By Last month we heard the great (but inaccurate) news that Firefox for Android would launch a beta in February. With that rumor debunked, all we knew was that the company was making progress and we would see SOMETHING at SOME point. There are still 10 months in the year, but at least you can be confident that Firefox for Android will launch in 2010, as claimed by VP of mobiles Jay Sullivan.
He also says some interesting things about Android, namely in compliments:
“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.”
And in explaining the delay:
“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.”
There are a lot of people eagerly awaiting Firefox Mobile for Android, often referred to as Fennec. Let’s hope they can bring some true innovation to the mobile browsing space, just as they’ve done on the desktop. I don’t doubt that they will.
Nice, a REALLY long time to wait though. I’m just waiting for a nice beat making app, Electrum sucks…
I have a feeling that this will blow Dolphin out of the water.
Looking forward to it, baby!
Question… If I purchase a Unlocked version of HTC Desire will I be able to upgrade the Android software to a newer version if it ever becomes available? or because the software upgrades are released through a cell phone carriers and since the phone is not under their contract I will be stuck with the OS version for the life of the phone?
Any ideas?
Its slow to come because the developers have become complaisant with the product they put out. Fat dumb and happy after establishing themselves. New blood and top level management is needed to jump start the creative energy again at Mozilla. But again… is there money to be made here????
Won’t be a patch on Opera Mini though. Well, the *new* Opera Mini – the one in the Market right now is a bit gash on Android.