Firefox OS yes Firefox OS

Turns out the Mozilla massive have finally launched their own mobile operating system after announcing it getting on for two years ago.

Why?…

Surely there’s space for some more license-free phone software; particularly since Google own Motorola and thereby own Symbian (in theory Android’s nearest competitor); specially since carriers (e.g. Orange- sorry, EE; O2; etc) theoretically don’t have to pay anything to fill their phones with this latest stuff?!

Firefox OS is not owned by one big corporation but rather a nice, if little eccentric and quaint by carrier standards, non-profit. The technology it is peddling is “open” – apps for Firefox OS are built using HTML5 and then accelerated using the phone’s hardware, not the operating system and hardware.

Yes, it’s true there’s always space for more competition, particularly when it brings modern (and hopefully secure) software to non-AAA phone manufacturers: from the above link Alcatel are said to be using the new OS to launch products in Spain and Poland.

My only worry is Mozilla not being able to make FFOS last; bearing in mind what happened to Symbian and Nokia’s attempt MeeGo the last time they took licensing cash away from the big three. I’ll give you a hint: ever heard of Jolla? Perhaps now you know why…

Related articles

• Firefox tablet coming ‘ASAP,’ says Mozilla CTO (pcworld.com)
• Firefox OS starts third-place race against Windows Phone (theregister.co.uk)
• Here Comes Jolla, Yet Another Deviant Linux Smartphone (readwrite.com)
• The Fox is out of the bag #FirefoxOS (christianheilmann.com)
• Mozilla Developer Network – Firefox OS (developer.mozilla.org)