Firefox 34 Adds Browser-Based Voice Calling, Blocks POODLE Attacks

Web browsers were originally all about enabling users to view Web content. With Mozilla's new Firefox 34 browser, the browser's purpose expands to become a broader communications platform that enables users to talk to each other in audio calls. Firefox 34 entered beta on Oct. 16 and is expected to be generally available at the end of November. The new communications feature is being branded by Mozilla as Firefox Hello, and it is based on the open-source WebRTC (Real Time Communications) project technology that is also supported by Google's Chrome browser. With Firefox Hello, users can simply share a Web link to initiate a call, without the use of any additional plug-ins. Firefox Hello can also be complemented with the Firefox Accounts system to enable a contact list of users that can be called. The Firefox 34 release is the first beta release from Mozilla to include the WebIDE developer console that has been in the Firefox Aurora alpha release branch since July. Firefox 34 Beta also includes Mozilla's Enhanced Tiles feature, which provides users with links from Mozilla partners on the new Firefox tab page. On the security front, Firefox 34 is set to disable support for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0, which is vulnerable to the recently reported POODLE attack. In this slide show, eWEEK takes a look at some of the features in Firefox 34.