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18 Carriers Sign Up for Firefox OS Phones

Several readers sent word of a Mozilla announcement that 18 carriers have committed to launching phones running Firefox OS. The carriers are primarily from markets in South America and Europe. They include Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Sprint. The devices running Firefox OS will be made by LG, ZTE, Huawei, and Alcatel, and all will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. The new mobile operating system is built to allow HTML5 apps to run directly on the device, a solution Mozilla thinks will give it an edge when playing catch-up to all the software available for Android and iOS devices. "Developers are busy and don't have time to learn a new programming language. We believe that the only remaining eco-system is the web and there are more developers for the web than for any other platform in the world," said Jay Sullivan. According to Reuters, "Mozilla will initially look to compete in so-called 'emerging economies' in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia, where many people still use older phone models and have yet to upgrade to more expensive smartphones that feature touchscreens and high-speed Internet connections."

2 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Why are there 10 bajillion phone OS's? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Just give me one damn phone that lets me answer and make phone calls, send/receive text messages, and has a calculator.

    Who needs all that other crap?

    Seriously, does nobody remember that iPhone that sucked ass at making phone calls? I'll bet Obummer was directly responsible for that one.

  2. Re:This is great news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Yes, great news. Part of the cartel that scammed everyone with SSL is getting into phones. Oh, joy.