘Mine And Dine’ Android Update Released (Video)

Rovio Mobile has updated Angry Birds for Android and the latest version features the new Mine and Dine update that we heard about recently, and it brings 15 new levels to the game.

The Angry Birds Mine and Dine update is available to download from the Android Market as an update to the existing app or the whole app can be downloaded for free, have a look at the video of it in action below.

Microsoft gets antitrust okay for Skype purchase, readies shockingly large wire transfer

Look out, world — Microsoft just crossed another hurdle in its bid to swallow Skype whole. Earlier today, US antitrust approval was given on Microsoft’s largest (proposed) acquisition, clearing the path for all sorts of Windows / Xbox / WP7-related VoIP shenanigans. While many are still questioning the logic here, Skype continually brought around 145 million users to the table per month even while it constantly bled money. Whatever the case, it looks as if the accountants in Redmond just got FTC permission to move $8.5b from one column to the next, and with an initial investment like that, we’re hoping for a number of updated features as the attack plan unfolds.

Yahoo

Reuters

LG Revolution review

The army of high-speed broadband phones is actively seeking new recruits to join its rapidly-growing force, and the LG Revolution is the latest to graduate from boot camp. We’ve witnessed the emergence of three Verizon LTE handsets in as many months, beginning with the HTC Thunderbolt and the Samsung Droid Charge a few weeks later. As if this wasn’t enough choice to tempt your tastebuds already, the LG Revolution — the entertaining climax to the classic 4G trilogy — was born one full moon after that. With three options, all so close to each other in dimension and features, it’s natural to compare all of ‘em and make the call on which one is the best of the bunch. Is LG’s first crack at Verizon’s LTE network truly a game-changer, as its name suggests? Or does this Revolution fail to even get its feet off the ground? Read on after the break to find out.

 

Qi-Hardware debuts free, open source wireless solution, not a threat to WiFi

Qi-Hardware has a bit of an obsession with free, open source, and underpowered. The latest project from this descendent of OpenMoko is a set of license free wireless boards called atben (for the company’s Ben NanoNote) and atusb for other laptops. The adapters rely on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard which powers 6LoWPAN and ZigBee. Don’t get confused though, this is not a replacement for WiFi — it’s more like long range Bluetooth (and it’s not compatible with either). Ben WPAN, as it’s being called, has a range of about ten meters in “standard” mode while pushing 250Kbps. Turning on the “non-standard” mode boosts throughput to (a still patience-testing) 2Mbps, but cuts the range in half. You can pick up pre-built adapters starting at €29.50 (about $42) for the atben, €41.30 ($59) for the atusb, or €59.00 ($84) for both at Tuxbrain. Don’t expect to just jam one into your Mac however — for now at least, Ben WPAN is a Linux only affair. (How often do you hear that?)

The Register

Tuxbrain

HP ships free TouchPads to homebrew devs, may want something in return

 

Like an anxious admirer, HP continues to lavish gifts on the lucky devs over at WebOS Internals. This time it’s sending them pre-release TouchPads as an enticement to get busy and boost the 9.7-inch slate’s app count before it launches next month. HP recently promised that “thousands” of TouchPad apps are on their way and, in addition to attracting big names like Skype and Amazon Kindle, it’s also ensured that legacy apps continue to be supported on WebOS 3.0. With nearly 600 unofficial goodies sitting pretty at PreCentral’s homebrew app gallery, HP clearly feels it makes sense to reach out in that direction too. And who said love was just a trick?