In a world of Apple lawsuits and that frustrating moment when you droll over a friend’s app selection only to realize that he’s iPhone and you’re Android, the idea of an open platform seems pretty novel. After all, the basis of the business world is to figure out a great idea and then safeguard it as best you can, to generate the most profit.

Enter Firefox OS

Imagine a mobile operating system that makes mobile web browsing much like browsing on your laptop or deskop computer. Think about it…sitting at your home computer, pretty much every page you go to looks the same regardless of what type of computer you happen to be using. Firefox wants to bring this same type of across-the-board sameness to mobile phone users, and they’re getting closer and closer to making it a reality.

Firefox OS – The Basics

As you may remember from our previous article, Firefox OS will be an entirely open and free platform. Executives and developers think this will draw in customers like crazy, especially in areas where low-cost mobile services are in high demand (and really, that’s pretty much everywhere these days).

The entire philosophy behind Firefox OS is completely contrary to Apple and even Google, which boasts about its openness but still restricts apps by nature. Firefox OS is entirely based on HTML5, therefore the apps should run exactly the same on any device which supports HTML5 (Apparently!) and very soon, thanks to the demise of Flash for mobile devices, that will be every handset in operation.

Firefox OS – When Can You Get It?

Like so many highly anticipated releases in the mobile industry, there’s no definite date, or device, for Firefox OS as of yet. The best we could find is a frustratingly vague “sometime in 2013.” However, given the consumer response to the idea of a truly open platform, we’re sure there are developers working around the clock to bring this operating system to the masses as soon as humanly possible.

Leaked Video Footage

You may have already seen the demo video of Firefox OS up and running on an anonymous ZTE device. While the video leaves a lot to be desired (and wondered about), it appears that Firefox has a lot on the ball. Graphics appear crisp and clean, widgets are fun but not annoying and response seems good for a demo. We’re forgiving the few lags we saw; demos are demos for a reason.

Mozilla Firefox OS Exclusive Preview

Firefox OS – Will You Want It?

If everything we’ve heard holds true, yes, you will want a Firefox OS powered device. After all, it’s a huge pain to pay for an app you love, then have to pay for it all over again if you want it on your tablet or secondary phone.

In addition, we’re really looking forward to a world where we don’t have to pay attention to the latest patent court battles. The world of big business grubbing for more money is irritating enough – do we really need to worry about whether the next legal decision will essentially rip our phone out of our pocket? We think not, and we applaud the folks at Firefox for giving us one less thing to worry about.


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