Posted on 10/19/2009 7:04:34 PM PDT by dangerdoc
We had a feeling this was coming. Mozilla has finally confirmed they are bringing the popular web browser to the Android mobile platform. Om Malik had an interview with Mozilla CEO John Lilly and VP Jay Sullivan who shared their thoughts on Android.
“Until recently, Android was Java, but they released Android NDK which uses C/C++ and that is what we program in, so we are now looking at developing Firefox for Android,” said Jay Sullivan, vice president of Mobile for Mozilla.
Mr. Lilly explained the reason why we have had to wait so long.
“Sure, we are behind, but we didn’t want to do a browser that didn’t do the whole web,” Lilly said. “We wanted to build a browser that did everything — Javascript, CSS, Flash, SVG, video and audio. What that meant was we had to wait for a while for devices to get better to handle this modern browser.”
Another new feature was unveiled by Mr. Sullivan.
“Mozilla Firefox will be the first mobile browser to support add-ons,” boasted Sullivan
There is no release schedule for Firefox on Android, but a version has been spotted on the new Acer netbook. I pre-ordered the Android netbook and it arrives tomorrow. I’m interested to see exactly what version of Firefox is included with the device. My guess is Acer did their own port of the Linux version of Firefox.
How awesome is browser wars on a mobile platform? We already have the default Android browser and now Opera Mobile and Firefox are headed our way.
Is Android better than the iPhone OS? I don't know. I hope that there are some improvements, because it will provide a worth competitor for Apple and push them to address some of the missing features (like multiple applications running at a time).
I'm especially hoping that a good competitor to the iPhone on a different network (i.e. Verizon) will push AT&T to stop screwing around and accelerate the upgrade to their network. Verizon plans to start deploying "LTE" (the successor to "3G") next year, and if AT&T doesn't clean up their act, any small incremental advantage of the iPhone won't help them.
>but they released Android NDK which uses C/C++ and that is what we program in, so we are now looking at developing Firefox for Android,” said Jay Sullivan,
Ah, excellent; the great preponderance of programming errors endorsed and encouraged by C/C++. Joy. [/sarc]
What is Android? I just saw an Verizon Wireless ad for droiddoes.com What is that about?
Personally, I'm anti-cell phone and use about 4-5 minutes a month, so it's not for people like me. :) I do have an iPod Touch, which is about like an iPhone without the phone. The OS and the apps are fantastic, but I had to jailbreak it to do something as simple as multitasking! I want the Android to give Apple a good scare.
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I get stuck at high school games where I have no child playing. The android phone has been great. I can surf the web including catching up here.
I have an extra micro SD card loaded with movies for trips.
The GPS is free and helpful.
The apps that integrate google maps, GPS, internet lookup and even the camera and compass provide some very useful features. Want a cup of joe, a map will show you the closest place, if you are on foot, you can even see the exact building pointed out as you look down the street through the camera.
With the new browser, I'll even have the entire hulu universe to peruse when I'm stuck somewhere.
My wife has an iphone, the thing I don't like about it is that you have to use the itunes app which really jacks up my computer. With android, it's all drag and drop.
It’s nice to give the developers an alternative to JAVA with all the restrictions that implies.
>It’s nice to give the developers an alternative to JAVA with all the restrictions that implies.
It’s even nicer to not be forced to use a poor example of a “high level” language like C or C++; the goal of the high-level language being to allow one to program more in the abstract/logical domain of the problem than having to worry about low-level implementation-details. Take for instance C/C++’s utter willingness to write to ANY array location regardless of the validity of the index, or the ability to use an assignment in the conditional-testing of a control statement.
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