Are you ready for a FireFox phone? Mozilla and Telefónica Digital today announced plans to develop an entirely new mobile operating system based on Mozilla’s Open Web standard.
The Open Web Devices platform, as its being called, is a completely web-based HTML 5-powered operating system running and is meant to serve as a springboard for HTML 5-based app development.
The platform is expected to be entirely open, giving developers access to its core APIs, meaning that there is a potential for calling, text messaging, and other features can be developed as HTML 5 apps.
The FireFox developer and Telefónica Digital have already teamed with Qualcomm to begin developing a prototype device for the new operating system, although it’s still in its early stages. The companies say that the devices developed through this initiative will offer smartphone features at feature phone prices, a weighty goal.
“It has long been our mission to deliver advanced web technologies that eliminate roadblocks for users and developers. We did it first with Firefox, and now we’re doing it again in creating the first Open Web Devices,” Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich said.
While all of this is exciting to hear, it leaves us wondering; is the world ready for another mobile operating system? We’ll just have to wait in see.
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