A handful of companies including ZTE and Sony have already announced plans to offer smartphones running the Firefox OS operating system. But when Mozilla launched Firefox OS a few months ago the company said it had 23 partners lined up, including hardware companies, chip makers, and wireless carriers.

Now it looks like we’re about to see what another one of those companies has to offer — Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn and Mozilla are holding a press event on the eve of the Computex trade show June 3rd to show off… something.

Firefox OS

The companies haven’t said exactly what they’ll introduce at the event. But while a smartphone seems the obvious choice, some folks are saying we could see the launch of the first Firefox OS tablet.

Firefox OS is a mobile operating system designed to run well even on entry-level devices with relatively slow processors, low screen resolutions, and modest amounts of memory and storage.

While the OS relies on the Android kernel for basic hardware functions, it doesn’t run Android apps. Instead Firefox OS runs web apps designed using HTML5 and other web technologies. That doesn’t mean you’ll need a constant internet connection to run all apps, since many of those apps can download data to your device and run while offline.

But the platform does make it easy for app developers to update their software by updating their websites.

Mozilla is also pushing Firefox OS as a more open platform than Android. While both operating systems are based on open source software, some of Google’s key apps including Google Now, Gmail, Google Maps, and the Google Play Store are not open source, and device makers need Google’s permission to include them on phones and tablets.

via Engadget

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3 replies on “Foxconn, Mozilla to unveil Firefox OS device (could it be a tablet?)”

  1. A FFOS PMP would be nice.

    With the hackability of FFOS it would be the closest i would get to replacing my Nokia N800.

  2. If they do announce a tablet it will be interesting to see where it is priced. Decent to Good Android tablets can be had for $150 – $200 and have access to all of Androids apps. I can’t see FirefoxOS tablets being much cheaper than $100. Unless they have a full suite of popular apps available at launch it will be a tough sell. I wish them well though. More competition is usually better for the consumer. Being open source may make it a hackers delight.

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