Picture the scene, on top of a great big hill in the sun Mozilla unveiled the latest devices to run Firefox OS and amazingly one of them was a Smart TV made by Panasonic, yes a television running a Web based OS. They did have five new phones though, which seem to rather non UK orientated.
After various speakers from Mozilla had been on stage and told us how open Firefox is, how great open source is and how they have partnered with umpteen networks and manufacturers worldwide they let us loose on the phones. Basically they have five new devices they’re excited about, ranging from the super cheap through to the high end gorgeous transparent KDDI Fx0.
Information about the devices was sparse and hands on time nigh on impossible thanks to a man and the largest video camera I have ever seen taking up half of the demo area. Ho hum. We did however get to see a wonderful example of iPad photography during the Mozilla CEOs keynote speech.
So here are the six devices that Mozilla wanted to show off today.
Alcatel One Touch Pixi 3
The Alcatel One Touch Pixi 3 is the smallest Firefox OS on show, it felt quite good in the hand, although spec wise is a little basic.
ZTE Open II
ZTE have continued to make Firefox OS devices, for America though and with fairly low specs.
Alcatel One Touch Fire E
The Alcatel One Touch Fire E is the second highest spec phone on display, the display on this was rather kind of good.
Cherry Mobile Ace
The Cherry Mobile Ace looks quite nice, it’s orange…. it would match my laptop.
GoFox F15
The GoFox F15 comes in blue and it’s pretty basic as you can see this is destined for Bangladesh so I won’t loose any sleep over this.KDDI Fx0
The KDDI Fx0 looks like the kind of phone you dream about, spec’d quite reasonably. I’d really like on of these.
So lastly here are a few random pictures from the event.
Firefox OS Proves Flexibility of Web Ecosystem Expands with More Partners Device Categories and Regions in 2015
Orange to bring Firefox OS to 13 new markets in Africa and Middle East; Mozilla, KDDI, LG U+, Telefónica and Verizon collaborate on new category of phones based on Firefox OS
Barcelona, Spain-Mobile World Congress-March 1st, 2015
Mozilla, the mission-based organization dedicated to keeping the power of the Web in people’s hands, welcomed new partners and devices to the Firefox OS ecosystem at an event in Barcelona, leading into Mobile World Congress.
Mozilla President Li Gong summarized the status of Firefox OS, which currently scales across devices ranging from the world’s most affordable smartphone to 4K Ultra HD TVs.”Two years ago Firefox OS was a promise. At MWC 2014, we were able to show Firefox OS scales across price ranges and form factors. Today, at MWC 2015, we celebrate dozens of successful device launches across continents, adoption of Firefox OS beyond mobile, as well as growing interest and innovation around the only truly open mobile platform. Also, we are proud to report that three major chip vendors contribute to the Firefox OS ecosystem.”
Firefox OS MWC 2015 News in Detail
Mozilla, KDDI, LG U+, Telefonica and Verizon Wireless collaborate to create a new category of intuitive and easy to use Firefox OS phones. The companies are collaborating to contribute to the
Mozilla community and create a new range of Firefox OS phones for a 2016 launch in various form factors-flips, sliders and slates -that balance the simplicity of a basic phone(calls, texts) with the more advanced features of a smartphone such as fun applications, content, navigation, music players, camera, video, LTE, VoLTE, email and Web browsing. For more details and supporting quotes see blog.mozilla.org
Orange announces bringing Firefox OS to 13 markets as part of a new digital offer Today, Orange puts the mobile Internet within reach of millions more people, otherwise not previously addressed, with the launch of a new breakthrough digital offer across its significant African and Middle Eastern footprint. The Orange Klif digital offer starts from under US$40 (€35), inclusive of data, voice and text bundle and sets a new benchmark in price that will act as a major catalyst for smartphone and data adoption across the region. The 3G Firefox OS smartphone is exclusive to Orange and will be available from Q2 in 13 of Orange’s markets in the region, including, but not limited to, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Mali, The Ivory Coast, Jordan, Niger, Kenya, Mauritius and Vanuatu.
ALCATEL ONE TOUCH collaborates with Orange and announced
more details on the new phone today.
ALCATEL ONETOUCH expands mobile internet access with the newest Firefox OS phone, the orange Klif. The Orange Klif offers connectivity speeds of up to 21 Mbps, is dual SIM, and includes a two-megapixel camera and micro-SD slot. The addition of the highly optimised Firefox OS meanwhile allows for truly seamless Web browsing experiences, creating a powerful
Internet-ready package. The Orange Klif is the first Firefox OS phone powered by a MediaTek processor. Mozilla revealed further details about upcoming versions of Firefox OS, among them: Improved performance and support of multi-core processors, enhanced privacy features, additional support for webrtc, right to left language support, and an nfc payments infrastructure.
Earlier this week, KDDI Comoration announced an investment in Monohm, a US based provider of innovative loT devices based on Firefox OS. Monohm’s first product “Runcible” will be
showcased at the Mozilla booth at MWC 2015.
The Firefox OS ecosystem continues to expand with new partners and devices ranging from the line of Panasonic 4K Ultra HD TVs to the world’s most affordable smartphone “Just months ago, Cherry Mobile introduced the ACE, the first Firefox OS smartphone in the Philippines, which is also the most affordable smartphone in the world. We are excited that the ACE, which keeps
gaining positive feedback in the market, is helping lots of consumers move from feature phones to smartphones. Through the close partnership with Mozilla Firefox OS, we will continue to bring more affordable quality mobile devices to consumers,”said Maynard Ngu, Cherry Mobile CEO. With today’s announcements, Firefox OS will be available from leading operator partners in more than 4o markets in the next year on a total of 17 smartphones.
Firefox OS unlocks the power of the Web as the platform and will continue to expand across markets and device categories as we move forward the Internet of Things (IOT), using open Web technology to enable operators, hardware manufacturers and developers to create innovative and customized applications and products for consumers to use across these connected devices.
Creating Content for Mobile, on Mobile Devices Mozilla today unveiled the beta version of Webmaker, a free and open source mobile content creation app, which strips away the complexity of
traditional Web creation. Webmaker will be available for Android, Firefox OS, and via a modern mobile browser on other devices in over 20 languages later this year.
