Firefox for Android coming 'late this year'
Mozilla chats Windows Mobile 7 and MeeGo too
Firefox Mobile for Android is likely to make its debut on the platform later in 2010, according to Mozilla's VP of mobiles.
Jay Sullivan told TechRadar that Android was a 'great fit' 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."
Sullivan pointed out that the reason for the delay was based on the underlying code:
"Android has been built on a Java platform, whereas [Firefix 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."
Wondering about Windows
Sullivan also spoke of Windows Mobile (which has Firefox Mobile running as an Alpha build at the moment, stating that the new announcement had caused some decisions to be made at Mozilla:
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"Now we have the decision: do we target Windows Mobile 6.5 or 7? How much architecture will there be to work with?"
And while admitting Mozilla didn't know a lot about MeeGo, the new alliance between Nokia and Intel, Sullivan highlighted it as an exciting opportunity.
"Nokia has been a great partner for us, helped Firefox Mobile to get better, and we hope that continues.
"Mozilla has also been in Moblin (Intel's previous Linux-based platform) for a while, and that company has contributed a lot over the years.
"It all lines up pretty well, although I don't know how it will all shake out."
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.