Firefox Mobile concept flaunted in Mozilla video
Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.
Update 10:20 a.m. PDT: This was updated to clarify the point about mobile browser alternatives.
The buzz about Firefox these days might be focused on the impending Firefox 3, but the folks at Mozilla are already thinking beyond that browser--and beyond the PC. A blog post on Wednesday from Mozilla Labs' head of user experience, Aza Raskin, shows off a video of a conceptual Firefox Mobile.
Designed for touch-screen interfaces--not multitouch, like the iPhone--the mobile Firefox browser opens up to reveal a bookmarks list and a "plus" button to open a new window. The browser controls are located to the left of the window and are accessible by panning horizontally.
Firefox competes reasonably well with Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer on PCs, but the battle lines are only now being drawn in the mobile device browser war. One notable power is the open-source Webkit browser engine, used in the iPhone's Safari browser and Google's forthcoming Android software.
A firefox: 'I'm the cutest thing ever, and I'm coming to your cell phone!'
(Credit: Caroline McCarthy)"We're driven by demand," Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, said in a May interview when asked if he was interested in bringing Firefox to Android. "We've been concentrating on other platforms that don't have (a) browser or didn't have a good one."
The mobile Firefox is code-named "Fennec" after a small species of fox with unusually large ears. Ironically, the animal sometimes referred to as a "firefox," better known as a red panda, is more closely related to skunks and raccoons.
CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.
- Topics:
-
Browsers and extensions,
-
Mobile
- Tags:
-
Firefox,
-
mobile,
-
Firefox Mobile,
-
Android,
-
iPhone,
-
Google,
-
open-source
- Share:
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
-->
"Firefox is already a leading alternative to Microsoft on mobile platforms; the iPhone's Safari browser is powered by the open-source Webkit browser engine, and Google has chosen the same foundation for its Android software."
...makes it sound as if WebKit and Firefox are somehow related. In fact, the Webkit engine and Opera's browsers, I would say, are the "leading alternative to Microsoft on mobile platforms". I'm not sure Firefox and its Gecko engine are leading anything in that field.
* How would handle pages that is too wide?
* Any page re-formating considered to fit into small screens?
* There is a trend to move to use browser for almost all UI need on phone. There are quite a few implications for this. For example, easy to click on the link with enumeric buttons.
J.
* How would handle pages that is too wide?
* Any page re-formating considered to fit into small screens?
* There is a trend to move to use browser for almost all UI need on phone. There are quite a few implications for this. For example, easy to click on the link with enumeric buttons.
J.
as for firefox mobile i am looking forward to it...just as i'm looking forward to opera mobile 9.5...i already have the beta and skyfire (also a beta) out performs the rest 150%. let's just see if firefox mobile has the common sense to ensure their browser is capable of playing embedded flash, java and activeX content...otherwise they're wasting their time.
ensure their browser is capable of playing embedded flash, java and activeX content...otherwise they're wasting their time.