First Mozilla Phone to Launch in Brazil Later This Year

Do consumers really need yet another smartphone platform to consider when shopping a mobile device? We're about to find out. Perhaps you've heard of Mozilla's 'Boot to Gecko' (B2G) project, essentially an open source operating system that puts all its chips into HTML5. Well, it appears that the first phone to run B2G will be released in Brazil perhaps by the end of this year, and if not, by early 2013.

B2G is an interesting proposition. It's being designed so that HTML5 applications run natively, which should make devices built around the platform run fast and responsive.


"It's an open platform to allow complete control of applications, much like a browser, and applications are installed the way you expect," Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs is quoted as saying. "The difference is that they are created with Web standards, and we will have links and clicks between apps, something that already happens on the Web today, but not in the applications closed platforms."

Mozilla didn't get into specifics about the first device to run B2G, opting not to talk about price, hardware specifications, and carrier contracts, though it will cost less than an iPhone.