Apps
Firefox Will Have A Mobile Operating System Too
Software Based On Popular Open-Source Browser
By Gary Krakow
There is Apple's iOS, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Phone. And now, there will be another. Firefox OS.
The new offering from Mozilla will be based on their popular open-source Web Browser, Firefox. The new HTML5, Web-based, mobile OS has its roots in a project which used to be called “Boot to Gecko” (B2G).
The idea here is to create a “lightweight” mobile operating system for lower-end (which really means cheap) smartphones and feature phones.
The software is already beginning to pick-up some traction. A number of hardware manufacturers such as TCL and ZTE (both China-based) have signed-on to the project.
Plus, service providers Smart, Sprint, Telekom Italia and Telenor say they're “in”. Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica had already announced they were interested.
Mozilla expects the first Firefox OS devices to reach select world markets early in 2013.