Hasta La Gadget!

Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs stated that the company plans on launching its mobile operating system, Firefox OS, in 5 countries in June. At All Thing’s D’s conference, D: Dive Into Mobile, Kovacs said that the company plans on launching Firefox OS devices in Venezuela, Poland, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain by June, and he plans on hitting at least 11 more countries by the end of this year.

Kovacs says that in 2014, Mozilla plans on bringing its Firefox OS devices to the United States. He says that he’s not targeting big markets like the United States just yet because the Firefox OS devices are primarily low-end devices, and would likely not do well in a marketplace mainly interested in only high-end devices. If Mozilla is to be successful with Firefox OS, Kovacs believes that they need to target emerging markets first. He says,

“So in the short term, we’re launching in emerging markets where Firefox is particularly strong… It didn’t make sense for us to launch a version-one device around the world.”

Currently, Alcatel, Huawei, LG, ZTE, and Sony have all signed up to develop Firefox OS smartphones. All of the smartphones will be using Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. AT&T has also mentioned that it will consider including Firefox OS phones in its line-up. The Firefox OS also already has a good selection of major apps available in its ecosystem, including Facebook, Twitter, EA Games, and more.

Gary Kovacs recently announced that he will be stepping down as Mozilla’s CEO. He says that he’s proud of Mozilla and that it has a solid team and foundation to keep up its success and momentum. However, despite stepping down as CEO, he will still remain as a member of Mozilla’s board of directors. He says that he will still “guide Mozilla’s impact on the future of mobile”, meaning he will still be around to guide Firefox OS to success. Be sure to check out our hands-on with Firefox OS running on the Alcatel ONE TOUCH.

[via All Things D]

Firefox OS to launch in June in 5 countries is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mozilla is planning on jumpstarting development for its Firefox OS marketplace. It is hosting three app workshops in the next few months. The first app workshop will take place in Madrid, Spain on April 20th. The second will take place in Bogota, Colombia on May 18th, and the final workshop will take place in Warsaw, Poland on June 1st. There will be more workshops announced at a later date.

Mozilla is looking for app developers who are experienced in developing with HTML5 and JavaScript. While applying for the event, you will need to show some references to your experience with building web apps. They are mainly seeking applicants who have successfully built apps on Chrome, WebOS, or Blackberry WebWorks, or any “open web app” for mobile devices and PCs. They are also looking for developers who are able to develop apps in Spanish, Polish, or Portuguese.

Mozilla will provide the food and drinks at these workshops, as well as some Firefox goodies. Developers will also be able to get their hands on Mozilla’s Firefox OS Developer Preview phones. There will also be Firefox OS developers there to help you along the way. At these workshops, you are able to develop a new app for the Firefox OS, or port any of your existing apps to the mobile operating system.

The Firefox OS devices are set to launch this summer to over 18 operators all around the world. Several phone manufacturers, including LG, ZTE, Huawei, Sony, and Alcatel, are already in support for the upcoming operating system. Mozilla already has a good selection of popular apps available for the OS, including Facebook, Twitter, Pulse News, and more. With these workshops, it hopes to be able to launch with a decent selection of apps in order to appeal to the masses.

[via Mozilla]

Mozilla announces Firefox OS app workshops is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Mozilla launched its first Firefox OS Simulator late last year, letting developers test out apps on the new platform even though the software was still very much in development. It only makes sense, then, that a new version would surface following the mobile operating system’s official unveiling at Mobile World Congress 2013. Like versions 1.0 and 2.0, Firefox OS Simulator 3.0 runs as an extension in Mozilla’s browser and is available on Linux, Windows and OS X. The new preview adds several features, including Push to Device, which brings over apps installed on the OS Simulator to a Firefox OS device provided it’s connected via USB. Rotation simulation and an updated version of the software’s Gaia interface are also on board. To give the Simulator a go, head to Mozilla’s FTP server, where you’ll find it under the working name r2d2b2g. Click through to source links for the full installation directions.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

Comments

Via: CNET

Source: Hacks.Mozilla.org, Mozilla FTP Server

Remember that ZTE teased the MWC debut of its upcoming Firefox OS phone? Well, according to this spec sheet spotted by a tipster at ZTE’s MWC booth, said device will be appropriately named ZTE Open, and it’ll come with a moderate set of components: a Cortex-A5-based Qualcomm MSM7225A (which is known to clock at either 600MHz or 800MHz), a 3.5-inch HVGA TFT display with capacitive touchscreen, 256MB DDR SDRAM, 512MB NAND storage and the usual set of radios like WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (with EDR3), GPS and FM radio. Interestingly, there will be a 3.2-megapixel front-facing camera, but it appears that there’ll be none on the back. The Open will be available in three SKUs with different UMTS bands: 850/1900, 850/2100 and 900/2100. As always, we’ll be sharing the full announcement and hands-on once we see the phone at MWC, though we have a feeling that we’ve already played with it before.

Update: As some of you have pointed out, yes, the “FF” may actually mean “fixed focus” instead of “front-facing,” and the former seems more likely.

[Thanks, anonymous]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Comments