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It's an interesting project, and I'm all for competition, but honestly I don't see the value proposition for an OEM to put this on a phone instead of Android. R

It's an interesting project, and I'm all for competition, but honestly I don't see the value proposition for an OEM to put this on a phone instead of Android. Rendering JavaScript faster is great, but does that really outweigh all the benefits of the Android ecosystem?

robhawkes 14y ago
You'd be surprised, Mozilla is going to launch this with Telefonica next year in Brazil. That's happening. We're also working with plenty of other partners to bring this to other areas, so there is definitely interest. I think what appeals to them is the open, customisable nature. Also, remember that this isn't meant to compete with Android and iOS, it solves other problems beyond performance and feature-set.
mmahemoff 14y ago
I don't know the stats, but I'm fairly convinced anecdotally there's still a huge segment of users who don't know or care about apps, and don't much know or care about the OS either. They'll use whatever ships with the phone. If you're an OEM, how would you target these people? As long as you can get a clean, attractive, easy-to-use OS, you'll take an interest in one that's easy for you to customise, and ship with solid default apps, some of which you can monetise on. I think Firefox OS offers that possibility to OEMs, they get to completely control the experience and keep the relationships with customers. And the customisation process - being HTML5 - is arguably simpler and less of a specialised skill.
scriptproof 14y ago
"Android has a cost" (Steve Ballmer). And it could increase (Apple)...
- pjmlp 14y ago
  Who assures you that this JavaScript OS is safe from litigation?
bzbarsky 14y ago
Part of the value proposition is that instead of waiting for the big code drop (from Google, in Android's case) and then having to scramble to do whatever they need to customize for their phones an OEM can be involved in Firefox OS development all along. And some are. See also item two in the list at http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_spot_openwashing.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_spot_openwashing...

robhawkes 14y ago

You'd be surprised, Mozilla is going to launch this with Telefonica next year in Brazil. That's happening. We're also working with plenty of other partners to bring this to other areas, so there is definitely interest. I think what appeals to them is the open, customisable nature. Also, remember that this isn't meant to compete with Android and iOS, it solves other problems beyond performance and feature-set.

mmahemoff 14y ago

I don't know the stats, but I'm fairly convinced anecdotally there's still a huge segment of users who don't know or care about apps, and don't much know or care about the OS either. They'll use whatever ships with the phone. If you're an OEM, how would you target these people? As long as you can get a clean, attractive, easy-to-use OS, you'll take an interest in one that's easy for you to customise, and ship with solid default apps, some of which you can monetise on. I think Firefox OS offers that possibility to OEMs, they get to completely control the experience and keep the relationships with customers. And the customisation process - being HTML5 - is arguably simpler and less of a specialised skill.

scriptproof 14y ago

"Android has a cost" (Steve Ballmer). And it could increase (Apple)...

pjmlp 14y ago
Who assures you that this JavaScript OS is safe from litigation?

bzbarsky 14y ago

Part of the value proposition is that instead of waiting for the big code drop (from Google, in Android's case) and then having to scramble to do whatever they need to customize for their phones an OEM can be involved in Firefox OS development all along. And some are. See also item two in the list at http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_spot_openwashing.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_spot_openwashing...