Mozilla Contacts
Update: Mozilla has retired Contacts, it is no longer available and there does not seem to be an alternative available at this point in time.
One of the many problems of using different communication programs and services is the syncing of contacts.
Since there is no central location, program or service to manage all contacts, computer users find their contacts scattered across many online services such as Facebook, Gmail or Outlook as well as locally in programs like Microsoft Outlook, Skype or Mozilla Thunderbird.
While it may not always be necessary to keep everything in sync, ensuring that contacts remain synced can be a strenuous time consuming task.
Mozilla Contacts
Enter Mozilla Contacts, a prototype add-on that aims to keep contacts in sync in the web browser. The add-on provides Firefox users with an option to manage and access their contacts in the web browser.
Contacts uses a browser based database that "stays in sync with your address books". It currently supports Gmail, Twitter and the Mac OS address bar with additional address books to be included in the future. A generic importer for computer address books is also provided.
All contacts can be viewed directly in the web browser. More interesting than this feature are the two following ones that have been implemented by Mozilla.
The add-on offers an email auto-completion option whenever an email address needs to be entered into a web form. Suggestions will be displayed on screen so that you may be able to pick an address faster from your list of contacts.
Security conscious users will like the ability to restrict website access to contacts. Think of the "invite your contacts to our service" options on sites like Facebook.
Instead of letting the service retrieve all contacts it is now possible to select the contacts from a list that the service should have access to.
Check out the announcement post over at the Mozilla Labs website for additional information about the add-on and a download link to install it in your Firefox web browser.
