The final release is expected on June 21, but right now the beta of Firefox 5 is available for download. It includes a lot of bug fixes and some new features.

Using a wearable depth camera, you could keep your phone in your pocket and still be able to make calls. Researchers at the Hasso-Plattner Institute have demonstrated how it works in a short video.

Gmail, Picasa, and the Chrome browser are now using WebP instead of JPEG for images. WebP reduces the size of web images by about 40 percent, allowing them to load faster.

Handwritten notes need not be a thing of the past, though you may need to brush up on your handwriting skills. Livescribe Connect allows you to write a note with a smartpen and post it online or send it via e-mail.

HighNote can deliver video, photos, music, maps and customized formatting in a text message – much as you use e-mail. HighNote is currently available for iPhone, iPad, iTouch and Android phones.

There had been plans to digitize old newspapers and make them all searchable. However, the effort seems to have been too much for Google. They’ve decided to let newspapers do their own archives and sell access.

Samsung’s new e-reader with an “electrowetting” display can show up to 16.7 million colors. The new display doesn’t offer the same resolution but refreshes faster than the E-ink.

Adding to Sony’s woes, F-Secure found a phishing site running on one of Sony’s servers. Sony has cleaned the site from their servers.

If you’d like to build an app to run on Apple’s iOS, you probably want to make the most of the graphics and animation capabilities. This book is designed to get you started using Cocoa.

Killing the URL bar completely may not be possible, but Chrome 13 has a feature so you can hide it and free up space on your mobile display.