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Blog 'cellphones' » Mozilla Firefox OS Phones in 2013

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Boot2Gecko Renamed Firefox OS — Sprint, ZTE On Board For 2013 Launch

quote:
Alongside the name change, Mozilla also announced its hardware and telecommunications partners for the Firefox OS consumer launch. The focus will be on emerging markets and budget-conscious customers. The first Firefox OS phones are expected to launch in early 2013 in Brazil, on the Telefónica-owned brand Vivo, Mozilla said in a statement.

Mozilla’s hardware partners so far are ZTE and TCL Communication Technology (which will be branding its phones as Alcatel One Touch devices). Both Chinese companies are known for making low-priced, entry-level hardware. Handsets from both ZTE and TCL will run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors, Mozilla said.

Among the wireless providers that are committed to selling Firefox OS phones are Sprint in the United States, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat, the Philippines’ Smart, Telecom Italia in (you guessed it) Italy, Spain’s Telefónica and Telenor in Norway.


Mozilla Blog: Mozilla Gains Global Support For a Firefox Mobile OS

quote:
The Firefox OS for mobile devices is built on Mozilla’s “Boot to Gecko project” which unlocks many of the current limitations of web development on mobile, allowing HTML5 applications to access the underlying capabilities of a phone, previously only available to native applications. Telefónica’s Digital unit joined forces with Mozilla earlier this year to take this work and showcase a new phone architecture where every phone feature (calling, messaging, games, etc.) is an HTML5 application.

Due to the optimization of the platform for entry-level smartphones and the removal of unnecessary middleware layers, mobile operators will have the ability to offer richer experiences at a range of price points including at the low end of the smartphone price range, helping to drive adoption across developing markets.

Mozilla and all other participants are committed to ensuring the project is fully open and the reference implementation of the required Web APIs is being submitted to W3C for standardization.

“The introduction of the open mobile OS continues the Mozilla mission to promote openness, innovation and opportunity on the Web for users and developers. As billions of users are expected to come online for the first time in the coming years, it is important to deliver a compelling smartphone experience that anyone can use,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla. “The large number of operators and manufacturers now supporting this effort will bring additional resources and diversity to our global offerings.”


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