Firefox Mobile is releasing the final version of the mobile browser for the Maemo platform and ramping up development on its Android client. Mozilla’s VP of Mobiles, Jay Sullivan, recently said that Mozilla is targeting the end of 2010 as a tentative release date for the Android edition of Firefox Mobile.
The development of the Android version poses a bit of a challenge as Firefox Mobile is based upon C and C++, while Android is Java-based and the latest Native Development kit which is necessary to bring Firefox Mobile to Android was only released last October.
Sullivan also addressed other platforms, commenting that MeeGo presents an exciting opportunity for Mozilla, while the future of the Windows Mobile version, already in Alpha, is under review now that the radically new Windows Phone 7 Series operating system has been officially introduced by Microsoft. (MeeGo is the result of Intel and Nokia’s broad strategic collaboration announced in June 2009. They have come together to create MeeGo, a Linux-based software platform that will support multiple hardware architectures across the broadest range of device segments, including pocketable mobile computers, netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems.)
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Firefox Mobile for Android is likely to make its debut on the platform later in 2010, according to Mozilla’s VP of mobiles. Jay Sullivan says that Android was a ‘great fit’ for Firefox mobile: “It’s a modern OS, and it’s a great fit with us. It’s the type of platform that has a high affinity with the early adopter, and it’s seen a lot of uptake.”
Sullivan pointed out that the reason for the delay was based on the underlying code: “Android has been built on a Java platform, whereas Firefix Mobile is based on C and C++ code. Until last year when the Open Handset Alliance released the NDK (native development kit) which allowed native code as part of the app, it was simply impossible.”
Sullivan also spoke of Windows Mobile (which has Firefox Mobile running as an Alpha build at the moment, stating that the new announcement had caused some decisions to be made at Mozilla:
“Now we have the decision: do we target Windows Mobile 6.5 or 7? How much architecture will there be to work with?” And while admitting Mozilla didn’t know a lot about MeeGo, the new alliance between Nokia and Intel, Sullivan highlighted it as an exciting opportunity.
“Nokia has been a great partner for us, helped Firefox Mobile to get better, and we hope that continues. Mozilla has also been in Moblin (Intel’s previous Linux-based platform) for a while, and that company has contributed a lot over the years. It all lines up pretty well, although I don’t know how it will all shake out.” (www.mozilla.com)
Publised on: Feb 21 2010
