Firefox: We’re Not Trying to Replace Android or iOS
BARCELONA, Spain–While Mozilla’s Mitchell Baker blasted the dominating platforms–Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS–earlier this week during an evening keynote, the company has stated it isn’t trying to replace them.
In a presentation here at Mobile World Congress, Mozilla’s Christian Heilmann stated, “We’re not trying to replace Android or iOS.” Instead, Heilmann explained that Firefox OS serves more as a replacement for the OS running on old Nokia phones, etc. Millions of people want to get phones and to get on the Web, he said.
In this vein, he echoed the sentiments of Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs at an earlier panel this week titled, “Reaching the Next Billion,” which explored increasing mobile broadband access in developing nations.
Webinar: Personal Data and Privacy – Is the consumer the boss?
Date: March 14, 2 pm ET / 11 am PTThis webinar will explore Forrester Analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo’s characterization of a new Personal Identity Management market as well as solutions for participating in the Identity Economy. Register Now!
“The next two billion are coming online in the next five plus years,” said Kovacs, adding that “these next two billion are not going to be anything like the first two.”
For one, many of these new mobile adopters could be experiencing the Internet for the first time via mobile rather than via the desktop. Secondly, if Firefox and other HTML5-based operating systems catch on, more developers may be working with HTML5 rather than coding native apps.
Heilmann said, “As a developer I hate writing code for each platform out there.” Interestingly, Heilmann noted “a lot of apps in App Store and Google Play are [built with] HTML5; they’ve just been converted with PhoneGap [an open source mobile development framework].”
Heilmann did not have any information on when any Firefox devices would be coming out.
“The good thing about HTML5 is that our end-users are consuming it in the same thing our developers are developing in,” said Heilmann.
Related Items
The announcement of the iPad 4 during Apple's October 2012 event came as a surprise to many, but one expert was quick to predict that the company would release a thinner, lighter iPad 5 in early 2013. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI Securities, the fo... Read More
(Reuters) - Ireland called on Wednesday for an international clampdown on multinationals shifting profits around the world to avoid tax, after criticism that Irish loopholes helped technology giant Apple to shrink its tax bill. A U.S. Senate investigation into th... Read More
I want to upgrade half way through my contract but cannot without spending a fortune? Should I buy the iPhone 5 or wait for the 5S, or should I just wait for the iPhone 6? These questions arise often and this has steered us onto the iPhone 6 release date with contract d... Read More
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook addressed a Senate hearing on Tuesday that was largely convened to explore how Apple uses foreign subsidiaries to allegedly shelter billions of dollars in income from U.S. taxes. Not surprisingly, Cook defended both Apple and its tax pr... Read More
