6 ms·

Very exciting. In my view, Firefox Mobile OS has a much better chance of gaining broad adoption than Windows Phone, Blackberry, Symbian, Tizen, and all other n

• bergie 14y ago
  Tizen also uses HTML5 for applications: https://developer.tizen.org/resources/sample-web-applications https://developer.tizen.org/resources/sample-web-application...
  • Yoric 14y ago
    I may be wrong, but I seem to remember that Tizen HTML5 applications do not use standard HTML5 but rather a non-standard extension. This means that HTML5-for-Tizen applications do not work on, say, an iPhone or an Android device. By opposition, every application on Firefox OS is based on either standard HTML5 or currently-being-standardized extensions. This means that Firefox OS apps should be cross-platforms.
  • j_col 14y ago
    So does webOS, which will be open sourced by HP as "Open webOS 1.0" in September under the Apache license.
    • Yoric 14y ago
      In the case of webOS, I am sure: this is not actual HTML 5 but a very specific SDK/framework designed for writing applications specifically for webOS, not for other platforms or the web. In effect, this means that webOS has almost all the drawbacks of working with HTML5 (no static analysis, performance often difficult to predict, etc.) but none of the benefits (cross-platform, ability to use CoffeeScript or GWT or OCaml or any other language that compiles to JS). By opposition, Firefox OS apps are cross-platform, can be developed with any tool, etc. edit Yes, it is possible to write apps using standard HTML5 for WebOS. What is impossible is to write apps using standard HTML5 for WebOS that take any advantage of WebOS (sending SMS, receiving phone calls, etc.). By opposition to Firefox OS, in which even SMS, phone calls, etc. are based on open standards.
      • bergie 14y ago
        Enyo, the framework used for webOS apps seems to now advertise cross-platform support: http://enyojs.com/ http://enyojs.com/ Now available for desktop and cross-browser development - Enyo 2.0 now runs across mobile environments and desktop browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer
        • Yoric 14y ago
          Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that Enyo is just the widget toolkit, which is a very small subset of the features of WebOS. IIRC, WebOS also had APIs for, say, sending or receiving SMS, vibrating the device, etc – and none of these were (or are) standardized.
      • j_col 14y ago
        > ...but a very specific SDK/framework designed for writing applications specifically for webOS, not for other platforms or the web. That is incorrect. Apps written for webOS that use the EnyoJS framework are currently seen running on iOS, RIM (Playbook), Android, and even in the Chrome web browser.
        • Yoric 14y ago
          Again, correct me if I am wrong, but i believe that these applications cannot send or receive SMS, phone calls, VideoConf calls, using the WebOS APIs on the devices that you describe. In other words, while EnyoJS may be cross-platform, it represents only a small fraction of the features of WebOS.
          • j_col 14y ago
            But it is still an open source cross-platform HTML5/Javascript based platform. Of course it will not enable you to, for example, send an SMS via an app running in a Chrome web browser, but I would have thought that was a given for any such platform.
            • 14y ago
  • cs702 14y ago
    bergie: my understanding is that Tizen exposes a non-standard mish-mash API and framework (partly based on Tizen's predecessors, Meego and Moblin) to developers -- an approach that isn't really comparable to Mozilla's approach of booting straight into the browser engine, giving developers a fully open, standard browser environment. Edit: see also http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4189634 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4189634
  • abitch 14y ago
    what's the difference between tizen os and firefox os?
• mbrubeck 14y ago
  To anyone who finds this platform compelling and wants to help it to succeed: You can help by writing cross-browser mobile web apps, or by making sure your existing web sites and apps work well in Firefox as well as other browsers. Right now a huge number of mobile sites (including high-profile ones like Google!) use browser-specific code. And if you are interesting in writing web apps specifically for the B2G platform, check out the new web APIs being proposed and implemented in B2G, and give us feedback on any that you use in your app: https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebAPI https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebAPI
  • diminish 14y ago
    I hope Mozilla produces a giant developer phone a la Nexus, where I may start testing those APIs.
    • kumar303 14y ago
      If you want to start testing the Apis you can flash B2G on to a nexus S very easily today. There will be nightly builds available for download soon too if you don't have a build environment set up Edit: originally I listed the wrong nexus model
      • callahad 14y ago
        A Nexus One? Really? https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mozilla/Boot_to_Gecko/Setting_Up_Boot_to_Gecko_Build_Environment https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Mozilla/Boot_to_Gecko/Setti... suggests that only Nexus S, Galaxy S2, and the Galaxy Nexus are listed. There's also a note that "only devices running Android 4 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) are supported," where the Nexus One is stuck at Gingerbread. If this has changed, I'm really, really excited. :)
      • drivebyacct2 14y ago
        Please support the TORO, CDMA variant of the Galaxy Nexus. I think you'd find a lot of interested Verizon users.
  • wanderr 14y ago
• shmerl 14y ago
  It's still using Android graphics stack, so it's not that exciting. Tizen at least uses X.org with plans to use Wayland which is the way forward. I hope Mozilla will find vendors to use Wayland for B2G as well. I.e. Android graphics stack (when it's the only option) prevents device from being hackable, i.e. for porting other distros on it (Mer/PlasmaActive, Nemo etc.). Tizen devices with X.org/Wayland drivers will be better in that regard.
  • edderly 14y ago
    On the contrary this is the smartest thing they could have done. GPU h/w acceleration on mobile devices isn't optional any more and rather than getting mired in the 'real soon now' world of Linux graphics they can get on with the job of producing real and usable devices.
    • shmerl 14y ago
      I'm not saying that what they did isn't useful at all. I said it's not exciting, since these upcoming devices will be again Android (compatible) only. Rather boring, but it's not Mozilla's fault, but manufacturers'. They don't produce open specs for their hardware, and don't provide X.org/Wayland drivers either.
  • runeks 14y ago
    > Tizen devices with X.org/Wayland drivers will be better in that regard. Hopefully vendors will care enough about Wayland to start making their drivers compatible with it.
  • hollerith 14y ago
    >Wayland is the way forward Parenthetically, Google Chrome already has an alpha-quality port to Wayland whereas to my knowledge Mozilla has made no commitment to support Wayland, and no one has started porting Firefox to Wayland.
    • shmerl 14y ago
      There is no need for specific port. Just minor modifications in B2G in order not to depend on any Android infrastructure. It's mostly OpenGL ES dependent: https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G/Architecture#Gecko:_Graphics https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G/Architecture#Gecko:_Graphics Just instead of any Android layers, it'll use OpenGL ES provided with Wayland stack.
• jonursenbach 14y ago
  Do users really care about all that though?
  • rfugger 14y ago
    No, but developers really care about that, and users care about cool apps.
• mechnik 14y ago
  Speaking of very small screens, could it support something like Google Glass?