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Firefox Businesses Cellphones Handhelds Mozilla Hardware Technology

Firefox OS Smartphones Launching, But Will Anyone Buy One? 127

Posted by samzenpus from the making-the-call dept.
Nerval's Lobster writes "Mozilla and its hardware partners have begun launching the first Firefox OS smartphones, starting with Spain's Telefonica releasing the ZTE Open later this week. A lightweight mobile OS based on HTML5, Firefox OS (once known as 'Boot to Gecko') offers a user interface instantly familiar to anyone who's used Google Android or Apple iOS: in addition to home-screens of individual apps arranged on a grid, features include messaging, email, built-in social-networking, maps, and the Firefox Web browser. There's also Firefox Marketplace, an online storefront of HTML5 apps; early apps include Twitter, Facebook, AccuWeather, and a handful of games. But can Firefox OS make any headway in a mobile-device crowded with options? At this February's Mobile World Congress, Mozilla claimed that some 17 operators around the world have committed to the Firefox OS initiative, including China Unicom, Sprint, MegaFon, and the Telecom Italia Group. But many of those operators released rather ambiguous statements about whether they would launch an actual Firefox OS smartphone. Tony Cripps, principal device analyst at Ovum, wrote in a research note earlier this year that 'the real acid test for Firefox OS and its long-term prospects is the quality of the software itself and the user and developer experiences that it fosters.' In other words, Mozilla and its partners need to produce some quality devices, paired with a variety of spectacular apps. Some early reviews of the ZTE Open weren't good, to put it mildly, with The Verge citing: 'unremarkable hardware' and a 'laggy' OS. But that doesn't mean future phones can't go toe-to-toe against anything else on the market, provided Mozilla and its partners provide solid support and marketing."
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Firefox OS Smartphones Launching, But Will Anyone Buy One? More

Firefox OS Smartphones Launching, But Will Anyone Buy One?

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  • I really like Mozilla but (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I can't follow why this is a good idea for them.

    • Re:I really like Mozilla but (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:16AM (#44154391) Homepage Journal

      I can't follow why this is a good idea for them.

      I like mozilla too! I just haven't liked any of their products or visible personnel for years!

      • I think they'll become likable again when all their google-money dries up, and the corporate types start bailing, and it becomes a hobby maintained technology again.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Qwavel ( 733416 )

      Totally agree. And Mozilla has a great browser on Android - I love it!

      But no way I want to be limited to just Mozilla, when I can get Mozilla + Android.

      Now, apparently they are targeting the lower end of the market, but the idea of limiting a mid-range or low-end phone to javascript apps is crazy.

      So I think this makes no sense at all.

    • The average person may not even bother with owning a traditional computer in the future, just a phone and maybe a tablet. Mozilla will get locked out of that space if they don't compete. Releasing a browsers for the other mobile platforms doesn't really cut it because it is not a level playing field. On iOS you can't even make your own browser that performs as well as the native one unless you just want to reskin Safari.

      If they don't capture a chunk of the mobile space they will die.

      • The average person may not even bother with owning a traditional computer in the future, just a phone and maybe a tablet. Mozilla will get locked out of that space if they don't compete.

        So what? They can and should do one thing, do it really well, and maybe add related products. Going from a web browser to an email client is somewhat reasonable - most of what they do is handle network traffic, filter, and render the results. Going from a web browser to an OS makes no sense whatsoever.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by BZ ( 40346 )

          What do you think a browser and an OS do, exactly?

          A web browser needs to do render text, various high-performance graphics stuff, show some widgets that a user can interact with, provide a programmable runtime that can be used to create things like gmail or the github UI out of those widgets, do various network access, handle prioritizing things like web workers, painting, layout, and so forth. Oh, and nowadays also audio processing, real-time audio and video communications (WebRTC) and a few other things

      • If they don't capture a chunk of the mobile space they will die.

        I really liked your comment, but I think Mozilla has an image problem. Its marketshare on the desktop, is dropping yet its still IMO the best browser, and other than its startup time(which is probably better since I used it last) I loved the firefox mobile browser on both Android and the N900 . If I didn't have to sync through the cloud to get my bookmarks on the phone tablet I would use it in that space.

        They seem a great company, and I cannot believe they have such a hard time selling themselves against Mi

        • You liked fennec on n900? I found it to be pretty much unusable. The interface was nice, but the n900 just didn't have the juice to run it properly. Using desktop firefox (iceweasel) from easydebian ran much faster, and as an added bonus, was compatible with all the firefox addons. Fennec addons is still a barren wasteland. No requestpolicy. No cookie monster. Noscript mobile is out there, but not on addons.mozilla.org.

          Fennec sucks. It's a horrible replacement for real firefox. However, it's also t

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gl4ss ( 559668 )

        ok since when was the aim of mozilla world monetary domination?
        they wouldn't die. there would still be some platforms where they can release a browser even if they didn't make a mobile os of their own.
        and since they're acting straight up like a company would, so I don't think they need my donation cash for their so called foundation and salaries.

        they wouldn't die without having a mobile os.. they couldn't expand and pay more to execs though if they don't at least try that. I'd just like a good browser witho

  • NSA? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:14AM (#44154361)

    Does the NSA app come pre-installed, or do I have to download it?

  • Introducing the new Slashdot Phone! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:17AM (#44154395)

    Get hourly updates featuring
    -Vague laws misinterpreted by engineers to be threats to privacy/civil liberties
    -The latest release of every obscure Linux distro and its shortcomings compared to 10 other distros
    -Factually spurious articles about the death of the IT industry.
    -Philosophical flame wars about the validity of alternative energy/electric cars
    -Mental masturbation regarding drones/macs/climate change
    -Hypothetical discussions of Rasberry Pi created by Arduino driven 3-D printers purchased with BitCoins.
    -Windows 8 trolling

    Fully compatible with
    ¦Android
    ¦BlackBerry 10
    ¦iOS
    ¦Nokia Asha
    ¦Sailfish OS
    ¦Windows Phone
    ¦Windows RT
    ¦Bada
    ¦BlackBerry OS
    ¦Grid OS
    ¦Linux
    ¦Mer
    ¦S40
    ¦Brew
    ¦SHR
    ¦Symbian
    ¦webOS
    ¦Tizen

    *Unicode support included in a future update

  • Just what the world needs, another phone OS.

    • Re:Oh thank ${DIETY} (Score:5, Funny)

      by oobayly ( 1056050 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:25AM (#44154501)

      ${DIETY} - Use of an undefined higher being found at line 0. Did you forget to feed it?

    • Re:Oh thank ${DIETY} (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:27AM (#44154513)

      Does it spy on you less than Google's offering?

      Is it more affordable and generally compatible than Apple's offering?

      If so, then the world does, in fact, need it.

      • If it's customizable, feature-packed and "just works", it can spy on my uninteresting, boring, bland person as much as it likes to. A small trade for my life improvement.

      • Spoiler, for those of you who haven't read the books, stop reading here.

        This isn't going to work. There will not be a significant number of people who purchase this Mozilla phone. Mozilla phone will have less sales than Zune.

    • Someone wake me up when a mobile device has the following features:

      can install any arbitrary OS (does not have a locked bootloader)
      The default OS is secure
      The default OS is not a walled garden

      It took my kid hardly any time at all to get her Nexus 7 tablet filled with malware.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by slaker ( 53818 )

        From WHAT? Loading ,apks from torrent sites? Installing apps from random Chinese app stores? Clicking on every mobile porn site ad he could find? I've never encountered an Android device with a malware problem. I'm sure that they exist but for normal users of the Google and Amazon app stores I have a hard time believing that it's a serious problem.

        • You get it from downloading free apps that have auto downloads of other apps that have ads and more auto loaded apps. From Playstore. Go download any number of dress up apps for girls or apps that give you jewels to buy fashion so you can go on "dates" or get modeling jobs. Worse yet get cupcake maker apps where you can buy sprinkles and decorations. They also force download other apps that say "banking" or "browser" , you get the idea.

          Yep it's malware hidden behind cuteness.

      • Have a good long piss before you go to bed. You'll be sleeping for quite some time. Security and functionality are about trade-offs. Even walled garden systems are relatively insecure, and being able to install anything from anywhere is an incredible risk.

        What was the kid doing to fill a stock Nexus with malware? The computing equivalent of indiscriminate sex with Belize prostitutes? What you're looking for is hello.c

        It doesn't do much, but it's at least as secure as the compiler and the system in which it'

      • You can wake up almost four years ago. The n900 has been around for a while.

    • Yeah, we should shut up and be happy with iOS or Android. It's not like choice and competition ever benefited anyone, anyway.

      Also, it's ${DEITY}, which currently evaluates to 0.

      • Also, it's ${DEITY}, which currently evaluates to 0.

        D'oh! Why do they say "'I' before 'E', except after 'C'"? That's weird.

        • That system has been terminated, due to too many exceptions.

        • D'oh! Why do they say "'I' before 'E', except after 'C'"? That's weird.

          That's because everyone forgets the second verse...
          "or when sounding like "ay" as in neighbor or weigh".

          Or the equally forgotten and badly rhymed third verse for words like ancient:
          "Or when CIE sound like "sheh"'

          And, of course, every rule of English grammar has an unwritten fourth verse:
          "Exceptions will be made

    • Thank Mozilla (Score:4, Insightful)

      by tuppe666 ( 904118 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:51AM (#44154825)

      Just what the world needs, another phone OS.

      I assume you are being a sarcastic, but the reality is I am sure it does. Right now the whole market is being given to Android, and although Google is not motivated solely by competition, but your time spent in their services. compitition keeps companies honest(look how Microsoft is treating its *cough* customers) Apple are happy to give the market away again, and look to end with a small but profitable niche player, as it was in its now forgotten PC market, or simply will not exist. Personally I think an OS like this has real opportunity(I am more excited by Sailboat...and to a lesser extent Ubuntu). I hope its not blocked by aggressive actions by Microsoft who simply so not have a serious product.

    • Yeah; monopolies are the best! Who wants any of that stinking choice and competition?

      Currently, mobiles are pretty much a two horse race- Android and iOS. There is no credible third player- Windows and Blackberry are both down to the margins. Personally, I'd love to see that two horse race become a three or four horse race. And for vague philosophical reasons, I'd rather that those extra two horses weren't either Windows or Blackberry.

      Personally I'm hoping that Sailfish or Ubuntu will do well. But hey, noth

  • I'd buy one (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pr0nbot ( 313417 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:24AM (#44154477)

    I use my phone for talk, text, calendar, alarm, occasional web browsing on the go, random photography, and toilet gaming. I don't need all the exciting social and lifestyle integration that mobile platforms assume you want.

    So I'd certainly go for one, provided (a) there's some affordable, nice-ish hardware (like my Nexus 4), and (b) I'm not beholden to the network operator for software updates.

    Being free of that pervasive "am I happy with Google slurping this?" feeling every time I do anything on my Android phone would be worth it.

    • I use my phone for talk, text, calendar, alarm, occasional web browsing on the go, random photography, and toilet gaming. I don't need all the exciting social and lifestyle integration that mobile platforms assume you want.

      So I'd certainly go for one, provided (a) there's some affordable, nice-ish hardware (like my Nexus 4), and (b) I'm not beholden to the network operator for software updates.

      Being free of that pervasive "am I happy with Google slurping this?" feeling every time I do anything on my Android phone would be worth it.

      I installed avatarrom on my phone. It turns out to be a big problem, as it takes up more and more system memory. I have 2GB available, and avatarrom takes up 1.7GB of that. That leaves 300MB for apps and cache. Many apps refuse to install or don't work anymore. So did Gmail. I stopped using it. Avatarrom updates followed, as well as Gapps updates (google apps I suppose). The last one I didn't install. Since then I'm Google free. No Google account is needed to use the phone. OK, gmail doesn't work, Google Ma

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Qwavel ( 733416 )

      If what you want is to be free of Google (and I'm sure there is a decent market for this given recent revelations) then why doesn't Firefox sell their own Android phone.

      They already have a great Android browser, and they could easily put together a great set of core apps without including any Google or Microsoft (etc.) stuff. Or they could team up with Ubuntu?

      But being free of the big American companies doesn't require starting from scratch and it doesn't require creating a phone that mainly just runs java

    • I use my phone for [...] toilet gaming.

      This comment is probably lost on someone nick'd pr0nbot and ironic as hell coming from someone called drinkypoo but if you want to do yourself a favor you'll never say that again.

  • Could it work as a runtime on other phones? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by pijokela ( 462279 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:27AM (#44154517)

    IMO it would make more sense to use Firefox OS as a runtime on other smart phones. This way you could write a HTML 5 APP and it would work on browsers and in the Firefox OS runtime in any smart phone... sort of like what Java was supposed to be.

    Any idea if something like this is actually being done?

    Together all these niche phones would have a chance, but if all of them want to have their own app store and walled garden, they will all fail.

    • You can install Firefox on Android. The Firefox OS Marketplace can be accessed from said Firefox. You can install apps on there and and it will load the app using Firefox. This is the same rendering engine -- the same HTML5 app -- using the same everything from Firefox OS.

    • What Mozilla really wants to do with Firefox os, is to allow that to happen. It wants to push open web standards to the point where a "native" app and a html 5 app are equally capable. its not trying, nor does it want to create a Firefox runtime. Its trying to make HTML5 better for all HTML5 capable browsers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      Then Firefox will be to mobile what Java was to the desktop in the 90s, I don't see anything that could go wrong with that plan.

    • Apple prohibits such app runners.

      but what is pretty common is writing a mobile app in html5+javascript and running it inside a shim on ios, android and wp..

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JanneM ( 7445 )

      You already can install and use Firefox OS apps anywhere "real" Firefox is availalbe (ie. the crippleware version in IOS is excepted). That's actually a pretty compelling point in favour: Write your app, and have it run anywhere Firefox can run. And I bet that depending on the requirements of your app you can convert it to a regular hosted web app as well, and have it accessible to the Apple faithful and other browser users too.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by caspy7 ( 117545 )

      IMO it would make more sense to use Firefox OS as a runtime on other smart phones. This way you could write a HTML 5 APP and it would work on browsers and in the Firefox OS runtime in any smart phone... sort of like what Java was supposed to be.

      Any idea if something like this is actually being done?

      I am not a Mozilla developer, but from following the development it seems that what you describe is what's being done.
      Mozilla is proposing/has proposed a slew of WebAPIs (some have been accepted as standards, some are in the process) that allow web apps to be first class citizens - like native apps - things like camera access, vibration, screen orientation, etc.
      But the problem is that even though Firefox OS and Firefox on desktop & Android may all support these new technologies, web app developers can't

  • Also, the default Firefox start page now shows a foxy-looking character lighting a fart in front of a mobile phone.

  • "But that doesn't mean future phones can't go toe-to-toe against anything else on the market, provided Mozilla and its partners provide solid support and marketing."

    So they produced something that sucks, but if they improve what they do, they can produce something in the future that doesn't suck? Why doesn't Microsoft get this kind of encouragement any time they put, oh, almost anything on the market? They could improve their sucky products with hypothetical future efforts too!

    • Fully functional Phones (Score:4, Interesting)

      by tuppe666 ( 904118 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @12:03PM (#44154957)

      So they produced something that sucks, but if they improve what they do, they can produce something in the future that doesn't suck?

      The problem was the review (in context of your Microsoft comments they get a free pass too often and are blocking the market for Fledging OS's), is that A €69 / $90 (including €30 / $39 balance) for prepay customers was not compared as one. These are not flagship products they are aimed at the very bottom of the smartphone market. Now admittedly hardware in that market is getting better. I notice http://www.gizchina.com/2013/06/27/goophone-x1-set-to-be-worlds-cheapest-quad-core-phone-at-less-than-100/ [gizchina.com] Goophone are planning on selling a quad core phone for $100...but that in an uncertain future.

      The bottom line is I saw some pretty advanced phones for very little money.

  • since it has been revealed that the Govt via the NSA/FBI and other three letter turds that float around in the govt cesspool i plan on cutting back on technology as much as possible, that means within a few months to a couple of years as my tech toys die i do not plan to replace them, when this desktop PC dies thats it no more desktop PCs, same with my laptop and cellphone, fuck it i dont need them,

    • So, removing yourself from modern society I take it?

      • yup, i will soon be leaving, i will be just another hillbilly living way out in the wood in some ramshackle cabin, i will be the greybearded guy sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch shaking my fist at modern society and saying: "HEY! GET OFF MY LAWN!"

  • Slashdot on Firefox Mobile (Score:4, Interesting)

    by pmontra ( 738736 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @11:59AM (#44154907) Homepage
    Go look at the desktop version of this site [slashdot.org] with Firefox 22 for Android and you'll see why Mozilla is going to have a hard time with their OS. It's a mix of Mozilla's poor technical choices (look at the same site with Dolphin HD or the stock browser) and sites caring only about Webkit mobile browsers.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Teun ( 17872 )
      I don't see your problem, I have a Nexus 4 and 7 and on both I prefer the desktop version.

      The fact articles on the mobile version of /. are usually not updated in a timely fashion is part of the reason I prefer the desktop version.
      Since a few months, as a matter of fact since I got my Nexus 4, I prefer to use Firefox because it has a nicely working resize option.

      Yes I have the Full Screen plug in installed.

  • if android worked, why not firefox os... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    does anyone using android, aside from a few fanbois, actually care what's under the hood? they use it because
    1) it basically works
    2) it has a touchscreen and apps
    3) it brings internet-age computer apps like browser and email to phones
    and manufacturers lined up to use it because:
    1) it's free to license and use.
    2) see #1
    3) see #2

  • I cant help but think that running everything through a browser interface would have to make the user experience feel relatively laggy and maybe unnecessarily quirky/badly integrated when compared to Android or other smart phones where the app you're interacting with is running natively and doesnt have artificial limitations imposed by needing to go through HTML 5 for everything.
    I fully expect 3D HW gaming and maybe multimedia will most clearly demonstrate the Achilles heel of Firefox's approach.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by BZ ( 40346 )

      On Android your typical "native" app is written in Java and uses GL for graphics if it needs fast 3D graphics. The Java is interpreted (on older Android) or JIT-compiled (Android 2.2 and newer). And this JIT is not exactly like HotSpot in terms of the performance it produces. For audio it uses whatever the system libraries are.

      On FirefoxOS your typical app is written in JavaScript and uses WebGL for graphics if it needs fast 3D graphics. The JavaScript is JIT-compiled. The output can be within a factor

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by JustNiz ( 692889 )

        Interesting, but thats not what I'm saying.

        Where I'm expecting the performance difference is from the extra overhead of the app having to compose everything into HTML5 and serialise it just to pass it to the browser, which then has to parse it back out to something it can render.

        The primary use of a browser is to facilitate displaying something stored/composed on some other internet node. Because it assumes comms it expects everything over a socket wrapped in HTML5, which it then has to unpack again in orde

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by BZ ( 40346 )

          I think you're just misunderstanding how these apps work, both for HTML5 and for Android native apps.

          Your typical Android "native" app (which does not actually use the NDK) expresses its user interface in a text file containing XML, with Java event handlers attached to it to respond to various user actions. This XML is parsed at runtime and the corresponding Android UI toolkit objects are created.

          Your typical "HTML5" app expresses its user interface in a text file containing HTML, with JavaScript event han

  • Firefox needs to focus on their core product more than trying to expand into a marketplace that's completely over their head. There's a reason why people switch to Chrome. For starters, improving the slow startup speed compared to Chrome and Webkit Opera would be awesome.

    • MS, Google and in 2012 Apple signed up according to the leaks. NONE of them let you compile their software yourself. webkit is just an engine, the apps are not open to compile.

      Firefox does things fast enough just like the other browsers are just good enough feature wise to keep simple users happy. I usually can't move faster than firefox but I can't have dozens of useful additions in the other browsers (the main ones have been ported but the cool new ideas still happen as firefox plug-ins 1st.)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by eWarz ( 610883 )
        Huh? Skipping mod points to say you are definitely wrong. The Chrome (chromium by it's open source name) source code is here [chromium.org] and the android source code is here [github.com]. nice try though.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by BZ ( 40346 )

      You mean the "slow startup speed" that's 2x faster than Chrome? See http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/chrome-27-firefox-21-opera-next,3534-4.html [tomshardware.com] for what the startup times look like if you actually measure them.

  • and the other >1% market share phone manufacturers should get together and release phones that lets the user easily download and install Firefox OS or Android (the free version) or Ubuntu Mobile or any other open source OS.

    Apple and Samsung and Nokia will never do it since they do not want to end up making cheap commodity hardware with razor thin margins. But you have zero market share anyways... a small profit is better than none, right?

    • The FirefoxOS tablet from FoxConn can make a big diferrence to the success of this project. The FoxConn team are very motivated, not only in the (expectable good) hardware but essential in software development to support FirefoxOS (the key factor for sucess). Let's wait until wednesday to review the product announcement.

  • But can Firefox OS make any headway in a mobile-device crowded with options?

    Um, yes. Yes it can. It will be installed on the device. Consider that its headway.

  • But they only have contact Sync with Facebook (and SIM card of course).

    I would want a privacy oriented organization to not be pushing people to Facebook...

  • I have been resisting buying a smartphone for years. The only sensible reason for me to own one would be so that I can tinker with it. Sure you can play around with Android a bit, but I want something that will ease my tinkering rather than try to prevent me. Apple, of course, is straight out because of this. I want a smartphone that I can turn inside out, hack, wipe, reinstall its OS, re-hack, re-wipe and re-install, write small apps for, use to exchange data with, and get creative with its WiFi, bluetooth

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gerddie ( 173963 )
      I would guess that the phones you get with a contract or pre-paid would be locked for a certain time, but if you can get hold of a developer preview phone [geeksphone.com], it is completely open, the only problem so far is that whenever they have some in stock they are sold out very fast.

  • Interesting (Score:3)

    by mpol ( 719243 ) on Monday July 01, 2013 @03:35PM (#44157855) Homepage

    I think it's an interesting OS to watch for. I can see similarities with the web. The web seemed to turn into a proprietary format. Firefox stumbled on, but it seemed like an uphill battle that would never succeed. However they did succeed, by just keeping to their goals. The web now is more open then 10 years ago, where you couldn't even access the website of your bank with Firefox.

    Now with this OS, it might turn out the same. It's all somewhat closed platforms. Apple uses Obj-C, Android a Java variant. Other platforms use Qt. Now Firefox comes along and uses a platform that is already open, html5/css/js, and uses it for apps.

    I just hope the other underdogs follow suit, and use the same API, like Ubuntu, Jolla, Tizen.
    We'' lees what the future brings. I think they can do it, and provide a common platform for the future.

  • Assuming you can't convert the laguage to apps easily to English then it's really only going to sell in Spain (I would assume) and given their economy is one of the worst in Europe I'm not sure people are jumping at the chance to buy new smart phones. Though if it's cheap I guess that might work in their favour.

    • Yeah, I guess it's just Spain and nowhere else.

      If only there were some large, developing continent where most countries use Spanish as their native language. Some place where non-smart-phones are still in wide use because people don't want to pay $800 for an iPhone or $400 for an Android phone. Some place where a low-cost, highly capable phone might be welcomed. If only...

  • FireFox Cant (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Firefox cant even get the Browser right anymore. They dont listen to its end users, Dont fix the real issues, and only fix the ones that make the system work without crashing. Look at the mobile browser,The "top Sites", you cant delete them, they are always there, ( some you can remove others you have to completely reset the browser to get them gone. Millions of users have complained about this, firefox has released several updates, none of them fix the issue. So if they cant get that right why do they seem

    • The company got purchased...

      Huh? Purchased? Owners? Gold fever?

      Mozilla is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. No one stands to get rich from this.

      We'll welcome you back to the reality-based conversation whenever you feel like re-joining us.

  • How will Firefox OS live within the mobile patent wars? It may attract some vendors if patent free, since it lower the cost. But if that brings success, it will get patent suits.

  • And instead of welcoming it, people slag off on it.

    It is a platform which is incredibly easy to adopt and make applications for, and it is not owned and steered by some company with a profit agenda and a mandate of openness. People still slag off on it sight unseen.

    The organisation steering the project are not a bunch of scrubs and have some serious experience... And yet people slag off on it.

    It is very well designed, and people still slag off on it despite having no idea of the design benefits. It understa

  • Provided they're free (with contract) phones, they'll be snapped up fairly quickly.

    Android's outselling iPhones due to this - the top selling Android (SGS3) is barely 10% of phones sold since it was released. The vast majority of Android phones are free ones kicked out because people were upgrading. If Mozilla can produce a decent phone with decent specs that still goes for free with contract, it'll appeal to lots of people.

    And yes, people buy Androids because upgrading their featurephones can cost just as

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