Mozilla Launches Firefox OS 3.0 Simulator 75
An anonymous reader writes "Mozilla on Thursday announced the release of Firefox OS Simulator 3.0, polishing all the features in the preview release as well as making a few more improvements. You can download version 3.0 now for Windows, Mac, and Linux from Mozilla Add-Ons. The following features included in the simulator are now functionally stable, according to Mozilla:
- Push to Device
- Rotation simulation
- Basic geolocation API simulation
- Manifest validation
- Stability fixes for installation and updates to apps
- Newer versions of the Firefox rendering engine and Gaia (the UI for Firefox OS)."
Re:Mozilla needs to explain ... (Score:5, Informative)
Mozilla have an interest in expanding the open web ecosystem. Webkit has a monopoly on mobile (very few mobile devs test on anything more than Android/iOS native browsers), and apps compete directly with web technology for users (Android/iOS rely on non-web or proprietary frameworks).
Now it could be said that people need the proprietary or non-web platforms to accomplish tasks, but remember that asm.js and webgl and many other technologies are coming to Firefox OS. There's always an argument for not changing, and there's always an argument for legacy, but encouraging open standards and web tech for users is an important goal for Mozilla.
For users: Because Firefox OS targets lower-spec mobiles than iOS/Android so it will be cheaper (indeed, Mozilla aren't targetting conventional markets).
For developers: because it uses web technology everywhere (it's like every app is a Phonegap/Cordova app) it will be easier for most developers.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS/Introduction
Re:Mozilla needs to explain ... (Score:4, Informative)
Because competition is good. Drives prices down, features up and forces cross-scrutiny.
Re:Mozilla needs to explain ... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Mozilla needs to explain ... (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, some Android firmwares are Free as in freedom. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod [wikipedia.org] and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicant_(operating_system) [wikipedia.org]
Re:can it run native C code? (Score:5, Informative)
FxOS only runs open web standards (HTML, CSS, JS, etc.) - C/C++ not being one of them.
Any web apps should then be able to run on Android (via Firefox) and in the future Chrome OS, Ubuntu Touch, etc. I say "in the future" because I don't know that everyone has yet settled on an app packaging standard.
If Firefox OS included C code in apps, among other implications, those apps would not be usable everywhere.
Currently though, C/C++ code can be compiled via Emscripten to asm.js, a Javascript subset. It will run in any browser, but Firefox is including an optimized module for asm code which gets closer to native compiled speeds than previously seen. It looks as though Chrome may be including their own asm module as well.
Re:Mozilla needs to explain ... (Score:5, Informative)
1. There's the version of Android maintained by the AOSP that is fully open source.
2. Then there's the version of Android that Google releases exclusively for its Nexus line of devices. Although it contains some codes common with the open source, AOSP, codes, it also contains some closed source features like Photosphere. Note that Photosphere is not merely an additional application, but Google is marketing is as a part of Android 4.2 released for the Nexus devices. Since Photosphere is closed source, thus this version of Android cannot be said to be open source.
So, if someone says that Android is open source, he's correct. But if someone else says Android is not open source, he's also correct. They're just talking about different Androids.