Mozilla Re-Enters War Zone With Firefox 3.1 Beta 1

As browser wars continue, Old Faithful fights back by adding some new components to its first beta version of Firefox 3.1, now available for download. The beta is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering system, and new features include Geolocation API, @font-face support, and audio and video tag support. Obviously created with developers and designers in mind, here are some detailed descriptions of the features and why they’re awesome.

Geolocation

With the integration of this JavaScript API, Firefox can now plot maps, give directions, attach location information to pictures, attach a source location to individual blog posts, etc. And although it exposes a single API to web developers, Mozilla reports that it “can potentially be backed by a number of different location sources. Examples include the Skyhook service, which guesses your location based on nearby access points, a GPS device in your mobile computer or hand-setting a fixed location where your desktop lives.”

Geolocation Interface

@Font-Face Support

The addition of the CSS @font-face property allows users to specify a true-type font file for rendering specific fonts on Web pages. This means Web designers can say "goodbye" to their Times New Roman and Arial prisons and get really creative. This is also good news for developers of non-English Web sites often dealing with users who don’t have access to high-quality fonts.

Video and Audio

Let’s hear it for the first beta from Mozilla to support

Mozilla Re-Enters War Zone With Firefox 3.1 Beta 1

Geolocation

@Font-Face Support

Video and Audio

Other Cool New Features

Not Without the Controversy

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