Mozilla has released a new beta version of their Firefox browser that may change the face of web design in the future.
The new Firefox 4 Beta 3 version released this week has, for the first time, added multi-touch capability to the full-featured browser. This creates a whole new degree of interactivity potential for browsing the web.
Using CSS3 and HTML 5, the Beta 3 release will allow users with a capable multi-touch display to move, zoom, and interact with content on the internet. This functionality is showcased quite nicely in a video posted over at YouTube.
In addition to multi-touch, the beta also adds additional language support and new JavaScript values which are purported to create a “faster and smoother graphics” experience.
While multi-touch is not a new concept, especially with many tablet and mobile phone devices on the market today, it is something that we’ve not yet experienced interactively within an internet browser.
With this in mind, I wouldn’t expect the functionality to impress for some time. As web developers are able to harness and create new websites that take advantage of the multi-touch capability, however, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for web browsing.
If you have a computer running Windows 7 with a multi-touch display, you can download and test Firefox 4 Beta 3 now over at Mozilla.com.
