Firefox for Android ready for download

Firefox for Android has moved up a gear, with the news that Fennec Alpha has been released for the platform by Mozilla.

Also available for the N900, the new release adds in a number of new extras to the pre-Alpha build that appeared in April.

The main focus of the new release is to improve the performance of the build, with responsiveness to user actions the key area upgraded.

Fennec does this by separately running the browser interface from the rendering of web content, making user inputs easier to read while other, more CPU-heavy activities are tootling along in the background.

Spit, shine, done

Mozilla has also confirmed that the beta release of the software is coming soon, with areas like video, scrolling and zooming all set to be given a spot of spit and polish.

Of course, the main reason for using Firefox Mobile is the functionality it ports from the main browser: namely the use of the Awesome Bar, which not only remembers the websites you've visited on your desktop, but is highly accurate at taking you to the right site when you type in a search term.

Add-ons are also included in the Fennec Alpha build, meaning you can add in things like Twitter clients to your browser on your mobile.

Mozilla told TechRadar that it anticipated the full version of Firefox for Android would be available towards the end of this year, so we're hoping the development schedule goes according to plan.

Head on over to the Mozilla Blog to download the new build for your device (although remember it's an alpha release and therefore may not perform properly at all times) and you can also see a video of the release in action (although this must be in alpha mode too, as it's currently not working).