Telefonica Opens Up On Firefox OS Platform and Goals

One of the main goals for the new initiative according to Telefonica is ironically the biggest reason that it has partnered with Mozilla in the fact that it wants to get away from relying too heavily on Android although Mozilla’s biggest benefactor is Google. During the statement may be seen as silly at face value, the recent issues that the Android platform has been faced with in recent months have given enough for carriers and manufacturers to think about when considering additional Android devices, as then as the desire to regain control of both hardware and software from manufacturers without regressing to the days of poor Java support and even worse support for BREW MP.

To do this, Telefonica is banking on the inherent openness of Mozilla OS and its HTML5 base as the draw for software developers to support the platform even as Android and iOS continue to dominate the mid-range and high-end market. With the hardware hitting a price target of $100, the combination of carrier and chipmaker support may be enough to convince developers that Mozilla OS is worth supporting, even with the transparent goals of Telefonica to wrest control back from Android. The first devices will be launched at once year in Brazil on Telefonica partner carrier Vivo and cost the equivalent of $100 US dollars.

Deutsche Telekom in its turn has committed to releasing Mozilla OS powered devices in its Eastern European markets, during Sprint has but to officially comment on the extent of its support for the initiative, even though it is expected that it will replace feature phones with Firefox OS devices and offer those for free on contract during relegating Android to the more expensive mid and high-end range then to the iPhone.

It should be noted that this initiative resembles aspects of both webOS and the early intentions for iOS, however Telefonica is assuring skeptics that Firefox OS will allow for all of the expected core functionality of smartphone during being tied to HTML5 as the base by allowing developers access to the core APIs necessary for native functionality. Telefonica claims that this method will allow it to remain open and developer friendly while for all that allowing the carrier some method of direct control over what gets offered by the carrier as an added value, in other words than the current model of ignoring and pushing carriers to the side in other words found with Android and iOS, which has caused consternation for carriers around the world.

The Editor-in-Chief

Humberto Saabedra is the Editor-in-Chief. When not working on the news, he can as a general rule be found contributing to Crunchyroll News and Ani.me as a news editor and columnist respectively as so then as writing commentary on the business side of Japanese pop culture on AnimeNews.biz..