Mozilla Reveals Plans for Firefox 3.2

Mozilla is planning to include simple-text commands and desktop web apps in the next version of Firefox. Firefox 3.2 will see the company build the Mozilla Labs project, Ubiquity, into the browser. Ubiquity allows users to type natural language phrases into the browser to perform certain tasks, such as typing map 10 Downing Street to instantly see a Google map of that address, or share-on-delicious to bookmark the site you’re currently visiting on the social news site

Vodafone, Hutchison to Merge in Australia

Tough economic times have triggered an upheaval in Australia’s $13 billion a year mobile sector with its number three and four players Vodafone Australia and Hutchison 3 forced into merger. The unexpected move will see hundreds of jobs cut as the two companies streamline their combined $4 billion a year businesses and take aim at SingTel Optus’s number two market position

Green Plug’s Universal Power Adapter Still Struggling for Support

Consumer electronics manufacturers, usually quick to adopt standards that make their devices interoperable, have balked at switching to a universal power supply. Green Plug, a startup that makes components for a USB-based single power source system, drew a favourable response from readers when the Standard wrote about the technology last summer. But gadget makers seem to have no compelling financial incentive to adopt Green Plug’s technology. It would require them to add Green Plug’s chip, or similar hardware and software, into every phone, camera, or music player they build, making them more expensive and more complicated to build

Parking Ticket Leads to a Virus

Hackers have discovered a new way of duping users onto fraudulent web sites: fake parking tickets. Cars in the US had traffic violation tickets placed on the windscreen, which then directed users to a web site. The web site claimed to have photos of the alleged parking violation, but then tricks users into downloading a virus

Spray-On Solar Panels Developed

Taking a leaf from the beauty industry, scientists have devised a way to make solar panels cheaper and more efficient — by spraying them on. Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), in Canberra, solar company Spark Solar Australia, and Finnish materials company Braggone Oy are collaborating on a three-year project that could transform the production of solar cells