14 DAY TRIAL // For some time now, alongside Opera and even Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox has been one of the favorite Internet browsers used on most PCs. Unfortunately, until now, only Internet Explorer and Opera could be used on mobile phones, while Firefox remained available for PCs alone. So here is the good news for all Firefox fans: Mitchell Baker has revealed the long-term goals for Firefox, and they're aiming to have a proper mobile product out by 2010.
Also, Mike Schroepfer wrote on his blog that work on it was underway, so it wouldn’t be long until users were able to run Firefox on their mobiles. What we have been able to find out is that Mozilla is adding mobile devices to the list of “first-class” development platforms, and Mobile Firefox will be able to run Firefox extensions on mobiles, and allow third party development via XUL.
In the meanwhile, the Minimo will stop being developed, and Mobile Firefox will ship after Firefox 3. Mozilla didn't pick any platforms yet, so whether users will be able to run Firefox on Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian or other platforms is still uncertain. One thing is sure though and that is that it won't run on iPhone, since it's locked.
However, we can't help but wonder why Mozilla entered so late in the mobile world, especially since, until now, Opera and Internet Explorer have already grabbed almost 100% of the market, which means that space for Mobile Firefox is a bit tight.
Anyway, nothing is impossible, and sudden overturns are known to happen quite often. Just think about the fact that Nokia is working on installing Linux on its MID instead of Symbian, which it owns in a proportion of 47.9%. So, if Mozilla comes up with a reliable mobile version of Firefox, this might just become the default Internet browser in upcoming mobiles in the near future. Until then, Mozilla still has a long way to go, so only time will tell about that last statement.