4:32 PM
Paul B
The maker of the widely popular Firefox web browser, Mozilla, has released two smartphones running their new Firefox OS platform for developers in an attempt to break into the smartphone market. Within a few hours of making them available, they were sold out!
From The LA Times:
Firefox OS is a new platform that is set to debut this year in Latin America and Europe. The operating system is based on HTML5 and is intended to give users an alternative to "vendor-controlled ecosystems," Mozilla said in a blog this week.
To give developers an idea of what the hardware for Firefox OS will be like and how the software will perform in the real world, Mozilla teamed up with Spanish start-up Geeksphone to build and sell two early devices. The phones, the Keon and the Peak, went on sale Tuesday but quickly sold out.
...The high demand is great news for Mozilla, which is hoping to disrupt the smartphone world currently dominated by Apple and Google. Mozilla said it was thrilled to see the high demand for the preview devices.There are two models of the Firefox OS phones available. First the Keon with a 3.5 inch screen running on a Qualcomm 1Ghz processor. The Keon is expected to cost $118. The second model is called The Peak, which features a 4.3 inch screen, runs on a 1.2Ghz processor, and costs around $194.
The Firefox OS phones are expected to be available again shortly through Geeksphone when supplies become available.
