The recently held Mobile World Congress in Barcelona brought many interesting things to the forefront, "Mozilla’s Firefox OS"
being one of them. There is a glut of mobile phones in the market,
ranging from the cheapest to the ridiculously expensive, but I am sure
that having an alternative mobile OS is a welcome one for many
consumers. While it can be argued that the mobile market is already a
crowded one, Mozilla is a brand to contend with, and they might just
pull this one off.
The success of a mobile operating system does rely heavily on its inherent nature, but we cannot
discount the fact that app developers play a huge role as well. Just think about the popularity of some apps, such as Instagram. It used to be only for iOS, but demand required that they expand to Android as well. Blackberry users are probably not getting a native app any time soon, but that does not mean they don’t want one.
Mozilla is not one to ignore this, and in fact, they are making a move to entice developers to work with Firefox OS.
HTML5 apps is the way to go
According to a Mozilla spokesperson, Firefox OS will support all HTML5 apps. In a statement provided to VentureBeat, the spokesperson highlighted the path the company is taking: “unlocking the Web as the platform to build apps powered by open Web standards like HTML5, CSS, and Javascript, along with new Web APIs.”
This means that developers will not have to learn a new platform to create apps specific to that platform. With HTML5 (and CSS/JavaScript/ new WebAPIs), the apps that they create can be used across devices. Additionally, developers will not be limited to selling their products via a single venue. That is, instead of being able to distribute apps via the App Store, for example, Mozilla Firefox OS developers can choose among various options – the Firefox Marketplace or their own web site.
Defragmentation
For both developers and users, this points to one big advantage: defragmentation. Having multi-platform compatibility is something that will be beneficial especially for users who have multiple devices at any given time.
The success of a mobile operating system does rely heavily on its inherent nature, but we cannot
discount the fact that app developers play a huge role as well. Just think about the popularity of some apps, such as Instagram. It used to be only for iOS, but demand required that they expand to Android as well. Blackberry users are probably not getting a native app any time soon, but that does not mean they don’t want one.
Mozilla is not one to ignore this, and in fact, they are making a move to entice developers to work with Firefox OS.
HTML5 apps is the way to go
According to a Mozilla spokesperson, Firefox OS will support all HTML5 apps. In a statement provided to VentureBeat, the spokesperson highlighted the path the company is taking: “unlocking the Web as the platform to build apps powered by open Web standards like HTML5, CSS, and Javascript, along with new Web APIs.”
This means that developers will not have to learn a new platform to create apps specific to that platform. With HTML5 (and CSS/JavaScript/ new WebAPIs), the apps that they create can be used across devices. Additionally, developers will not be limited to selling their products via a single venue. That is, instead of being able to distribute apps via the App Store, for example, Mozilla Firefox OS developers can choose among various options – the Firefox Marketplace or their own web site.
Defragmentation
For both developers and users, this points to one big advantage: defragmentation. Having multi-platform compatibility is something that will be beneficial especially for users who have multiple devices at any given time.
