Android and Me » pocketfox

Mozilla shows rapid progress on Firefox Mobile for Android

Taylor Wimberly — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:31:10 +0000

Mozilla continues to pump out regular progress reports of their mobile browser for Android. Earlier this month we saw Firefox running in the Android emulator. Then we got a sneak peek of the desktop version of the browser on a Nexus One.

Developers chose to focus on the desktop UI first because it was “significantly more complex than the mobile UI and stresses Gecko much more”. After the desktop version was working, devs moved on to the mobile UI (Fennec) and already have it implemented.

Two screenshots were posted on the Firefox for Mobile Facebook page that demonstrate Fennec on a Motorola Droid and Nexus One.

A final release is not expected till late this year, but at the rate things appear to be moving maybe we will see a public beta by summer.

Fennec running on the Nexus One.

Sneak peek of Firefox on the Nexus One

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:10:28 +0000

Firefox Mobile (aka Fennec or Pocketfox) is scheduled to hit Android later this year and it appears the Mozilla team is making good progress. We saw Firefox for Android render its first page earlier this month, but it was running in the emulator. Now Mozilla has posted a pic on their Facebook page that shows Firefox running on a Nexus One.

As you can see from the screen below, this is the desktop Firefox browser running in Android. Mozilla engineer Vladimir Vukićević says, “We’re testing with the full interface because it’s significantly more complex than the mobile UI and stresses Gecko much more. So, if the full UI works, then Fennec should work fine as well.”

There is still no word when the mobile UI will get implemented or a possible beta release, but at least we can see some progress. The feature that excites me the most about Firefox Mobile for Android is the growing library of add-ons.

Mobile UI still to come.

Alpha version of Firefox for Android still many months away

Taylor Wimberly — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:15:51 +0000

We have known for awhile that Mozilla was working on a version of Firefox for Android, but the details have been limited. I was a little shocked this morning when I read Firefox for Android was coming in February, but that news appears to come from a bad translation. Thankfully, an engineer from Mozilla stepped in to clear the confusion.

Sorry for responding in English, I’ll include a Google translation below. I am one of the engineers at Mozilla working on the Android port, and we are many months away from having an alpha version of Firefox for Android. We’re still working on low-level software porting like getting the Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR) layer working correctly on the platform, and there are many issues to be solved. We don’t yet have a feeling for when the work will be done, but if you want to follow our progress, you can look on our Mozilla wiki at https://wiki.mozilla.org/Android.Ben CombeeMozilla

In other mobile Firefox news, Mozilla just released a near finished version (RC3) for the Maemo-powered Nokia N900. Check out the video below for a sample of what is to come.

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.