Mozilla Firefox OS Roadshow, Part 1

Yesterday we attended the first Mozilla Firefox OS aka Boot2Gecko roadshow in the Philippines in partnership with Globe Labs to give members of the media and developers a taste of what this upcoming OS is all about. We also get to play with a Nexus S device ported with the said OS and were able to clarify some of facts about B2G.

Weâ€™ve previously featured the Mozilla Firefox OS about a month ago and it has clearly sparked interest to most of you guys. Although the OS is still on its development stage, almost all the features that users expect out of an OS are already functional. At this time, devs are just polishing these functionalities and making sure that it’s as bug-free as it can be before they release it. Here are some interesting facts about the OS that was discussed during the event.

Firefox OS was inspired by Mozilla Fennec (Firefox for Mobile) and it compromises of 3 integral components. Gonk, which is the low-level OS, Gecko, which the main engine of the OS and Gaia the company’s fancy term for the OS’s UI. Much like the browser, the OS makes use of HTML5 which makes it easier for devs to easily develop apps for the OS or port their existing apps from different platforms to the Mozilla Marketplace.

The model unit, which is a Google Nexus S that runs on Firefox OS, boots significantly faster than when it’s running on Android. It was mentioned during the conference that users can also try porting the OS on their device but theyâ€™d have to manually compile it themselves. This means that there’s not download file that you can flash to your device.

According to the spokesperson theyâ€™ve seen devices such as SGSII, ZTE Skate and cheap China knockoffs being able to run the OS smoothly. And while there are no established hardware requirements to run the OS, the devices theyâ€™ve seen running the OS usually have a configuration of 1GHz, 512MB RAM and at least a decent GPU.

Some of the plans for this OS were also discussed during the conference including the company’s target release date and partnership with device manufacturers. So far there are a handful of companies such as Alcatel and ZTE who have already expressed their interest in using the OS to their upcoming device. But the first phone to carry the full version of the OS is Telefonica and is set to launch in January of next year in Brazil.

As far as the local scene is concerned, they reiterated that although theyâ€™ve been negotiating with local telcos, they have not signed any deal yet with any of them. But we think it’s clear who’s got the upper hand here (the conference is sponsored by Globe Labs, go figure). They said that they plan to release a Firefox OS phone locally in the 1st quarter of 2013 and there’s a big chance that these phones will fit the majority of Pinoy’s budget.

As mentioned earlier this is just the first leg of the Mozilla Firefox OS roadshow and they promised to bring us more as we inch closer to the official launch. If you want to find out more about the OS and how you can be involved with its development, you can check out their site here or you can follow them on Twitter (@MozillaPH) or on Facebook. You may be part of their B2G Beta Testers who will walk home with a brand new Samsung Galaxy S2.

Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

https://www.yugatech.com

18 Comments

vacatures Toerisme says:

12 years ago

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bleach says:

12 years ago

If you carefully read my response when I referred to xp, I was referring to the time when they released their tablet, and not windoze 8, I happen to get to play with it, and I’m sad to say that it sucks, bigtime, desktop users will not upgrade, for sure, it’s like vista all over again.

MS choose to be laggards because they are copying ideas from already established platforms. BTW, go watch pirates of the silicon valley, and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
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aianonymous says:

12 years ago

Just so you know windows 8 has a desktop mode, maybe you’re trying to hard to play with it in tablet mode when you have it in your desktop.

Oh yes I have seen that movie a lot of times… I can send you a directors cut of that movie if you like. And yes MS innovated the iCrapOS, you may check out some videos out there about features that are still missing in your so loved OS that has been in windows for years.

Also, your iGod did the same, he “borrowed” several innovations and patented it as their own. So chill :)

bleach says:

12 years ago

MS will be the laggard when it comes to mobile platform. IIRC, they bombed out in the tablet market, nobody in their right frame of mind would want a windoze xp tablet, which is more than a decade old OS.

The addition of firefox OS is a welcome news, another ecosystem to choose from.
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aianonymous says:

12 years ago

MS purposely choose to be laggard for them to have a broad view of this tech curve (accdg to them. ref: videos, blogs)and I think they’re doing the right thing.

Great majority of us has their system running at home and at work and that’s what is going to keep them at play, so long as they keep a good and unified ecosystem across these platforms. IMO.

Oh by the way… it’s not xp that they’ll be running on tablets.

http://www.yugatech.com/personal-computing/microsoft-surface-windows-8-tablet-announced/

aianonymous says:

12 years ago

I wonder how this will fair after MS outs their renewed mobile OS come last quarter this year. Any thoughts anyone?
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rodel urot says:

12 years ago

kung di ako nagkakamali yung unang post dito about that OS is Smart yung partner nila now Globe naman.
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Robert DC. Reyes says:

12 years ago

To set records straight: Mozilla hasn’t signed anything with any local telco, yet related to the Firefox OS (B2G) Project.

R2 says:

12 years ago

it looks like another iOS copy, they should make mobile OS that’s new just like Microsoft did in it’s Windows Phone.
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bleach says:

12 years ago

really apple fanboy? did apple patent this too? FYI, the only thing that can be considered american in apple is the design, everything else is made in china, they’re the new sweat shop in the electronic world.
Carl Bytes says:

12 years ago

Tama, actually sa mobile phone history, yung symbian series 30/60, iphone os at windows phone 0S lang naman ang nagkakaiba-iba, the rest, android, mozilla firefox, kapareho lang ng iphone OS. Wala man lang innovation ang iba.

el toro bumingo says:

12 years ago

I’m a big fan of Firebox and Thunderbird. I’ll definitely use an OS coming from Mozilla.
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Totem says:

12 years ago

So excited! Kailangan nila ng Chinese OEM para i-mass produce to at maging mas mura :D

Look at Chinese, they sell dual-core, dual-sim, Gorilla Glass IPS Android phones for like Php 6000.. example Jiayu G3!
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Eusebio Barrun says:

12 years ago

there is a successful installation of Firefox OS in a China made phone that is really cheap $50

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mozillachina/7414223608/
akosijayboy says:

12 years ago

nice!! I love discoveries like this

justfred says:

12 years ago

What about the app availability though? Is Mozilla planning to release a market place similar to that of Google, Apple and Windows?
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Robert DC. Reyes says:

12 years ago

The Mozilla Marketplace is currently in Mozillian Preview stage at https://marketplace.mozilla.org
geco says:

12 years ago

indeed sir,

firefox is developing their own marketplace.

the green robot has a new contender.

YugaGaming