14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla is already known to plan releasing an Android version of its mobile browser during the ongoing year, and now the company has reiterated its plans on the matter, stating that the application is likely to arrive sometime in late 2010. According to Mozilla's VP of Mobiles, Jay Sullivan, Andriod represents a great opportunity for Firefox Mobile.
“It's a modern OS, and it's a great fit with us. It's the type of platform that has a high affinity with the early adopter, and it's seen a lot of uptake,” Jay Sullivan stated, TechRadar reports. “Android has been built on a Java platform, whereas [Firefox Mobile] is based on C and C++ code. Until last year when [the Open Handset Alliance] released the NDK (native development kit) which allowed native code as part of the app, it was simply impossible,” he added, explaining this way why the Android flavor of the browser had been delayed, it seems.
In addition to the said Firefox Mobile for devices running under Google's Android operating system, Mozilla is also considering the launch of a browser that will run on the newly announced MeeGo platform, the merger of Nokia's Maemo OS and Intel's Moblin platform. “Nokia has been a great partner for us, helped Firefox Mobile to get better, and we hope that continues,” Sullivan explained.
As most of you might already know, Firefox mobile is already available for download for the Maemo platform, and Nokia N900 users can benefit from its features. Moreover, it seems that Mozilla is set to continue its previous collaboration with Intel too, as the browser is also present on Moblin (Intel's previous Linux-based platform). “It all lines up pretty well, although I don't know how it will all shake out,” he stated.
One area that is still not clear for the company seems to be Windows Mobile, as Microsoft has just announced the release of Windows Phone 7 Series devices later this year, and the company is already working on a browser fit for the existing Windows Mobile 6.x version of the operating system. The company still has to decide which road it will take, and will probably announce its decision after the MIX10 conference, where Microsoft will detail the development process of apps for the new mobile platform.