Mozilla releases a Firefox 4 Beta for Android

PERHAPS SENSING that it had not released a point or beta release for a while, Mozilla has offered Android and Maemo users another beta version of its mobile browser, Firefox 4.

If you are interested you can grab the latest Firefox 4 Beta now by going to the Android Market on a compatible Android handset or Nokia Maemo device.

Those who do will find the fastest performing Firefox 4 beta, according to a blog post from Mozilla, as well as a clutch of other nice features like faster startup, better page load times and improved responsiveness when panning and scrolling.

"In response to valuable feedback from the previous beta, this release greatly enhances performance. Our recent tests on Javascript benchmarks show Firefox 4 Beta is faster than the stock Android browser; roughly three times faster on Kraken, about twice as fast on Sunspider and slightly faster on V8," said the faceless Mozilla in a blog post.

"Everything from start-up time and page load time to responsiveness and panning and zooming are snappy in this release."

Also improved are stability, which we assume will translate into fewer crashes, a reduction in the amount of installation memory usage and resolution of some apparently obscure keyboard issues.

The beta is based on the desktop version of Firefox 4 and Mozilla said that the shared code means that the user experience is pretty much mirrored on both. Bookmarks and the like can therefore be shared across desktop and mobile versions and users can synchronise their passwords and forms data across multiple devices, too. µ