14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla has been hard at work over the past weeks with the preparation of a new flavor of their Firefox browser, one that would go along great with tablet PCs, and the first taste of that work is now available for those interested in giving it a try.
The mobile browser is only in its incipient phase at the moment, but things seem to advance well, and it might not be too long before more stable and usable version is made available for download.
In the meantime, there is a nightly build of Firefox for tablets that can be downloaded and installed on devices running under Google's Android operating system.
The new application is based on the Firefox for Mobile browser that has been around the quite a while now, yet features optimizations for the larger screens that tablet PCs sport.
However, the browser is still based on the Android flavor of Fennec, though with the new user interface loaded on it.
“We, Firefox Mobile front-enders, have been working hard for the last few weeks to get the new Firefox UI for tablets in place for general testing,” Lucas Rocha, software developer for Firefox Mobile at Mozilla, notes in a blog post.
“It has now reached a functional state that is good enough for getting some early feedback. […]
“First of all, you can simply install Fennec’s nightly build on your Android tablet and give us some thoughtful feedback on the UI.”
Users who give the new application version a try should file bugs and report any other issues that emerge with it, so that the development team can come up with improvements.
At the same time, Lucas Rocha invites all those who would like to participate in the development process to have a look at the tablet-related bugs and say what bugs they would like to work on.
As stated above, the Firefox for tablets project is only in its early stages, and a lot of work still has to be done, but it comes as great news that advancements are being made so fast.