Mozilla had updated their popular Firefox browser to version 3.6.4 today, adding “crash protection.”
Crash Protection isolates third-party plug-ins when they crash, if you are using the Windows or Linux versions of the browser, allowing the main browser to remain stable.
If you are watching videos online, or playing games that require a third-party plug-in and that plug-in freezes, users can simply refresh their page and continue browsing “uninterrupted.”
As of version 3.6.4, Firefox offers “crash protection” for Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime and Microsoft Silverlight.
Firefox currently controls about 26 percent of overall browser market share.
Download the latest Firefox here: Mozilla Firefox 3.6.4
For more info on Crash Protection: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Crash_Protection
Result for: playing games
After first being confirmed for Japan and then the EU, the Nintendo DSi XL has now been confirmed for the United States as well, hitting U.S. shores in the Q1 2010.
The DSi XL, besides keeping most of the features of the DSi handheld intact, adds 4.2-inch screens, a 93 percent increase on any current model’s screen size.
As with the Japanese and European models, the unit will come with a standard touch pen and a longer touch screen stylus as well as DSiWare software.
Nintendo says the new, larger screens are “designed to let small groups gather around the device for playing games.”
The device is expected to retail for about $200 USD, $30 more expensive than the DSi.
Result for: playing games
The NPD Group followed up its recent sales figures for the U.S. games industry in the month of August with a new study titled “Kids & Cross-Entertainment Behaviors.” It suggests that a way for the games industry to recover from a recent slump in sales would be to increase targeting of the 12-and-under demographic. In the first half of 2009, kids of 12 and under accounted for 24 percent of games industry sales.
Households with kids in the age group account for 45 percent of total industry sales. The study notes that 57 percent of kids aged between 2 and 12 play games, while 62 percent use a computer.
“According to the US Census Bureau, there are 53.4 million [kids] ages 12 and under in the US, accounting for 17 percent of the population,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said as part of the study. “Yet for many industries, games included, they account for a much larger portion of total sales.”
Frazier also noted that the “Tween” demographic is a good target, with 75 percent in the age group playing games regularly.
