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Mozilla Teams Up With Foxconn; Tablet On the Way?

Posted by timothy on from the iceweasel-devices-will-be-gnu-licensed-instead dept.

The Register is one of several outlets reporting (based on a Reuters report) that Mozilla is working with Foxconn on a mobile device and "plans to unveil it at an event next week." Firefox OS is already running on other makers' phones; CNET speculates that this new device may be a tablet, which matches the Register's "insider" information.

15 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Great ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Great, a tablet that needs to update its entire OS every time you switch it on.

    1. Re:Great ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I know you were being clever, but that is a million times better than the android situation where the manufacturers never release an update, or release one at most.

      I would welcome a rolling release mobile OS as long as it is small and fast. I wish it was pure Linux like my n900, but I will settle for the open sourcy goodness of Mozilla. The release can't come soon enough for me.

  2. Foxconn? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Isn't that the Chinese factory where the working conditions are notoriously awful? I'd except better from a non-profit such as Mozilla than a deal with that kind of partner...

    1. Re:Foxconn? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Firefoxconn, it just sounded too good to not do it.

  3. Oh another one by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 2

    And another contender in tablet space just as BlackBerry pulls the plug on it's tablets. Hopefully this one won't be as memory hungry as Firefox (My only gripe with the browser). Still have to wonder what's going on if they'll team up with scum like Foxcon...

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    1. Re:Oh another one by Luthair · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Eh? Firefox actually uses the least memory of all browsers.

    2. Re:Oh another one by Luthair · · Score: 2

      I've used FIrefox from 0.1, and the only time I've ever run into huge memory consumption was with Adobe's PDF plugin. Look at any comparison and you'll find Firefox uses significantly less memory than other browsers (Chrome often needs double the amount.)

    3. Re:Oh another one by Mike+Frett · · Score: 2

      Yeah, the problem it seems, is Firefox not releasing Memory when it's no longer in use. This has been an issue for years, but the devs seem more concerned with implementing features nobody wants; like that new Download manager and linking Web History with Download History so clearing one also clears the other.

      What gets me is the OS is Linux based, yet they continuously snub their Browser on actual Linux desktops. To me, it looks like they don't have good leadership and have their priorities backwards.

      Now, I don't WANT it (the OS) to fail, but maybe the community needs it to fail in order to put the zap on their heads and get their act together.

  4. Not likely yet by robmv · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you haven't read blogs ot commit logs about the updates of the Firefox OS platform and base UI to adapt to tablet resolutions/aspect ratios in the open, then there is no Firefox OS support for those devices yet. Mozilla isn't Google, writing code in secrecy

    1. Re:Not likely yet by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      If you haven't read blogs ot commit logs about the updates of the Firefox OS platform and base UI to adapt to tablet resolutions/aspect ratios in the open, then there is no Firefox OS support for those devices yet.

      That's odd, it seems that pretty much all tablets in the open use typical resolutions, or close to it. It's almost like they won't have to take screen size into account at all, since Firefox already runs at a variety of resolutions.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Re:Oh that makes sense by IRWolfie- · · Score: 2

    Eh? Foxconn makes products for all the major companies like Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Google etc etc

  6. Re:Oh that makes sense by JDG1980 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh wow, that really makes sense because Mozilla makes good products and Foxconn makes ultra low quality crap like for example MP3 players that fail within a month and the world's worst motherboards.

    Foxconn builds to whatever price point the customer wants. If you order cheap crap, they'll build cheap crap. If you pay extra for a high-quality product (as Apple does), then that's what you'll get.

    The workers get treated like crap either way, though.

  7. Ill wait... by night_flyer · · Score: 2

    Ill wait until version 32.6 is out

    --


    Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
    Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
  8. Re:Oh that makes sense by BitZtream · · Score: 2

    I bet every TV, monitor, PC and portable device (smartphone/tablet) you own has several foxconn components in it.

    You more or less can't buy a PC motherboard without Foxconn components.

    You have no idea what you're talking about.

    --
    Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
  9. Re:Another Data Miner? by FuzzNugget · · Score: 2

    This is the Mozilla Foundation we're taking about here. Honestly, it's one of the few organizations around today that I feel I can trust to value my privacy and have my interests in mind, even if they do annoy me sometimes with silly design decisions.

    Everything Mozilla is open source, free as in beer *and* as in speech. My money's on Mozilla putting the user in control (I really hate that word ... "consumer").