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The latest version of Firefox has built-in instant messaging

By Koh Wanzi - on 23 Sep 2015, 5:18pm

The latest version of Firefox has built-in instant messaging

Image Source: Mozilla

Firefox 41 is rolling out to both desktop and Android users, and it’s got a neat new trick up its sleeve – built-in instant messaging. This would make it the first browser to integrate this feature, but it will only be available on the desktop version, at least for now.

Windows, Mac and even Linux users can now send instant messages directly from a Hello video call, Firefox’s own in-browser video chat function. Hello is powered by WebRTC (which stands for Web Real-Time Communications), an open-source API that supports browser-to-browser communication and applications like voice calling and video chat.

Chrome and Opera both support WebRTC as well, so Firefox users will be able to chat with users of those browsers if and when they jump onto the IM bandwagon. Users will also have the option to set a profile photo on their desktop browser for a more personal touch.

For mobile users, the Android version now lets them use multiple search providers at once from the search panel and adds a swipe-to-close tab gesture. There’s also apparently improved bookmark detection to minimize duplicate pages.

If you’ve set Firefox to receive updates automatically, you may already have the update.

Source: Mozilla

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