Mozilla put up release candidate versions of its newly updated Firefox 4 web browser for Android and Maemo operating systems just last week. In a quick turnaround, the full versions of both are now widely available, bringing the popular browser’s look and user-friendly functionality to the smallest set of screens.
The mobile version of Mozilla’s browser is designed to play nice with its bigger siblings, with users able to sync everything from their browsing history and bookmarks to their passwords between any and all desktops, laptops and mobile devices that they use. The sync feature is even able to save the exact position you leave a website at on your home computer and then call it up when the browser launches on your Android phone.
Another feature allows users to customize their browser experience using “personas,” which can change the colors in the user interface and add images to toolbars. There’s also the awesomely named Awesome Screen, a one-screen depository for all bookmarks, browsing history and user-defined search engines, along with Twitter integration, a “Save as PDF” option for webpages (neat!) and the ability to search for text on the page.
iPhone users are likely drooling over some of these features; Apple‘s Safari browser can’t even search for text on a page!
Firefox has proven itself to be a capable browser for desktops and laptops, and it looks to offer quite an improvement over the Android’s built-in web browser. Nokia users have reason to celebrate too of course, as the Linux-based, open-source Maemo operating system that powers some of the company’s phones also gets the new mobile release.
