Sony, Twitter excited by Firefox OS, Samsung not so much

By Nikhil Pradhan | Updated on 24-Apr-2020

26 Feb 2015 16:19

HIGHLIGHTS

Sony says Firefox handset coming in 2014, Twitter promises new full-featured app, Samsung: "Meh".

Mozilla's recently revealed Firefox OS for mobile devices has drawn the attention of Sony and Twitter with the former developing a handset running the new OS to be launched in 2014 and the latter promising an app for the OS. Sony now stands alongside mobile phone manufacturers like LG, Huawei, Alcatel and ZTE who have all developed (or are developing) mobile hardware that will run Firefox OS.

The Next Web reports that telecom operator Telefonica and Sony will be jointly working on developing a new phone that runs Firefox OS and will be launched in 2014. Deputy CEO of Sony, Bob Ishida has also confirmed that the company is working in partnership with telecom operators on Firefox OS and HTML5.

Twitter also announced yesterday that a Twitter app would be ready for consumers by the time the first Firefox OS handsets hit the market. A blog post by Twitter states that the app will have all the features present in the iOS and Android variants of the app including the Home, Connect, Discover, Me and Compose Tweet tabs. Twitter further revealed that its app on Firefox OS will have an exclusive feature named 'Web Activities' that will let users directly tweet pictures from any app that also supports the feature.

On the other hand, all this excitement surrounding Firefox OS hasn't done anything to melt Samsung's heart. While speaking to CNET, a Samsung executive said that the Korean company wasn't interested in using Firefox OS on its hardware. Samsung is already building phones using Android, Windows Phone and their own Tizen platforms, so their disinterest in Firefox OS is understandable.

So far, since its reveal at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Firefox OS has been having a pretty good week. Mozilla has already shown off two budget phones running the OS, from Alcatel and ZTE, and also announced partnerships with some big global telecom operators.

Sources: Twitter, CNET, The Next Web

Nikhil Pradhan

https://plus.google.com/u/0/101379756352447467333 View Full Profile