Apple has begun approving 3rd party web browsers for the iPhone and iPod touch. The move comes after speculation that Apple was denying apps that competed with it’s own.

It is hoped that this move could allow Opera Mobile to make finally make debut on the iPhone. Current web browser apps include Edge Browser, Incognito, Shaking Web and WebMate: Tabbed Browser.

There are fears Apple’s restrictive SDK may still hold back a fully featured version of Opera Mobile.

With the recent relaxation of approval rules, there are still hopes yet for a good range of web browsers on Apple mobile devices. The future is starting to look a little brighter.

A serious security flaw has been found in Safari’s RSS reader. The vulnerability could allow a malicious website to gain access to sensitive user data, and affects both Mac and Windows versions of the browser.

“Apple’s Safari browser is vulnerable to an attack that allows a malicious web site to read files on a user’s hard drive without user intervention. This can be used to gain access to sensitive information stored on the user’s computer, such as emails, passwords, or cookies that could be used to gain access to the user’s accounts on some web sites. The vulnerability has been acknowledged by Apple” said discoverer Brian Mastenbrook.

A time frame for a fix is still unknown.

Pixel Labs has posted a rather amusing yet statistical poster of the browser wars. The cartoon depicts web browser and their market share over time.

Strangely absent from this cartoon is Google’s Chrome, which has a greater share than Opera.

Click on the cartoon to see the full version.

With 2009 fast approaching, details for IE Mobile 6 have started to appear. The latest mobile Internet browser from Microsoft should bring a positive change to the web browser market.

Currently, there are still no screenshots available, as Microsoft has made all beta testers and OEM’s sign NDA’s, but details on the new browser are starting to emerge. Here are some of the key features for IE Mobile 6.

• A full HTML rendering engine (unfortunately based on IE6).
• Support for Adobe Flash Lite 3.1, something still not found on Apple’s iPhone.
• AJAX and JScript 5.7 support.
• Support for touch, including scrolling and zooming.
• Ability to switch between full and mobile versions of websites.

With these unique, and some innovative features, IE Mobile 6 may make up some ground in the mobile browser market, but is it enough to entice Opera Mobile or even iPhone Safari users?

Password management is a part of all major web browsers, and it just may be helping thieves steal your personal data, from banking logins to Facebook accounts.

Chapin Information Services conducted 21 security tests on Opera 9.62, Firefox 3.0.4, Internet Explorer 7, Safari 3.2, and Google Chrome 1.0. The results were not good.

Opera and Firefox fared the best, both passing 7 tests, with Internet Explorer 7 passing 5 tests. Both Safari and Google Chrome only passed 2 tests each.

It looks like browsers makers have a lot of work to do. Full results and details on each test can be found on the Chapin Information Services website.

It has been a good month for the ‘underdogs’ in the browser wars this month, with Firefox, Safari and Chrome all gaining ground.

Firefox has hit a fantastic milestone, now with over 20% of the web browser market, up 4% from last month. Apple’s Safari has climbed to just over 7%, up 8.5% from last month.

Even Google’s Chrome has crawled back some ground, after a steady drop off rate from the browsers first month. Chrome gained around 12% during the month, taking it’s total share to just under 1%.

The losers this month were both Opera and Internet Explorer. Opera lost 5% of it’s market, and is now 5th in the race, behind Google Chrome. November also saw Internet Explorer’s market share plummet below 70% for the first time since 1999.

You can view the full report at the Market Share website. Historical data can be sourced from Wikipedia. The browser wars are really firing up.

EMG Technology is suing Apple over an alleged patent infringement in its mobile version of Safari.

EMG is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, claiming the “simplified interface of reformatted mobile content to provide optimum viewing and navigation with single touches on a small screen” as a reason for the suit.

Patent 7,441,196 was issued in October this year, after being filled back in November 1999. The patent covers the resizing of content and data on mobile screens, along with navigation and scrolling methods.

EMG has not offered Apple the chance to licence the technology and currently has no plans to go after other smartphone makers.

Apple will not comment on the matter.

Over the weekend Apple has pushed out the latest version of it’s web browser Safari. Now at version 3.2 the latest version fixes security flaws and increases protection against known phishing sites.

A full list of security updates can be found via the Apple support website.

The update should automatically be pushed out to current Safari users via Apple’s software update tool, or it can be downloaded for individual systems using the links below:

Download Safari 3.2 for Leopard
Download Safari 3.2 for Tiger
Download Safari 3.2 for Windows

Mashable has posted a great article with 25 resources on how to customise your favorite browser.

Included are resources for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Google Chrome.

You can read the full article on the Mashable website.

Happy customising!

With all the news that Google Chrome’s market share has droped since it’s release, I thought it was only fitting to add some more statistics to the fire.

On another technology site that I run, browser stats were as follows for the month of September:

Browser Market Share for September

Through the month of September, Chrome’s usage has dropped around 30% from its release. Usage seems to have stabalised since then.

Of interesting note, is that Google Chrome has still gained a larger market share than Opera. It should also be noted that Chrome is still only available on Windows. Perhaps it’s market share will again increase when offical Mac and Linux versions are released.

Perhaps Google Chrome hasn’t shaken up the market as much as everyone predicted. Did you try Google Chrome and are you still using it?