There is a clear sense of anticipation building at the Mozilla Foundation’s headquarters in Mountain View, California where engineers have been working for the past 34-36 months perfecting Firefox 3.0.

“This is the biggest release by far of Firefox,” says Mike Schroepfer, vice president of engineering at the non-profit that drives the web browser’s development.

“We couldn’t have done it without the two million people around the world already running it and the other 20,000 helping give us feedback, working out the bugs and constantly refining it,” he said.

Version 3.0 of Firefox is set to debut on 17 June and the Mozilla Foundation aims to try and set a world record for the most downloads in a day when the software is unleashed.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Behind the scenes of Firefox 3.0.

BBC - Newsbeat.

Dancing dogs, a mysterious model and a rather large snake. It’s Newsbeat’s Odd Box with Dominic Byrne.

BBC NEWS | Business | Military hardware at airshow.

A selection of the world’s fighter jets took to the skies at the Farnborough airshow. Watch the Eurofighter Typhoon, followed by the F16 Fighting Falcon and the F18A Super Hornet making aerial acrobatics look easy.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Into the Pixel video game art.

Artwork for video games is being displayed in an exhibition that is being transported around the world.

The Into the Pixel gallery has been on display at the E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles and will move on to Europe, starting in Germany in August.

Getty Research Institute Curator Louis Marchesano and artist Davidicus give a tour of the designs.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Punk-loving dancing robots.

Robots that recognise a certain kind of punk music are dancing at Institute of Contemporary Arts concerts.

They have been programmed to move up and down to music with specific characteristics.

Robots that can climb walls have been developed by scientists in the United States.

The robots can scale surfaces using the same principles behind electrostatic charges, which make balloons stick to ceilings after being rubbed.

Developed by a team in SRI’s Mobile Robotics and Transducers Programme, the machines are about the size of a remote-controlled car and have caterpillar tracks similar to those on toy tanks.

Inside these tracks are materials with electro-adhesive properties, which mean that when a current is applied, the tracks are attracted to the wall, preventing the robots from falling off.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Robots scale new heights.

No decision has been taken to create a huge database containing details of all phone calls, e-mails and internet use, security minister Lord West says.

The Information Commissioner has warned that such a database could be a “step too far for the British way of life”.

Asked in the House of Lords about that warning, Lord West said: “It is very early days as to where we go on this.”

But the switch from traditional phones meant the “entirely new” communication methods had to be assessed, he said.

There have been reports that the giant database is planned for the government’s proposed Communications Data Bill.

That led Information Commissioner Richard Thomas to call in his annual report this week for a full public debate first.

Mr Thomas acknowledged that “targeted and duly authorised” interception of communications by terrorists and other suspects could be “invaluable”.

But he warned that people must still “stand up” for their “fundamental liberties” and freedoms.

BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | ‘No decision’ on giant database.

Unsafe chargers are about a third of the cost of safe alternatives

Hundreds of thousands of unsafe chargers for mobile phones, games consoles and music devices could have made their way into the UK.

Trading standards officers studying dangerous chargers being imported from China say vast numbers are available on the internet and in shops.

Their tests show one brand can overheat or cause electrocution.

One of the chargers concerned has the code marking DE62347066. Others have no code and are called Travel Charger.

BBC NEWS | Business | Unsafe chargers ‘flooding’ the UK

The announcement of incorporation of Kramaley Games Ltd. (www.kramaley.com), a social game studio, comes as great news to the avid players of their released games. This means the studio has been progressing in the right direction. “Even though we are a small team and lack a lot of the resources of bigger companies, we have many ideas, some still un-published. Together with dedication & passion for games we will keep pushing forward,” commented David Tenemaza, director of the company.

The Hatchery

The Hatchery

Incorporation of the game studio makes them officially the newest kid on the block; which is dominated by big players such as SGN and Zynga. Many of these bigger companies are backed by huge investments, but this has not stopped the lads and gals at Kramaley Games Ltd. from creating hours and hours of fun for thousands of people using Facebook (www.facebook.com).

Their biggest hit so far has been The Hatchery, which has generated 165 million page views in a 3 month span and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Their new game Mafia Cities is getting widely popular as well even though it is their newest release. With a little over 6,000 daily players and over 1,200 reviews the game rates at 4.7 stars (out of 5). “We have a great following in our most popular games, for that we are thankful,” commented David. He also added, “We have released about 9 games in this 6 month span, and 3 of them were successful. I think that is a good ratio. Of course, the best ideas were left for last due to complexity and our fans can expect to see them sometime soon. There is none of their kind out now so I’m sure they will be hits.”

Even though the company is working on new games, the team has constantly been updating their current hits with new stuff to keep everybody happy. “The last month has been a little slow for us due to various reasons, but we have been picking it up and have some good updates coming for our players” said David.

When asked what the future holds for their newly established company while facing such serious competition, David replied “We aren’t worried about them, we have our ideas; they have theirs. All we have to do is play our cards right and everything else will follow.”

About Kramaley Games Ltd.

Kramaley Games Ltd. is a London, UK based social gaming studio that aims to create only the best Facebook game applications. What started as simply a passion for games by the founder, is now one of the few quality providers of entertainment on Facebook.

It’s nearly 40 years old but one leading research company says the days of the computer mouse are numbered.

A Gartner analyst predicts the demise of the computer mouse in the next three to five years.

Taking over will be so called gestural computer mechanisms like touch screens and facial recognition devices.

“The mouse works fine in the desktop environment but for home entertainment or working on a notebook it’s over,” declared analyst Steve Prentice.

He told BBC News that his prediction is driven by the efforts of consumer electronics firm which are making products with new interactive interfaces inspired by the world of gaming .

BBC NEWS | Technology | Say goodbye to the computer mouse.