Mozilla, the non-profit organisation behind the open source Firefox web browser, is bringing 'orange fox' of the internet to mobile phone OS arena.Mozilla OS is an Linux-based open source operating system for smartphones and tablet computers being developed by Mozilla. It is designed to allow HTML5 applications to integrate directly with the device's hardware using JavaScript.
Two handsets are being developed by Geeksphone in partnership with Telefonica and are codenamed Keon and Peak.Keon is the more basic model, including a 3.5in (8.9cm) screen, a 3MP (megapixel) camera and Qualcomm's low-end Snapdragon S1 processor.Peak has a bigger 4.3in display, an 8MP camera and a more powerful Snapdragon S4. Mozilla noted this was probably "slightly faster" than the first generation devices that would be marketed to the public.It added that Geeksphone's phones would be made available for sale next month, but did not provide a price.
Like Android, Firefox Mobile OS is based on Linux, the operating system that anyone can contribute to or adapt because the source code is free. Unlike Google's leading mobile operating system, however, Firefox Mobile OS will not play host to "native apps" that are specially developed for it.
Mozilla OS will use the new web coding standard, HTML5, to allow developers to create apps that can work on any operating system. Other smartphone operating systems can run web apps already, but they are typically less capable than native apps as they are unable to plug into the advanced software and hardware features. Developers should be able to easily port their HTML 5 apps to the Firefox Mobile OS, which apparently will be quite a lot according to research by Telefonica, which found 75% of Google Play and Apple App Store apps are already written in HTML 5.Using the HTML5 and the new Mozilla-proposed standard APIs, developers around the globe will be able to create amazing experiences and apps with no need to learn and develop against platform-specific native APIs.
Blackberry 10, Ubuntu and Sailfish are all due for release for smartphones before the end of 2013, joining a market already occupied by Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Blackberry 7 and Symbian among others.
Stormy Peters, director of websites and developer engagement at Mozilla, said in a blog post that the primary reasons for developers to create Firefox OS apps are to keep the Web open, for the simplicity of dealing with a single familiar technology stack, and to be free from the constraints of a vendor-controlled ecosystem.
In another statement, Mozilla said "Developers are critical to the web and to Mozilla's mission to make the web accessible to everyone. Now we are working on bringing the power of the web to mobile, through Firefox OS, along with all the power of open standards and an open community, and once again, we'd like to invite web developers to join us."
Mozilla says Firefox Mobile OS will be different,but the users have to wait and see how different it is from their forerunners.
