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Let’s not mince words: any way you slice it, RIM’s built-in browser for BlackBerry renders sites about as well as your $199 netbook renders Avatar . The good news is that we’ve got every reason to believe the company recognizes the problem and is working to solve it — but on a completely unrelated front, they’re trying to speed up the process of fetching raw data off the interwebs, too. In a patent app made public this month, RIM’s lab geeks describe setting up a proxy server right on the phone that would intercept the browser’s web requests and bundle, compress, and send them to a gateway on the other end (BIS, we …

We’ve known for a while that Facebook users are getting a lot older , but now new data released by Nielsen reveals that the number of seniors (65 and older) using the web has increased by 6 million in the last five years. Not only that, but nearly half of online seniors visited Facebook or YouTube last month, making them their 3rd and 4th most visited online destinations. The research confirmed a trend that we’ve seen in recent years: that more seniors are becoming active on the web. In November of 2004, there were 11.3 million active seniors online. In November 2009, that number jumped by 55% to 17.5 million. In addition, they spend …

The successful rise of Mozilla’s Firefox browser is one of the most storied tales of the open source community. Despite the browser’s success, however, Mozilla remains hugely financially dependent on Google — possibly perilously so. While some people don’t realize it, Mozilla makes the lion’s share of its revenues from Google . In fact, more than 90 percent of Mozilla’s revenue comes from search-related deals, and in Google’s case, that’s in exchange for a search box in Firefox that steers users of the browser into Google’s lucrative search-and-ad ecosystem. Mozilla’s deal with Google is set to expire in November 2011, and there are good …

Mac users dying to get their hands on Chrome can now do so as Google has just recently released a beta of the popular browser. Make no mistake, this is an actual public beta release and not a developers preview which was previously available. Additionally, Google has let us know that those running the Chrome developer

Some might say that Microsoft just can’t catch a break. Others might argue that it’s getting exactly what it deserves. Whatever your take on the situation , it seems as if Microsoft may finally have the EU off of its monstrous back (at least momentarily ), as a report has surfaced noting that said software giant is nearing approval for a new browser ballot screen demanded by the European Commission. As you well know by know, rivals Mozilla, Opera and Google all submitted change requests to EU regulators in hopes of having browser selection boxes randomized and not displayed within Internet Explorer. Purportedly, the all-clear will come down on December 15th (or earlier), and the antitrust case will be settled as …

A couple weeks ago, Google unveiled its Chrome Extensions site after clues began popping up that a full-on push for extension support in their browser was imminent. Unfortunately, that site was only meant for extension developers who were allowed to upload their creations to Google. On the page, Google promised that end users who were looking for these extensions would have a way to do so “soon.” That will happen next week, we’ve learned. Two sources close to the situation say that Google plans to unveil its Extensions Gallery at some point next week, probably in the middle of the week. This makes sense since Add-on-Con 09 , a conference devoted to browser add-ons, is taking place next Friday…

As mobile platform makers grant more and more system functionality to their browsers, the once distinct lines between native applications and web applications are beginning to blur. Over the past few months, HTML5 and other advances in web technology have allowed developers on various platforms to access to GPS coordinates, accelerometer data, and more. Plenty of limitations still exist (it’s still mostly impossible to access the microphone/camera on most smartphones from the browser, for example), but one big hurdle might be on the way out: hardware-based acceleration, otherwise known as the goods required for graphic-heavy gaming. The key …

I just read an upbeat post about Chrome OS from Bob Morris , the director of Mobile computing at ARM. Here’s an excerpt: It truly levels the playing field for platforms. For the most part today, the OS and HW are closely connected and this drove platforms that slowly innovated. Chrome OS blows this apart, the OS is the browser, which makes the hw irrelevant since applications are written in HTML5 and JavaScript they run on the browser without hw ties. Wow … coming from a company that builds CPUs that should worry me … NOT! ( read more ) I understand why Bob …

DING! The school bell rings. Time for recess at Mobile Industry Elementary. Tension is high. During the last break, Verizon took a swing at that little Apple boy by pointing out all the things his toys could do that Apple’s toys couldn’t. The hallways erupted with a deafening “Ooooooooh!”; all of the kids began to form a circle around the two. “Fight, fight, fight, fight!” they clamored. Suddenly, Apple’s dopey friend AT&T dove in. “ I CHOOSE YOU, LUKE WILSON! “, he shouted. Luke Wilson appeared from a cloud of smoke, throwing two vagrant punches before succumbing to his …

Your Roku box just got a whole lot more interesting. Roku, if you remember, makes the Roku player, a small device that sits next to your TV and plays Netflix, Amazon Video, and MLB selections. Roku has just added ten new channels to that line-up and built a fascinating platform for adding more down the line. The current channels will include: blip.tv, Facebook Photos, Flickr, FrameChannel, Mediafly, MobileTribe, Motionbox, Pandora, Revision3 and TWiT. More channels will be available here shortly. The channels require you to authenticate with the service provider – you don’t enter any passwords on the Roku box, at least…