Mozilla Marketplace will open for developers to submit Web apps at Mobile World Congress. In addition, Firefox for Android and Boot to Gecko project will be showcased at the show.

The Mozilla Labs Apps project aims to establish an Apps ecosystem that provides freedom, choice and opportunity for users and developers. Mozilla is doing this by adding key capabilities to the Web platform in the form of new Mozilla-proposed APIs and by establishing the Mozilla Marketplace as the first operating system- and device-independent market for apps based on open Web technologies like HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.

The Mozilla Marketplace will open for developer submissions next week during Mobile World Congress. If you are an app developer interested in distributing and monetizing your app across device and platform silos, you should submit your app to the Mozilla Marketplace. Submitting your app will reserve your app name and give your app the chance to be featured in the launch later this year.

Mozilla said that users can buy apps once and use it on any HTML5-enabled device.

"The Web is the largest platform in the world. We are enabling the Web to be the marketplace, giving developers the opportunity to play on the biggest playing field imaginable," said Todd Simpson, Mozilla?s Chief of Innovation. "By building the missing pieces, Mozilla is now unlocking the potential of the Web to be the platform for creating and consuming content everywhere."

The Mozilla Marketplace enables developers to create and distribute applications that work across HTML5-enabled devices and operating systems (OS). Mozilla is trying to close the technology gap between Web and native apps, creating new APIs and putting developers back in control of every aspect of the app experience ? from easy development and distribution to direct consumer interaction.

The Mozilla Web Apps platform will feature:

- The Mozilla Marketplace, the first operating system- and device-independent market for apps based on open Web technologies like HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.

- New Mozilla-proposed APIs that advance the Web as a platform and will be submitted to the W3C for standardization.

- A new identity system for the Web that puts users in control of their content, tying apps to the user and not the device or platform.

The Mozilla Marketplace will feature apps in the categories of games, media, music, productivity and more.

At the same show, Mozilla will be showcasing Boot to Gecko, a project to develop a new, open-source web operating system for mobile devices, along with a preview of the newer version of Firefox mobile browser for Android phones and tablets, which will offer a personalised web experience that can be synchronized across several devices.

Mozilla had proposed the Boot to Gecko project last July, to pursue the goal of building a standalone operating system for mobile devices that would run applications primarily on the Web. The new OS is based on Google's Android kernel and a Gecko Runtime. Functions of B2G include accelerometer, camera, messaging, telephony and power management, as well as Mozilla's phone user interface called "Gaia". Mozilla will demonstrate demo phones able to connect with an open web app store, feature sensors, vibrator, Bluetooth, USB and NFC functions. Mozilla also plans to deliver a full-featured web browser, an eBook reader, camera and a media player.