Firefox OS ecosystem redefines the entry-level smartphone

https://blog.mozilla.org/press/2014/06/firefox-os-ecosystem-continues-expansion-and-redefines-the-entry-level-smartphone/

by jaipradeesh • 12 years ago

54 27 12 years ago

blog.mozilla.org

pjmlp• 12 years ago

"Firefox OS is the first device platform built entirely to open Web standards, with every feature developed as an HTML5 application."

Palm WebOS has that title.

janjongboom• 12 years ago

I don't think so. In WebOS there was a Web App Runtime[1] but not the whole stack is built on top of web. Contrary to Firefox OS where the device boots into a web browser, so there is no notion of 'Compiled' or 'native' apps.

[1] http://siliconangle.com/files/2011/12/webos-architecture.png

orkoden• 12 years ago

And Firefox OS has the same problems: bad performance and memory management, no apps, slow hardware.

Already__Taken• 12 years ago

You can say no apps about any new phone OS but FFOS especially it's missing the point.

There shouldn't be any damn apps, if you have 'The Internet' you're good. There's no manufacture defined walls between them. If there's 'FF Apps' they should work just as well on and android, iphone, windows/ whatever.

Anything cheap will have slow hardware.

viraptor2• 12 years ago

I'm not sure how you can blame OS for "no apps" (business decisions), "slow hardware" (hardware manufacturer's decision, also did you notice "entry-level smartphone" in the title?). If you add "bad performance" in that context, wouldn't it be better to first check it on "fast hardware"?

Basically the only problem from this list that depends on the OS is "bad memory management". Do you mind expanding on exactly what is bad about it?

titanix• 12 years ago

More APIs than not aren't web standards but Mozilla's ones. And I don't see companies with real mobile OS offering (Google, Apple, Microsoft) implementing them anytime soon. So, it will stay Mozilla only APIs, not standard.

TazeTSchnitzel3• 12 years ago

Every Web API has to start life as a vendor standard somewhere.

akumen3• 12 years ago

Doesn't matter. Web-as-App is a flawed concept that everyone has tried and failed. Firefox is expecting a different result?

mike-cardwell• 12 years ago

The concept is not flawed, just because some implementations have not been popular and have failed commercially. If anyone was going to produce a good implementation, I would count on Mozilla.

CmonDev3• 12 years ago

Also the standards are not really open. Where can I submit a pull request?

pgeorgi• 12 years ago

http://www.w3.org/2008/webapps/

akumen3• 12 years ago

I've tried Firefox OS and it feels on par with early versions of Android in terms of UI/UX i.e. it is bad, very bad. Plus poor performance, lack of any app ecosystem and operators are sticking it on sub par hardware. At the end of the day, poor user experience. All said and done, Firefox OS is just something developed markets don't want and emerging markets don't need.

CmonDev3• 12 years ago

Also Firefox OS is not backed by a multi-billion corporation. And developers don't get a real choice of language. So it's going to be worse for a long time. Plus all the usual problems of being the last to the market.

Pacabel• 12 years ago

Firefox OS is yet another example of Mozilla apparently thinking that ideological purity alone will somehow entice users into adopting an otherwise average-to-bad software offering.

That isn't how reality works, though, obviously. Out of necessity, most users must place software usability and capability above ideology. Software like Firefox OS and Persona will never see serious adoption when they can't compete with long-established and more functional offerings at the most basic levels, even if these competitors may not be as "open".

It's an approach that doesn't work for Mozilla's offerings that are already well-established, either. Firefox has been hemorrhaging users ever since its developers stopped focusing on truly improving the user experience, and instead focused solely on copying the worst aspects of Chrome (the UI, for example), while neglecting to address the performance and resource usage problems that have long plagued Firefox.

Users need software that works. If that means using software that's "less open" or "closed", they'll do it without a second thought. Mozilla just happens to often be on the losing side of this reality these days. While "openness" can be beneficial, it needs to be in conjunction with software that's at least comparably good to its "closed" competitors. Firefox OS, Persona and Firefox are good examples of where this isn't the case, and how they're either seeing limited to no adoption, or how they're losing existing users.

Touche3• 12 years ago

I don't get your point about choice of language. The web has more choice of language than any of the mobile app ecosystems.

TazeTSchnitzel3• 12 years ago

When did you try it? It moves quite fast.

Furthermore, why do you say emerging markets don't need it? The other OSes do not work on low-cost handsets any more. Targeting that niche is a good idea as it gives the OS a chance to gain relevancy with users who won't be as picky as HN readers.

akumen3• 12 years ago

At every MWC when it launched to the public and pretty much every iteration since then. My company develops solutions for a telco that is one of the key backers of Firefox OS in developing countries.

0x006A• 12 years ago

You get an entry-level Android 4 phone for less than $50 today (http://www.flipkart.com/karbonn-a50s/p/itmduwgkgyqjjgf8)

Is Firefox OS really redefining the entry-level smartphone?

endemic2• 12 years ago

Yeah, I think they're a few years late to the party on this one. Nokia's low-end are also pretty inexpensive (http://www.walmart.com/ip/AT-T-GoPhone-Nokia-Lumia-520-Pre-p...).

Firefox OS ecosystem redefines the entry-level smartphone

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