Android and Me » mobile firefox

Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android, mobile browser war heats up

Clark Wimberly — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:03:14 +0000

Today must be the day for major app launches, or something. Mozilla just officially dropped Firefox for Android in the Market, available for download now.

The mobile version of Firefox includes a lot of the bells and whistles we know from the desktop version, like tabbed browsing, add-ons, themes, and bookmark syncing. Well- bookmark syncing might not be a fair title. They call it Firefox Sync, which provides seamless and secure access to personal data across desktop and mobile devices, including browsing history, bookmarks, open tabs, form data and passwords.

They’re also boasting a speed boost, saying, “Firefox is up to three times faster than the stock browser on Android.” Which, at this point, is something I’ve yet to experience for myself. I’ve tried Firefox a few times through the develop process and found it pretty clunky. And while the version I tried today seemed a bit snappier, overall it still felt a bit cumbersome. As I downloaded it I thought I should test this browser out all day. But after literally a few minutes I was running back to my trusty Dolphin HD [or insert your preferred browser here, I'm not here to argue the details].

Firefox Mozilla PLAY QR POWERED BY APPAWARE

If you want some more Firefoxiness, you can find the market link and QR code above, or check out the handful of screens and video below.

Quick update: I’ve also noticed our site doesn’t load the mobile version when using Firefox, which I assume means they’ve not included “Android” in their user agent string. I’ll look into it later today and try to push a fix to make sure Firefox users and getting served the correct version of the site.

Firefox Mobile a.k.a. Fennec schedules a date with Android

Sean Riley — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:11:34 +0000

We have known that Mobile Firefox was coming to Android since October, however, even as it launched on the N900 in December we were not offered any new information on when our little green friend would get his turn. We saw the browser taking its fledgling steps on Android a couple weeks ago (while thumbing its nose at the iPhone), but still couldn’t put pen to paper on a date.

The waiting (well, the waiting for a date to wait for) is finally over. In an interview with TechRadar earlier today, Mozilla’s VP of Mobiles confirmed that we can expect Fennec to arrive on Android later this year. Obviously this leaves them quite a bit of wiggle room on the exact timing and as they indicated just a couple weeks ago that they were a ways from a usable alpha release, we can reasonably assume that a Q4 2010 release of the final product is the most likely.

“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.”Jay Sullivan VP of Mobiles for Mozilla

So between Skyfire, Opera Mobile 10, and now Fennec all coming to Android this year; which browser are you the most excited to get your hands on?

Pocketfox coming in December

Taylor Wimberly — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:42:29 +0000

Ok so Pocketfox is not the real name of Firefox for mobile, but what you see above is the official new logo. Firefox for mobile has been in testing for several months and will finally drop the beta tag in December when it launches for the Maemo-powered Nokia N900. No release date has been announced for Android, but we know it is coming eventually.

The mobile browser wars are about to heat up, because Opera Mobile is also headed to Android soon. It will be interesting to see which company can release their product to the Android Market first.

For a preview of what is in store, check out the features and teaser video below.

Features

Firefox for your mobile phone comes complete with favorite and familiar features that you enjoy on your desktop:

The Awesome Bar searches your history, bookmarks and tags to go to your favorite sites instantly
Share your Firefox preferences, history, and bookmarks between your desktop and mobile
Add-ons to make your browser your own
Tabs that let you browse multiple sites at once
One-touch bookmarking to quickly organize websites
And more…

Benefits for Developers

Put your innovations in the hands of people all over the world to access anytime, anywhere
Build rich mobile applications using the latest Web technology like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
Tap into the device capabilities of the phone, such as geolocation, camera and calling
Develop game changing add-ons on the first mobile Web browser to offer add-ons

For some early screens of Firefox for mobile, head over to Electricpig.