The Mozilla Foundation on Tuesday unveiled two preview smartphones as it invited developers to try its new open-source mobile operating system challenging Apple's iOS and Google's Android.
The two preview phones are offered come from the small Spanish-based manufacturer GeeksPhone in partnership with the Spanish carrier Telefonica.
Firefox OS is a new mobile operating system built entirely using open web standards. In Firefox OS, HTML5 apps can do "phone things" - they can make the phone vibrate, make a phone call or send a text message.
Here are the specs of the phone:
- CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1Ghz
- UMTS 2100/1900/900 (3G HSPA)
- GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE)
- Screen 3.5" HVGA Multitouch
- 3 MP Camera
- 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
- MicroSD, Wifi N, Light and proxmity Sensor, G-Sensor, GPS, MicroUSB
- 1580 mAh battery
- Over the air updates
- Unlocked, add your own SIM card
It's not yet clear how much the phones will cost or when they'll ship.
The group's so-called Boot to Gecko project will go after Google's Android or Apple's iOS, to create an alternative which could generate smartphones that are less expensive than an iPhone while offering similar experiences to those running on other platforms.
Mozilla has been working on bringing the power of the web to mobile, through Firefox OS, along with all the power of open standards and an open community.
Mozilla is also inviting developers to participate in Firefox OS App Days, a worldwide set of 20+ hack days happening this week. At each App Day event, developers will have the opportunity to learn, hack, share and celebrate Firefox OS, Mozilla's open source operating system for the mobile web. Technologists and developers from the Mozilla community will present tools and technology built to extend and support the Web platform, including mobile Web APIs to access device hardware features such as the accelerometer.