The beta version of Firefox 5 was released a few days ago. Firefox 5 beta comes with plenty of new features for the benefit of users as well as web developers. The first beta version of Firefox 5 is currently available for download.

The release of Firefox 5 beta will only be the first step of a rapid development plan from the company. Firefox 5 beta was released right after Firefox 4.0 as a move to stick to this all new rapid development scheme. It is expected that newly released beta version will soon be followed by Firefox 6 and Firefox 7. A representative from Mozilla has confirmed the fact.

According to a statement made by the representative, the next version of Firefox will be released within five weeks of testing. Since a major Firefox version will be released every 6 weeks, users were advised not to expect a drastic change between the versions. As for the current release, it includes a Firefox channel switcher.

The channel switcher allows users to move between Aurora and Beta versions of Firefox. The objective of this feature is to test the different development stages as well as quality. Mozilla has taken a different approach by delivering fewer enhancements and features per version at a faster rate.

Apart from the ability to switch Firefox development channels, the many features of Firefox 5 beta include support for CSS animations, networking performance, memory, JavaScript andimproved canvas along with improved desktop environment integration for Linux users. In addition to that, the beta version will also offer improved standards support for HTML5, SMIL, MathML, and XHR.

As per the statement made by the representative from Mozilla, the new features, namely stability, performance enhancements, and CSS Animation support, will allow web developers to create more exciting web experiences. The Firefox 5 Final is expected to be released on 21^st June 2011.

According to a new research made public by ComScore, Google Maps has managed to become the number one most popular connected application in the UK. According to the research, over 6.4 million people in the UK have used the Google Maps mobile application. The application comes in handy for navigating purposes. Yahoo Weather has secured the second place while Facebook had fallen to the third spot with 3.5 million users.

As of now, the term ‘connected apps’ refers to applications that transfers data over the network of an operator. This definition rules out widely successful gaming applications such as Angry Birds.

It came as a surprise to many tech enthusiasts and experts that a Yahoo application has managed to top social networking giant Facebook in a popularity contest. Yahoo supplies the weather details for the embedded application on the iPhone platform. As for the Google application, it comes preloaded on Android handsets as well as iPhones.

On the other hand, most experts believe that Facebook’s performance is indeed admirable given the fact that the applications don’t come preloaded with most handsets. Google Maps however, performed exceptionally with 6.4 million users in the month of April this year. But most experts believe that the fact that the application comes preloaded with all iPhone and Android devices was a major leverage to beat Yahoo’s application as well as Facebook.

Yahoo Stocks, YouTube, eBay and Google Mobile has also managed to make appearances at the top 10 of the list while Sky has also shown significant success. Sky+, Sky Live Football Centre and Sky Sports have also made appearances at the top 20 while the novelty application Talking Tomcat secured the no. 15 spot with over 400,000 users. To the surprise of many, Twitter did not make an appearance anywhere on the list.

Have you heard tech savvy people talking about Web 2.0? What did you suddenly think after hearing it? You couldn’t believe there are versions for web, right? Yes, same as for any other software, web also has versioning. So, what’s new in web 2.0? Answer is; a lot!

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End-user controlled content for websites is one of the key features in Web 2.0. My Space, Face Book and Hi5 are some of the social networking sites with Web 2.0 features already being included. But using Web 2.0 features for knowledge sharing is some thing, that we all should recognize and appreciate. Wikipedia is all about sharing and developing knowledge.

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia collaboratively written by many of its readers. Wikipedia runs on a special kind of website called “Wiki” exclusively developed for Wikipedia by its developers. Most of the users who refer Wikipedia are active users who write new articles and improve existing articles frequently. Any one can freely register with Wikipedia and then, they can start adding new “knowledge” content to Wikipedia with no restrictions.

When Wikipedia articles are written, the authors will have to go through a short introduction on structuring the article and formatting it. This is a must for new article writers since Wikipedia articles should adhere to higher standards and should be genuine. Just to keep the genuineness of content, Wikipedia tracks the changes made by users with the content added or altered, user registration information and user’s IP address. This way, it is easy to track users if there is any dispute over the content added.

Not all your content will stay in Wikipedia forever. Some of your articles may be improved by other users with additional information and references. Sometimes, others can challenge your articles for facts and genuineness. When such a conflict arises, Wikipedia temporary locks the article until the debate is over in the “discussion” tab of the article. Wikipedia also has its reviewers who review the articles for their standards and facts. If you do not mention enough references for what you present in your article, there is a chance that your article or a part of the article is removed.