Whenever we think about browsers we always think about performance, system resources and features – never about how much energy it consumes. However, when you think about it, it is one feature that is very important, as many of us will be viewing the browser on a laptop.

Looking at the graph you will see how many watts and how long the battery life on the test laptop while browsing news websites lasts. Opera 11 looked to be the most power hungry, with Firefox 4 coming in second next to Internet Explorer 9.

Three tests were run in all on the Intel laptop running Windows 7, the first was just to open a blank page, the second a new website and the third test was to run Galactic. Visit Mashable for all four graphs. Now we do not know about you, but we care more about how fast a browser is rather than getting a couple more minutes out of the battery on a laptop.

Is energy-efficiency important to you when it comes to choosing a browser?

More About: Internet Explorer 9, web browser

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BBC News makes a point of the fact that Microsoft’s browser has been losing market share at an alarming rate, and the company believes that the RC that is now live and ready for download will leapfrog competitors. We find it interesting that during beta testing IE9 was downloaded 25 million times – wonder how long it would have been if Google Chrome had not been on the scene?

This release candidate is said to be the final stage to pick up any bugs before its public release, when that will be we do not know. ZDNet has been looking at some of the new RC features, and is its new interface will allow you to pause and resume downloads in the download bar.

There are a number of other minor appearance changes, but the most important is the new privacy and security features. These are what users worry about the most, and it is no secret that Internet Explorer has been a little behind its rivals in this department.

To give you an idea of how IE9 RC looks then take a look at the video review below, which is the first feature complete release. Will you be downloading once the full version is made available?

More About: Internet Explorer 9, microsoft, web browser

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This is just what RockMelt had on their mind, and an article here on the official blog explains what the RockMelt beta browser can do for you. The tag line explains that the social browser is “designed around you” and hopes to bring a closer connection to browsing the web, and sharing information with friends.

RockMelt beta is said to be fast and secure, which is based on Google’s Chrome browser thanks to using the source code as RockMelt’s base. They are currently giving out invitations, although expect numbers to be limited on a first come basis, so get in early if you do not mind a few bugs along the way.

Read the full article to see how RockMelt is backed by the cloud, and gives you true personalization. Facebook and Twitter Friends will be just a click away in the new social browser. Have you had an invitation? Let us know your thoughts on their beta.

More About: beta, RockMelt, web browser

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Brian X. Chen of Wired has spent some time with the app since it came out on Wednesday. He first had to find a website with loaded Flash video, and found the search difficult. Many websites which feature a lot of video including the likes of YouTube and DailyMotion have already moved to HTML5.

It was also found that 54% of web video is now HTML5 compatible. He was eventually pointed to a website called CWTV. As soon as Skyfire knew he was trying to play a Flash video, a play button became available at the bottom of the browser. In less than five seconds an episode of ‘Smallville’ was being streamed.

Some problems were discovered when the TED Talks website was loaded. The site is a gallery of Flash videos and the browser wouldn’t transcode them. The author had a tough time finding reasons to use Skyfire, but concluded that the main reason for it is that many porn sites still rely on Flash. This could be for a limited time because his ‘research’ says that most porn sites will be changing to HTML5 soon.

More About: iPhone, Skyfire for iPhone, web browser

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As with many Beta downloads there have been problems reported from users with IE9. Microsoft also revealed that research showed that users only use twelve features found in a browser regularly. This led to the less cluttered feel to the IE9 interface, and has a similar look of the Windows 7 OS where users see a page’s content first.

The company said “We are particularly excited about developer reaction and feedback to IE9 Beta, with 37 million pages views of our Test Drive site and 13,000 pieces of feedback submitted,” and also said that IE9 is “on track to be our fastest adopted browser ever.”

Have you downloaded IE9? What do you think of it?

Source: PCWorld.

More About: Internet Explorer 9, microsoft, web browser

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The video has been embedded below, I was pleasantly surprised as I had been led to believe that OS 6.0 was slow and laggy on the 9700, this video shows a snappy web browser and quick switching between applications.

The new native web browser looks great, sites seem to load very quickly and there are new features and enhancements which look to make web browsing on the 9700 an even more enjoyable experience than before.

The new camera software looks great, 9700 users running OS 6.0 will get face detection which I’m sure will prove to be a popular addition.

After watching the video I can’t wait for OS 6.0 to launch for the Bold 9700, can you?

Source: BGR

More About: BlackBerry Bold 9700, web browser

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That’s not the only improvement in Firefox, there is a new feature called “Tab Set”, which allows you to group your tabs. This is certainly a great feature, but it is the hardware acceleration that is of interest to most. Most browsers have this in one shape or another, and helps to reduce the load on the CPU and allows the graphics processor to do some of the work instead.

Mozilla has managed to come up with this by using Windows’ Direct2D interface; this not only increases the display of text, but also graphics as well. Stephen Shankland from Cnet News points out that this new feature will only work on the newer versions of Microsoft Windows.

Mozilla has designed Firefox 4 to be their fastest web browser yet, something they need to keep on top off, as they are now competing with the likes of Google Chrome – the new browser that has taken the market by storm.

More About: Firefox 4, web browser

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As reported from VG247, Pachter made the bold comment when speaking in the latest episode of GameTrailers show Pach Attack.

When quizzed on the possibility on the console getting a web browser like the PS3, he had this to say: “The 360 doesn’t have a browser, and never will, because Microsoft’s vision when they made the original Xbox was to own the internet. ”

He then explained this, by saying that this is all down to ownership. Since Microsoft would want to own the internet and control what passes through their Xbox 360, the likelihood of a web browser happening is slim to none.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his interview came towards the end when he had this to say about Microsoft:

”Microsoft is going to end up charging you for everything you do, but they won’t charge you; they’ll charge the person you’re paying.”

Let us know your thoughts on this comments. Do you agree with him about the web browser claims or not?

More About: web browser

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