Firefox OS is different from, say, Android in that it’s built to be used
online. Applications don’t need to be downloaded; anything built in HTML 5 can
communicate with your phone directly, using both APIs and JavaScript.
The basic
idea is that an app is no longer restricted to a platform: For example, if your
favourite mass transit website uses the right APIs, you can just boot it up as
if it were an app.
It’ll help make smartphones more open and give websites a
level playing field…
The OS will be loaded on
the Alcatel One Touch Fire and the ZTE Open, both decent phones and a
reflection of the kind of hardware Mozilla is looking at for this project.
They’re relatively cheap, as well; the Open runs only €69, or about $90. A few questions linger about Firefox OS, though. The most glaring is
privacy and security. It’s not like JavaScript is the most secure method of
doing things online, and that may leave room for the unscrupulous to get into
your phone. Which ties into the second problem, bloat ware. Carriers are looking
for an alternative to Android, but not because they dislike Google: Rather,
because they want you to use their terrible maps application, instead of Google
Maps, and their crappy email client instead of Gmail. Firefox OS will need to
avoid these problems to have any chance on the wider market.
Built on
Firefox OS is packed with the features
that made you want a smartphone in the first place. It fits your life perfectly
so you can fit in with the world around you.
Unlike Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iOS, Firefox OS relies heavily on
Web-based apps.
The presumption is that this will make it easier for developers
to build apps that can work across multiple platforms, and for consumers to get
their hands on a lower-cost, but still decent, smartphone
Firefox
OS is not a proprietary platform, it is fully standards-based and built on
HTML5," says Andreas Gal, Vice President, Mobile Engineering,
Mozilla.
"What's
more, Firefox OS is not a new ecosystem - it is the Web and the Web is the
largest existing ecosystem we have today."
"Right now, the mobile world is busy because there is so much economic value to be gained by owning a platform," says Gal. "The problem with mobile for users today is that once a user buys apps, music etc. on a given platform, they are not currently transportable to another ecosystem."
Rather than creating a competing platform, Firefox OS uses the web as the platform to build apps powered by open Web standards like HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript and new Web APIs that enable Web apps to access functions of the handset previously only available to native apps - such as camera, telephony, messaging and Bluetooth.
Facebook and Twitter apps will be preloaded onto the Firefox OS phones, and users can integrate their Facebook friends’ contact information into the phone’s address book. The phones include the Firefox Web browser, Nokia’s Here Maps app, and a simple camera app for shooting and lightly editing photos (both the Open and One Touch include a three-megapixel rear camera), and a Firefox Marketplace where users can download apps.
Apps Development
Firefox OS apps are nothing
more than Open Web apps, that is HTML5 Apps, that are installed on a phone
running Firefox OS. This means that you can directly reuse the knowledge that
you have about front-end development to create awesome applications running on
Firefox OS phones.
Web apps are apps built
using standard Web technologies. They work in any modern Web browser, and can
be developed using your favourite tools.
Some characteristics that distinguish
Web apps from websites: Apps are installed by a user, they are self-contained
and don't always require the chrome of a browser window, and they can be built
to run offline. Gmail, Twitter, and Ether pad are Web apps.
The Mozilla Open Web Apps
project proposes some small additions to existing sites to turn them into apps
that run in a rich, fun, and powerful computing environment. These apps run on
desktop browsers and mobile devices, and are easier for a user to discover and
launch than Web sites. They have access to a growing set of novel features,
such as synchronizing across all of a user's devices.
Many of you will argue that Android and iOS are superior because
of the ecosystem and the magnitude and quality of apps they offer. Well, I do
agree that Firefox isn’t anywhere in the radar yet. But look at the openness of
the platform and the potential apps for Firefox platform. It may take some time
but ultimately Firefox will be placed best to beat the competition.
Not
to forget Linux, which always struggled with Windows in terms of applications but it is still one of the top competitors of Microsoft’s Windows.
Why
Firefox OS ?
Problem that Firefox avoids
- Runs smoothly on low-end devices.
- Of course low and mid-range phones are less expensive than the high-end phones. So you can say Firefox OS hardware will be much cheaper than Android and iOS. Everyone can afford it easily.
- Firefox OS devices will have much longer battery life because of less resource consumption.
- Your phone never gets obsolete because web is the native platform. New version of apps will run easily even on your older hardware
- You are not forced to download apps from Mozilla’s market place. You can add any web app on the internet as native app if the developer has added a small manifest file in the root dir. of that app. You can even create your own market place.
- Imagine a word in your mind and try searching it in App Discovery interface of Firefox OS, it will give you high quality chosen apps from all over the internet. This truly unlocks the power of web on mobile.
How to try Firefox OS ?
Firefox OS, though still in
its development stages, is worth a try. However, buying a phone for USD200 just
to test the mobile operating system may not be in everyone’s immediate plans.
Do not worry as you have other options to play with Firefox OS.
You can try Firefox OS in
these four ways:
- You can use Firefox OS Desktop client for your operating system. Check the instructions for downloading and building Firefox OS Desktop client.
- Download Firefox OS Simulator add-on for Firefox browser (of course, you need to have Firefox browser on your system). Check the Firefox extensions page on Firefox OS Simulator.
- You can build Firefox OS Simulator from source and use Firefox OS in a simulated environment.Check the instructions on how to build Firefox OS.
- You can build Firefox OS from source and install it on your existing device.
It is suggested to use the Firefox OS Simulator add-on for Firefox
browser because it is the easiest and safest method for trying Firefox OS. Building
Firefox OS from source is tedious work and the Firefox OS Desktop client may or
may not work successfully for you.
Bottom Line
Firefox OS, if successful, will change the way we use the Web. We are
used to visit websites but Firefox OS will bring an era where we will be using
Web apps more than Websites.
