Need Another Mobile OS?
If you are of the opinion that — even with Apple iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry OS, and others —
there still are not enough mobile operating systems in
existence, you'll be happy to note that smartphones
employing Mozilla's ( www.mozilla.org) Firefox mobile
OS are beginning to appear, initially in lower-cost phones
and emerging markets. The ZTE Open smartphone is
already on sale in Spain, and Alcatel soon will be offering
its One Touch Fire unit with the Firefox OS. As of this
writing, Sprint has announced plans to release a related
product, but so far the commitment has yet to translate
into a product.
According to Mozilla, "Firefox OS includes all the
things people need from a smartphone out of the box —
calls, messaging, email, camera, and more — as well as
the things you wish a smartphone offered. Firefox OS
also includes built-in social features with Facebook and
Twitter, HERE Maps with offline capabilities and smart
walking, driving, and public transit directions, much-loved
features like the Firefox Web browser, a new ability to
discover one-time use and downloadable apps, Firefox
Marketplace, and much more." The organization claims
that "operators, OEMs, and developers" are showing keen
interest in this open source alternative platform that —
being based on a web browser — is more Web friendly
and can run HTML5 apps. Many observers aren't
convinced that the world needs it, however, or even
that it will be possible to slip into an already crowded
market. Either way, you can watch the official demo at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu8q-oISbas&
feature=youtube. ▲
COMPUTERS and NETWORKING
Free Secure Browsing
While your standard garden-variety browser comes with an optional setting for "private browsing," we all know that it isn't really all that private. Some sites manage to set cookies in spite of your settings, and
because your IP address is readily detectable, they can tell if not exactly who you are, pretty close to where you
are; plus, what kind of computer and software you are using, and some other information. That's why you get
customized ads telling you about the homemakers in your neighborhood who make $3,000 a week tasting bran
muffins. If you really want to browse anonymously, you need to go through a proxy server so your IP address
isn't detectable. If you want to be nearly impossible to trace, you need to go through an entire network of proxy
servers. That sounds complicated but, in fact, you just need to download the Tor browser from
www.torproject.org, install it, and start surfing.
Tor ("The Onion Router") was designed as a project of the
US Naval Research Laboratory and is an adaptation of Firefox.
Be aware that: (1) no browser is 100 percent anonymous, but
this comes pretty close; and ( 2) you will experience noticeably
slower data transfers because of all the "virtual tunnels" that the
signals traverse. Right now, the Internet thinks my machine's IP
address is 78.108.63.44, which places me in Vallentuna, Sweden
which is a bit north of Stockholm. I'm pretty sure that is incorrect.
The browser is free and available for Win32, Mac OS X, and
Linux/BSD/Unix. You are encouraged, however, to donate to the
project if you like it. ▲
EVENTS, ADVANCES, AND NEWS
■ The Alcatel One Touch will offer the
Firefox mobile OS.
September 2013 9
■ The Tor browser uses multiple proxy servers to
provide anonymity.