14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla’s Firefox OS mobile operating system is enjoying expanding availability around the world, and the Internet company has decided to accelerate that growth by partnering with some more mobile phone makers out there.
The company is demonstrating some of the latest enhancements brought to its Firefox OS open mobile ecosystem at Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai, where it also unveiled that new devices running under the platform would arrive in India in a matter of months.
Furthermore, Mozilla announced that its Firefox OS would be loaded on very cheap handsets coming from two local vendors in the country, namely Intex and Spice.
At the MWC show in Barcelona in February, the company revealed that it had partnered with Spreadtrum for the development of a “turnkey solution for Firefox OS smartphones in the ultra-low-cost category,” and it appears that they have already managed to complete it.
Following this achievement, the Mozilla has partnered with Intex and Spice, two of the leading mobile device brands in India, for the release of Firefox OS products in the country.
Handsets running under the platform are expected to appeal to users upgrading from feature phones, especially due to their low cost, which will make them suitable for the mass market.
“Intex is excited to announce its association with Mozilla which will enable us to develop unparalleled smart devices on the latest Firefox OS platform,” says Mr. Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, business head, Mobile, Intex Technologies (India) Ltd.
“We have been the technology innovators in India’s telecom industry and are pleased to introduce Firefox OS in India through our smartphones to cater to the country’s masses,” Mr. Dilip Modi, Co-Founder & CEO of Spice, explains.
The aforementioned turnkey solution from Spreadtrum and Mozilla was meant to enable vendors to build even more affordable mobile devices than before, thus bringing the smartphone experience to a wider range of users, Xiaomao Xiao, vice president of software development at Spreadtrum, tells the press.
Overall, both the handset vendors and Mozilla appear to be very excited about the new partnership, as it should result in brand-new, exciting products for mobile phone users in India, one of the fastest growing smartphone market in the world.
Unfortunately, no specific details on the new devices and on their exact availability date have been provided as of now. However, judging by the “next few months” launch time frame that Mozilla has announced for these phones, we might see them going official before the summer is over.