Firefox 3.6 Will Support Accelerometers – Beta Release Tomorrow?

mozilla_firefox_logoFirefox 3.6 beta was supposed to be made available for download today or yesterday, but so far I haven’t been able to find a download link for it – I can only assume that it might come out tomorrow instead?

Firefox 3.6 comes with bug fixes as well as some interesting improvements such as a 22.8% faster JavaScript engine compared to Firefox 3.5.3 and faster launching of the browser, according to a tests done by Betanews.

The increased speed is not enough to get up alongside with Apple’s Safari or Google’s Chrome browser, though. Compared with Internet Explorer 7 on a Windows Vista system, Firefox 3.6 is around 9 times faster while Chrome is almost 16 times faster.

Besides being faster when it comes to JavaScript, Firefox 3.6 also supports accelerometers, meaning if you have a web page and you tilt your laptop, the webpage will still look horizontally to you. A feature most people by now already knows from cellphones and some digital cameras.

Here’s a video to demonstrate it – looks really cool and I’m sure it will be a useful feature for those usually working with their laptop while tilting it…

8 thoughts on “Firefox 3.6 Will Support Accelerometers – Beta Release Tomorrow?”

  1. Wow, accelerometers, on my laptop? That’s awesome. Can’t wait for the lauch. One question though, how does it keep up with the compatibility issues. I mean, I only use FF and I have tons of ad-ons. Will they all be compatible with this new version?

    On a side note and not that I do not believe in you, cause otherwise I won’t be here, where did you get this figures – “Firefox 3.6 is around 9 times faster while Chrome is almost 16 times faster” thanks
    .-= DiTesco´s last blog ..Blog Action Day 2009 #BAD09 =-.

    Reply
    • Oh, I believe it was from the test done by Betanews – otherwise it was another site. I don’t remember, I should have mentioned it in the news if it wasn’t Betanews (which I did mention, but I’m not 100% sure they also tested the 9 and 16 times faster) – sorry!

      But thanks for the RT 🙂

      Reply
      • 9 to 16 times faster?? Wow,… that’s going to make a lot of different.
        .-= steppinout´s last blog ..Web Design Trends – 15 Awesome iPhone Apps Website =-.

        Reply
  2. Aside from using this on a netbook or laptop, this might inspire me to get a really long cord for my desktop and walk around the house with it. OK, maybe not.

    I wonder what is up with my system- I use Firefox and Chrome, and although I haven’t timed it, Firefox feels way faster to me. Every report I’ve seen says that the benefit of Chrome is speed, but I’m just not seeing it.
    .-= Evan Kline´s last blog ..5 Fantastic WordPress Plugins You May Not Know About =-.

    Reply
  3. It might be in your own best interest to delete Polprav’s comment. This is a new method of spamming. I first saw him on my blog and then 3 other blogs thereafter all with the same “Hello from Russia! Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?” I’m almost 100% sure he has absolutely no interest in linking back to this post. Click here to see the amount of blogs/sites, he’s spammed with this technique.

    BTW I’m still using Firefox 3.0.10 as I had issues like addon compatibility with Firefox 3.5. I’ll give 3.6 a try and see how well it goes with my present add ons. I’m still no getting the usefulness of the accelerometer thing. Seems like a waste of time to me.

    Reply
  4. Pingback: Firefox 3.6 Beta 1 Available After Two Week Delay — TechPatio

Leave a Comment