Meeting Notes Meetings notes from the Mozilla community

14-August-2013

Firefox/Gecko Delivery Planning: 2013-08-14

Filed under: Posts — Tags: — Jesper Kristensen @ 11:00 pm

Schedule & Progress onUpcoming Releases

Firefox Desktop

Current Releases

Beta (24)

  • 24.0b2 desktop shipped yesterday
  • 24.0b3 will go to build tomorrow

Firefox Metro

Iteration Performance

  • Iteration #12 ended on Monday August 12.
  • Team completed 80 story points across 30 features which resulted in an increased average team velocity to 65 story points per iteration.
  • QA achieved 100% coverage for the regression testing across Iterations #1 – #11.
  • Team achieved a 25% reduction in defect rates from the previous iteration.
  • Iteration #13 runs from August 13, 2013 – August 26, 2013.

ID Summary Priority Status
775739 [MP] Story – Touch scrolling in frames P1 ASSIGNED
901014 [MP] Defect – context menu not appearing on monocle P1 ASSIGNED
845152 [MP] Story – NewUI – Access and dismiss the new Firefox app bar P1 ASSIGNED
881989 [MP] Defect – Dragging & moving emails in gmail will start selecting everything at the top or bottom P1 ASSIGNED
892575 [MP] Story – Browser can display tab-modal, metro-styled prompts – Part II P1 ASSIGNED
904317 [MP] Defect – Start Page didn’t snap when users hit back in snap view P2 ASSIGNED
852236 [MP] Change – Re-enable localization of Metro Firefox P2 ASSIGNED
882074 [MP] Defect – Shortcuts are hard-coded instead of used via accesskey from DTD files P2 ASSIGNED
893066 [MP] Story – Initiate a file download and display the downloads app bar – Part III P2 ASSIGNED
898833 [MP] Defect – Right-click drop down options are offset P2 ASSIGNED
903178 [MP] Defect – Start screen should scroll vertically when in portrait mode P2 ASSIGNED
895457 Defect – “Remember password” buttons are not visible when in snapped view P2 ASSIGNED
831931 [MP] Story – Scroll through tiles in the tabs app bar P1 RESOLVED
850737 [MP] Story – Fix jank in start screen scrolling P2 RESOLVED
904111 [MP] Defect – Flyout errors interfering with update button functionality P2 RESOLVED
903182 [MP] Defect – URL textbox not showing in appbar in snapped P2 RESOLVED
904058 [MP] Defect – the Tab Bar isn’t auto-dismissed once a new tab has been created using CTRL + T P2 RESOLVED
904059 [MP] Defect – the “Tab Bar” is auto-dismissed when closing a tab(s) P2 RESOLVED
895873 Defect – Intermittent browser_context_menu_tests.js | runTests: Task failed – Error: popupshown event timeout P3 RESOLVED

Metro Preview Release

  • The Metro Preview Release build is forecasted to “ride the trains” for Firefox 26
    • Iteration #13 completed on mozilla-central August 26th, 2013.
    • Iteration #14 completed on mozilla-central September 10th, 2013.
    • Merge to Aurora 26 on September 16, 2013 during Iteration #15.
    • Iterations #15 and #16 will be completed on mozilla-aurora, concluding all Preview Release work.
    • A Windows Aurora Firefox build will be publicized as the Metro Preview Release.
    • Iteration #17, still on Aurora, will be used to clean up any remaining carry-over and polish work.
    • Merge to Beta at the conclusion of Iteration #17 on October 28, 2013, making Metro Firefox available to our Beta audience.
    • Iterations #18 and #19 will be available if needed for responding to any critical Beta feedback issues that surface.
    • Push to Release on December 10 with Firefox 26 at the conclusion of Iteration #20.

Firefox Mobile

Beta (24)

Aurora (25)

Nightly (26)

Firefox Accounts / PiCL

  • Short term plan is forming to implement simplified sign-in and account creation using the existing Sync 1.1 system
  • sync-dev mailing list has all the details

Developer Tools

  • PR Blitz: Browser Console, Aurora Features and a nice screencast.
    • Great feedback so far: HN, Proggit, Twitter: “With blackboxing and other features the dev tools team is working on, I suspect everyone building big JS apps in 2014 will be using Firefox.” @tomdale
  • Work week in Paris August 26th -> 30th, expect great things
  • Remote Inspector is “all over except for the shouting”, er, reviews.
  • App Process debugging is in B2G master and internal developers are already reporting great success.

Feedback Summary

Desktop

  • Still lots of pushback on all the UX changes in Firefox 23:
    • Tab behavior changing is probably the biggest one bug 855370
    • Setting everyone’s addressbar search provider to their searchbar search is causing users confusion bug 738818
    • Removing options to disable javascript and images causing a small amount of user concern
  • Looking closely for Mixed content blocking issues — may also be affecting CSS

We will be sending out a snippets Survey after 23.0.1 is released.

Mobile

In short, if you can actually install Firefox from Google Play and you don’t have Android 4.3, it’s awesome. If you have Android 4.3, it may be awesome, it may not be. If it isn’t, install Beta! 🙂

Market Insights from the Product Marketing Strategy Team

Desktop / Platform

Opera

  • Opera has released the first developer version of the Opera browser which you can download from the Opera Desktop Team website. It includes Start up mode option, Pinned tabs, Rocker gestures, Extension APIs, Search engine manager, etc. [1]

Google

  • Google says that Gmail users should have no expectation of privacy. This statement came as part of a motion to dismiss a class-action case that accused Google of violating federal and state wiretap laws via Gmail which scans emails to serve targeted ads. [2] Google argued that, “just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient’s assistant opens the letter, people who use Web-based email today cannot be surprised if their communications are processed by the recipient’s ECS (electronic communications service) provider in the course of delivery.”. [3]
  • Google’s Glassware now includes turn-by-turn directions potentially a segue unto Google Now on Glass [4].
  • Google announced a Chrome Dev Summit for Web developers to discuss new APIs, multi-device workflows, performance tips, and Blink with Chrome engineers to be held on November 20 and 21 at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View and streamed live on YouTube. [5]

Microsoft

  • Windows 8.1 set for October 18 release. [6] It restores the “Start” button, but when tapped it brings the user to the Start Screen full of live tiles and apps. Plus more tile sizes, universal Bing search from anywhere, redesigned IE [7], more mouse and keyboard support, more apps for paint and camera, among other capabilities. [8]
  • Microsoft reversed its previous Xbox One requirement that Kinect must be on. [9] It addresses privacy concerns of gamers over Microsoft’s ability to capture and track movements of users. This also means that Xbox One will not become a brick if Kinect accessor breaks or is powered off. Microsoft had previously reversed its requirements that Xbox One be connected to the Internet and games bought previously not be used or shared.
  • Microsoft released an update for IE, Windows and Exchange blocking digital certificates using MD5 for server authentication, code signing and time stamping, plus another update improving network-level authentication for Remote Desktop Protocol. [10] MD5 cryptographic hash function has long been considered insecure for use in SSL certificates and digital signatures as it can be used to generate a rogue CA certificate trusted by all browsers.

Samsung

  • Samsung unveiled its first OLED TV with WiFi, show-recommendation engine, streaming services, Samsung’s Evolution Kit for future-proofing Smart TV features, 55-inch curved 1080p display, to be available in the U.S. for $9,000. Samsung claims that the curved screen is better suited to eyeballs (i.e. curved), that OLED panel technology can show pure black on a TV screen for the first time, and the two together help accurate display of color and contrast. [11] Most interesting though is the ability for two people to watch two different programs simultaneously wearing 3D-like glasses to view their program and a set of ear buds to capture their show’s audio. [12]

Mobile

  • August Android version distribution numbers put Jelly Bean at 40.5%, Gingerbread at 33.1% and Ice Cream Sandwich at 22.5%. Only 6.5% are on the latest deployed version of Jelly Bean, version 4.2. Android 4.3 was just announced 2 weeks ago.
  • Q2 smartphone results from Gartner: 225 million devices were sold, 79% of which are on Android, 14% on iOS and 3.3% on Windows Phone. Among the OEMs, Samsung sold the most (31% of the market), followed by Apple (14%), LG with 5.1%, Lenovo (4.7%) and ZTE (4.3%).
  • The user value proposition of the Moto X revolves around allowing the user to customize the appearance of the hardware and the concept of the personal assistant, where the phone is always alert to respond to your needs and in tune with your schedule to serve you the right content at the right time. The device is currently only available in the US. Market reception has been neutral. Motorola is rumored to release another device or set closer to the winter holiday season.
  • Amazon announced they will be introducing web apps to their app store and they will be featured similarly to native apps. The company also developed a Mobile App SDK with tools on how to develop a web app. They will be run on Amazon’s web app runtime based on Chromium.
  • Over 75% of Facebook’s 62 million user base in India access the site from their mobile phones. Asia is the region where the company is seeing the strongest user growth, with a total of 339 million.
  • North Korean Android phone rumored.

Marketing, Press & Public Reaction

Product Marketing:

  • Open questions around Firefox 23 user support – will follow up on email string
  • Search Engine Optimization: First batch of recommendations to increase the amount of paid search traffic to our site (and thus, downloads) coming this week [Laura, Tim, WebProduction]
  • Consumer Value Proposition Discovery: Starting in-field research interviews within Brazil, India, and Indonesia last week [Laura]
  • Australis Redesign: Finishing up Australis launch strategy for pre-release and GA timeframe [Laura]
  • Paid Search FunnelCake in Indonesia and Brazil: Turning back on next Thursday for another 7 days. This test will give us a firm cost per ADI in these two emerging markets via our Paid Search ad channel [Laura]

PR:

“Firefox 23, the newest version of the Web browser released Tuesday, has an updated look for its well-known fox logo and adds new features, including one that will help protect users from what’s known as “man-in-the-middle attacks” and from eavesdroppers on Web pages labeled as secure.” – NBC News

“If people want the new social features, the 13 security bugs — including four critical and seven high impact flaws — fixed in the latest Firefox release are a good reason to update.” – ZDNet


Planning Meeting Details

  • Wednesdays – 11:00am PT, 18:00 UTC
  • Mountain View Offices: Warp Core Conference Room
  • Toronto Offices: Finch Conference Room
  • irc.mozilla.org #planning for backchannel
  • (the developer meeting takes place on Tuesdays)

Video/Teleconference Details – NEW

  • 650-903-0800 or 650-215-1282 x92 Conf# 99696 (US/INTL)
  • 1-800-707-2533 (pin 369) Conf# 99696 (US)
  • Vidyo Room: ProductCoordination
  • Vidyo Guest URL

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