Exciting times ahead for Mozilla's friendly neighborhood Firefox OS

Monique Almario -

Things are gearing up for Mozilla’s very own Firefox OS, I touched upon the mobile OS in my previous post citing that Firefox OS is one of the many innovations Mozilla is currently developing. This is one innovation that is as ambitious as Mozilla’s first task: going up against a giant — in this case, two giants of the mobile field.

One of Mozilla’s big push for Firefox OS is to launch FirefoxOS App Days a global push to introduce and promote Firefox OS to developers. Since the name of this game is getting a good number of applications into the OS to replicate and to make the shift from iPhone and android easier for the consumer by providing seamless experience. This is after all the very crux of what Mozilla is trying to do with Firefox OS — break the walled gardens that made iPhone and android such a duopoly.

Manila Firefox OS App Days

A few days before App Days, Mozilla together with its partner, Telefonica (through Geekphones) previewed its Firefox OS developer phones.

Firefox OS has a simulator in the browser but there’s nothing better, I bet, than getting the opportunity to use the physical phone to test out and develop apps for the mobile OS.

I admit I’m a little charmed by the orange  but I also fancy the white, if only for the ‘Firefox OS’ brand at the back. It does bear a bit of a resemblance to an iPhone, which some people have already pointed out. Although I think of course that’s the shape and look it would look like because:

a) Smartphones tend to look this way these days save for a few phones out in the market.

b) It’s a developer phone so the look might still change.

But that discussion is neither here nor there, so let’s talk facts, what will the phone’s hardware be:

  • CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1Ghz
  • UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA)
  • GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE)
  • Screen 3.5″ HVGA Multitouch
  • 3 MP Camera
  • 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
  • MicroSD, Wifi N, Light and proxmity Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB
  • 1580 mAh battery
  • Over the air updates
  • Unlocked, add your own SIM card

The specifications aren’t all that impressive considering all the other phones in the market today but we also have to remember that Mozilla is targeting the low cost smartphone market. Considering that, I’d say the phones can stand up on its own.

Another piece of good news for the mobile OS: Japanese carrier, KDDI seems interested in selling Firefox OS phones.  Exciting times ahead for Firefox OS, especially this coming January 26th!

—

Also, if anyone’s interested, I’ll also be talking about Mozilla WebFWD on the Manila Firefox OS App days. If you have a startup with an Open Source component, you can drop by and talk to me.