Science & Technology World

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--John Lilly wants it both ways. Working at
Mozilla Corporation since 2005 and as chief executive since early
2008 , he helped oversee a remarkable achievement. Mozilla has built
the Firefox browser from a largely unsuccessful remnant of the
Netscape era of the 1990 s into the browser that nearly a quarter of
people on the Web use . Now the challenges are different. First, for
new growth, Mozilla must make its open-source browser appeal to an
even more mainstream crowd, one that's more interested in working
and playing online than in sticking it to Microsoft or being part of
a cause. Second, it's got to keep the loyalty of the technically
savvy early adopters and Web developers that Google now has been
courting with its Chrome browser. "We have to do both," Lilly said in
an interview at Mozilla headquarters here. "We have to be a better
browser for your standard everyday user of the Web who uses IE now,
but I think we have to redouble our efforts to be good for Web
developers." The world changed for Mozilla when Chrome burst onto
the scene in 2008 . Mozilla didn't see itself as complacent, but
Chrome was a wake-up call that "clarified some of our priorities,"
Lilly said, including snappy performance. "It made some things real
crisp," Lilly said. Indeed, in the months after Chrome's arrival,
these priorities appeared in Mozilla's Firefox planning: "Observable
improvements in user- perceptible performance metrics such as
start-up, time to open a new tab, and responsiveness when interacting
with the user interface. Common user tasks should feel faster and
more responsive." And future versions of Firefox likely will look
more like Chrome embracing some of its less obtrusive framing of
Web content and applications. 'Web-native' Google Mozilla's biggest
rivals before, Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari ,
came from companies firmly rooted in the era of desktop computers
and operating systems. Not so Google, which not only has Web-based
applications such as Google Docs and Gmail to support, but also a
browser-based operating system called Chrome OS. "Competing was hard
but at some level simple. Google is much more Web-native," Lilly
said.

A standard for a universal phone charger was approved this week by
the International Telecommunication Union, a branch of the United
Nations. The Universal Charging Solution will enable the creation of
one-size-fits-all chargers that can be used on any future phone,
according to the ITU . The standard is based on input from the GSM
Association, which expects the shift to eliminate 51 ,000 tons of
redundant chargers, or 13.6 million tons of greenhouse gas
emissions each year. Based on Micro-USB , the new chargers will also
be energy efficient. "Universal chargers are a common-sense solution
that I look forward to seeing in other areas," Malcolm Johnson,
director of ITU's telecommunication standardization bureau, said in
a statement. Manufacturers are not required to adopt the new
chargers, but some have already signed up, such as Sony Ericsson,
according to the BBC .

Nokia has delayed the release of its N900 Internet tablet. The N900 was previously set to arrive in October--and Nokia's preorder site still states that. However, it is now set for release "during November," Peter Schneider, head of Maemo marketing at Nokia, said Thursday in a post . Schneider did not state the reason for the delay, but Reuters reported that the company is waiting for more feedback from developers. N900 , which costs $649 , is part cell phone and part computer . It's considered a potential game-changer for Nokia, which is pushing it as "fusing the power of the computer, the Internet and the mobile phone." The device uses Nokia's Linux-based Maemo 5 operating system to offer multitasking, Web browsing via Mozilla, a touch screen, and slide-out keyboard. It includes an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 1 GB of application memory, and 32 GB of storage (expandable to 48 GB with a MicroSD card). It measures 4.4 inches by 2.4 inches and features a 3.5- inch widescreen display.The device also sports a 5- megapixel camera.

Carl Icahn, who launched a shareholder insurrection at Yahoo last year over its handling of a takeover offer from Microsoft, is leaving Yahoo's board of directors. MarketWatch reported Friday that Icahn has informed the company he's moving on to other interests. It's been a over a year since he forced his way onto the board after expressing his displeasure at Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft's offer to acquire the company , which at one point was valued at $33 a share. Yahoo's stock closed at $17.22 on Friday. Yahoo confirmed Icahn's departure, and said in a statement: "Carl has been an important member of our Board and has helped us through some significant transitions. We are all grateful for his active role shaping the future of Yahoo." Icahn has recently turned his famously wandering eye to struggling financier CIT Group, offering it a $6 billion loan . In a letter to Yahoo, he said "I don't believe that it is necessary at this time to have an activist on the Board of Yahoo and currently, my attention is focused on other matters." He expressed his support for CEO Carol Bartz and the pending search deal with Microsoft , two strategic decisions that he said he was " proud to have played a role" in bringing to fruition. "Carol is doing a great job and I believe the Microsoft transaction will provide great long term benefits, the potential of which many still do not understand," Icahn wrote in the letter. His departure leaves Yahoo with 11 board members, which will decrease again to 10 when current director Maggie Wilderotter leaves at the end of the year.