Firefox releases version 34 with SSLv3 fixes, Firefox Hello

Mozilla has released Firefox version 34 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android with several new features.

The major new addition in the browser is Firefox Hello, a web real-time communication (WebRTC) Skype-like service, which the company has been experimenting with in beta version since October. Hello will allow people to connect for free, without an account, with others who have a WebRTC-enabled browser, such as Firefox, Chrome, or Opera, either by making voice or video calls.

At the same time, Firefox has disabled SSLv3 support. Google made a similar move when it released Chrome 39 in October. This comes after Google discovered a flaw in SSLv3, dubbed Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (POODLE), that allowed an attacker to steal "secure" HTTP cookies.

Microsoft had also announced that it released a fix that disabled support for SSLv3 in Internet Explorer.

Other security fixes that Mozilla made to Version 34 include miscellaneous memory safety hazards, and buffering overflow while parsing media content. Users can also now switch themes and personas directly in customising mode, and the browser now implements HTTP/2 and ALPN. A full list of the bugs that have been fixed can be found here.

As part of Version 34, Yahoo has also been made the default search engine for American Firefox users. It comes after the two companies announced a strategic five-year partnership to make Yahoo the default search engine for Firefox on mobile devices and PCs.

This deal replaces the 10-year relationship between Mozilla and Google that ended in November. It was revealed previously that Google had paid Mozilla $300 million a year as part of a three-year renewal agreement, an amount equal to more than 90 percent of Mozilla's annual revenue.

Mozilla also noted that in Version 34, it has fixed to ensure that CSS transitions start correctly when initialised at the same time as changes are made to display, position, overflow, and similar properties.