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Mozilla Handing Out Free Firefox OS Developer Phones To Bolster App Marketplace

MojoKid writes "Is the world really ready to shift from native apps to HTML5 Web apps? Probably not, at least not in North America yet, but developing nations may see it differently. That's the hope with Firefox OS, a web-based operating system that's (in theory) a lot more open. Of course, one needs only look at Microsoft's battle to get Windows Phone into a place of competition to realize that gaining market share is no easy task, which is why Mozilla will soon be handing out Firefox OS developer phones in order to bolster that. The company's goal is to get app builders to build for Firefox OS, so Mozilla is sending out free Preview handsets for folks to tinker with."

8 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Sort of. It is called.... by davydagger · · Score: 3, Insightful

    why don't they just use python for the high level stuff. Its a great stable, fun, easy to program, powerful language.

    heck its already cross platform, it runs on windows, osx and linux, with native support for just about all interfaces and toolkits.

  2. Re:Linux on the hand-top by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd love to see more diversity in this space, but BlackBerry is winning the battle. BlackBerries are pretty cool and Palm as an OS is huge. I'd be surprised if Apple can put up any fight.

  3. Re:Sorry, Mozilla. by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now now Larry we talked about this - the irony of a Google exec posting anonymously will hurt the stock if the press gets wind of it.

  4. Re:Sort of. It is called.... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    I don't know what's so great about Python. And I use it daily.

    Same here. A major drawback of javascript is lack of strong typing. Python is just as bad.
    Javascript is better for snippets.
    Python is better for scripts.
    Neither is ideal for large, robust applications.

  5. Seen the community hype before... by cjjjer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Funny reading all these comments on how great FirefoxOS will be and how everyone will get access to sub $200 smartphones and how great it will be having an open phone, blah, blah, blah.

    People were singing the praise when Google was doing the same thing and look how that turned out. Unless Mozilla or whoever is backing this endeavor can be like Apple and make/distribute their own hardware along with control the underlying OS and how it is bundled with the hardware it will fall the same way as Google did. Telco providers will just implement their own draconian limits on the device (with regards to updates/services) and you all will be no better than you were before.

    1. Re:Seen the community hype before... by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Funny reading all these comments on how great FirefoxOS will be and how everyone will get access to sub $200 smartphones and how great it will be having an open phone, blah, blah, blah.

      People were singing the praise when Google was doing the same thing and look how that turned out.

      Yes, just look at how it turned out. I spent under $80 all told for an unlocked phone with a 32MB memory card, with a healthy developer community. I don't have to use it with google services at all. I guess FirefoxOS will be great, at least based on your example.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  6. Re:Dons fire retardant suit, then says ... by corychristison · · Score: 2

    I'll ross my hat in the ring as well.

    I currently use android, and that's pretty much out of necessity. They have the apps I need, its rooted and unlocked.

    I really like the idea of FirefoxOS. I hope that when i do get my hands on it, it is as stable as my experience with android has been.

    I am concidering picking up the Nexus 4. I hope that I can get FirefoxOS loade up on it.