Mozilla Handing Out Free Firefox OS Developer Phones To Bolster App Marketplace 53
MojoKid writes "Is the world really ready to shift from native apps to HTML5 Web apps? Probably not, at least not in North America yet, but developing nations may see it differently. That's the hope with Firefox OS, a web-based operating system that's (in theory) a lot more open. Of course, one needs only look at Microsoft's battle to get Windows Phone into a place of competition to realize that gaining market share is no easy task, which is why Mozilla will soon be handing out Firefox OS developer phones in order to bolster that. The company's goal is to get app builders to build for Firefox OS, so Mozilla is sending out free Preview handsets for folks to tinker with."
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very soon, when it gets some traction, goog will hav its presence with the ominous search box
More importantly, will we have the ability to prevent IMEI from accompanying cookies, and the ability to remove cookies selectively? Ideally, the various Firefox add-ins which automate deletion would be installable, such as BetterPrivacy, DoNotTrackMe, Facebook Blocker, and Self-Destructing Cookies and so forth; not just the ad blockers like AdBlock Plus and its ilk. Ideally, these add-ins for the Firefox browser would work at the phone level for Firefox OS, not merely for a single browser. The Google sear
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Never heard of IMEI in cookies, is that in IOS, Android, others? What is you use Firefox on Android or some other browser?, and why can applications read IMEI in the first place.
Honest question, I don't have a smartphone. Can a website read that IMEI, store it themselves and then give it to a three-letter-agency or a local dictatorship's secret police?
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heck its already cross platform, it runs on windows, osx and linux, with native support for just about all interfaces and toolkits.
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Do you know of any other languages that start with a "P"?
Something like "Python" perhaps?
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Great, let's choose the least performant language, with code that can be mangled into failure by copy and paste problems. That would be a great idea.
Javascript ain't perfect. But what is?
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code that can be mangled into failure by copy and paste problems.
That's a feature to prevent terrible copy-paste programmers from soiling the community. As it's apparent, it works.
By the way, languages aren't more or less "performant", there are just faster and slower implementations. Pypy is easily at the level of V8.
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By the way, languages aren't more or less "performant", there are just faster and slower implementations. Pypy is easily at the level of V8.
Oh good. One incomplete implementation that only works on x86 and x86-64 (the architectures where performance matters least, since you tend to have so much of it in modern machines) is easily at the level of a can of spiced tomato juice. You really showed me.
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I showed you how you were incorrect when describing languages as "performant", which was all I wanted to point out.
But in any case: http://morepypy.blogspot.pt/2013/05/pypy-20-alpha-for-arm.html [blogspot.pt]
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Yes...let's use the cripple the project with the shittiest language currently in existence.
But enough about JavaScript...
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why don't they just use $_MY_FAVOURITE_LANGUAGE for the high level stuff. It's a great stable, fun, easy to program, powerful language.
And would that be Python 2.7.4, or Python 3.2.4, or Python 3.3.1?
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I don't know what's so great about Python. And I use it daily.
Same here. A major drawback of javascript is lack of strong typing. Python is just as bad.
Javascript is better for snippets.
Python is better for scripts.
Neither is ideal for large, robust applications.
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why don't they just use python for the high level stuff. Its a great stable, fun, easy to program, powerful language.
heck its already cross platform, it runs on windows, osx and linux, with native support for just about all interfaces and toolkits.
Because Python != Java Script. I don't even know that Python runs in Firefox, but I could be wrong...
Linux on the hand-top (Score:2)
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I'd love to see more diversity in this space, but BlackBerry is winning the battle. BlackBerries are pretty cool and Palm as an OS is huge. I'd be surprised if Apple can put up any fight.
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So, why is Google winning?
Good hardware support allowing any manufacturer to have a stab? Well FirefoxOS bases off Android so it has all that hardware support down pat - and the rest of the OS is similarly open. App support? Well which has more apps - the web or Android? So Firefox has this down-pat (porting existing web apps is trivial).
FirefoxOS is also choosing not to take Android head-on in the first-world market but rather edging in via poorer countries. So it's not so much fighting Android off rather
Windows Service (Score:2)
GTalk, Chrome all of them install Windows Services. Why does a browser or a chat application need a Service running all the time? I uninstalled both when I realized this.
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I think the main reason is that there is no standard mechanism to provide automated updates in Windows, unless the software happens to come from Microsoft, so every app that provides that functionality typically installs a service to check for, download, and apply updates. Contrast w/Linux where you have package managers & repos, and OS X where there's Software update (for a
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That's rubbish. Other than google products, I don't see any other products installing services to check for updates.
Firefox & Pidgin seem to manage well enough without installing services.
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Back when I quit using windows, adobe had one, even if you only had acrobat reader, IIRC.
Countless others that don't come to mind right now, though. Uh. java, for one.
Re:Sorry, Mozilla. (Score:5, Funny)
Now now Larry we talked about this - the irony of a Google exec posting anonymously will hurt the stock if the press gets wind of it.
Well-intentioned, but not safe or trustworthy. (Score:1)
Frankly, I have no faith at all in the security of HTML5.
Come back to me in 5 years when it has had enough cycles of exploitation and repairs, but today it's just in a state of "Let's bring back all the security problems of ActiveX and the first five years of Flash, but we'll pretend they're fine because it's an open language (though subject to implementation variances)."
Geeksphone consistently sold out (Score:2)
This seems a bit unnecessary since there's enough demand to keep Geeksphone sold out.
Maybe those aren't getting into the hands of developers, but given that the phones are definitely sub-par for someone who just wants the latest and greatest, I would expect most are going to the people they are intended for.
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You're not alone.
Though, I also like FirefoxOS on its own merit. It's a great idea and it has a great interface. I also refuse to spend over $250 on a phone so it's also great to have my budget catered for.
I really want a phone that gives me CalDAV and CardDAV out of the box with no app in-between (ala Android). I looked in the simulator and CalDAV is already there - just give it the URL, user name and password and Bob's your aunty. I would even help implement CardDAV support if I wasn't so busy with uni w
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I'll ross my hat in the ring as well.
I currently use android, and that's pretty much out of necessity. They have the apps I need, its rooted and unlocked.
I really like the idea of FirefoxOS. I hope that when i do get my hands on it, it is as stable as my experience with android has been.
I am concidering picking up the Nexus 4. I hope that I can get FirefoxOS loade up on it.
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n/t (Score:1)
Posting comment to undo wrong moderation.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Seen the community hype before... (Score:4, Interesting)
Funny reading all these comments on how great FirefoxOS will be and how everyone will get access to sub $200 smartphones and how great it will be having an open phone, blah, blah, blah.
People were singing the praise when Google was doing the same thing and look how that turned out.
Yes, just look at how it turned out. I spent under $80 all told for an unlocked phone with a 32MB memory card, with a healthy developer community. I don't have to use it with google services at all. I guess FirefoxOS will be great, at least based on your example.