Netscape Bites The Dust December 31, 2007

Read more Broadband , Gizmodo UK , Online , Software , Technology

Anyone out there who remembers surfing during the ‘The Browser Wars’ will, no doubt, feel a little twinge at AOL’s decision to pull the plug on the ailing Netscape Navigator browser.

Back in the mid-1990s, Netscape was THE browser on the market, used by nearly 90% of Internet users. These days it’s just less than 1% and it’s that ‘lack of users’ AOL is blaming for the decision to stop supporting the product after Feb 1 2008. In his blog, lead developer Tom Drapeau commented:

“While internal groups within AOL have invested a great deal of time and energy in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator, these efforts have not been successful in gaining market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Recently, support for the Netscape browser has been limited to a handful of engineers tasked with creating a skinned version of Firefox with a few extensions.

AOL's focus on transitioning to an ad-supported Web business leaves little room for the size of investment needed to get the Netscape browser to a point many of its fans expect it to be. Given AOL's current business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in developing critically-acclaimed products, we feel it's the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reins fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox.”

Anyone else out there remember Netscape’s heyday?-Martin Lynch

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Budget Venturer HD DVD Player Not All That Cheap After All December 31, 2007

Read more Blu-ray , Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , HD DVD , HDTV , Home Entertainment , Movies

The budget Venturer HD DVD player finally went on sale in the UK a few days ago on the QVC shopping channel.

It was priced at £162.92 and with it you got two movies – Troy and Hulk – thrown in for free as well as a redeemable coupon for five more free high-def flicks from the European HD DVD Promotion Group. So far, so good.

Except now it seems that the price was a one-day special on the QVC TV channel and if you want the Venturer now, you can get it from the QVC Web site for a not so attractive £206, along with £7 for P&P.

OK, £213 is still a decent price for a high-def movie spinner but it’s just not as appealing as what was originally promised. After all, you can get Toshiba HD DVD players for less and with a stack of free movies thrown in too.

Give it a few months and you’ll see that £162 price tag return.-Martin Lynch

[QVC]

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