Firefox OS is Mozilla’s browser-based operating system for smartphones and tablets. It’s designed to run web apps written with HTML5, JavaScript, and other web technologies — but it’ll only do that if developers actually create apps for the platform.

To help developers do that, Mozilla is offering a reference phone called the Flame. It’s a $170 GSM smartphone that ships with Firefox OS 1.3 and includes tools to help developers create Firefox OS apps.

It’s also not a bad option for folks who want to get their hands on Mozilla’s equivalent of a Google Nexus device… just don’t expect Nexus-like quality at this point.

flame_03

The Flame went up for pre-order in May, and now it’s shipping. You can order one from Everbuying.

The phone features a 4.5 inch, 854 x 480 pixel display, a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor, 8GB of storage, a microSD card slot, dual SIM card slots, a 5MP rear camera, and 2MP front-facing camera.

The phone supports 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and it should support T-Mobile and AT&T’s 3G networks in the United States. Other features include WiFi, GPS, NFC, and an ambient light sensor.

One of the most interesting things about the phone is that while it ships with 1GB of RAM you can use software to adjust the amount of available RAM to see how apps would perform on a phone with as little as 256MB.

via Mozilla Hacks

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2 replies on “Mozilla’s Flame smartphone now shipping to Firefox OS developers”

  1. I don’t see the point of this versus a ZTE open at half the price…

    1. This is a development reference platform with developer tools and a custom firmware. The ZTE Open is a consumer handset. They are two different devices with two rather different purposes.

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