Another HTML5 OS: Firefox

Mozilla's Firefox OS is based purely on web standards and everything in it runs as an HTML5 app. Yes, everything, including the phone's dialer.

That means whatever features you have on your phone run as web apps. 

This is great news for developers, because whatever apps they create for Firefox may also be used on iOS, Android and other OS via web browser. Develop once, work for all.

As noted in a previous blog about trends shown at this year's Mobile World Congress,a total of 18 operators have announced their support for Firefox OS, including Telefonica, Deutsche Telecom, Sprint, KDDI, KT, China Unicom, and Telecom Italia.

Adding to this list, as HTML5 apps do not depend so much on hardware, Mozilla has opted to target low-end phones in developing countries. South America has been noted to be their initial market with  Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, and Spain also on the list for the end of this year.


Mozilla says that Firefox does not aim to beat down iOS and Android, but rather "provide for a cheaper alternative with comparable if not better performance."


Firefox OS also allows users to easily customize and alter their phones, as long as they know how to work with HTML or CSS. General smartphone users may not have such expertise, but compared to jailbreaking an iPhone, it will make a lot of people's lives easier.


What can we expect from this new HTML5 OS? 
2013 will definitely be an interesting year.