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2011

FIREFOX 9 FOR ANDROID?

December 23, 2011 0

Yesterday, there were two important news posts related to Firefox. One was that Mozilla extended its search deal with Google for the next three years for a whooping $300 million and the other news saw Firefox 9 launching even before its official release. But no one knew that Mozilla would shift its latest browser to the mobile platform in no time. However, they have come up with an app for the latest version on the Android platform only for now. The iOS app might just be in the making.

Mozilla has gained considerable news focus and it seems it would continue to do the same with its extended partnership with Android, or rather with Google. Mozilla launching the Firefox 9 on the Android platform, might make people think that the unexpected search deal between the two companies might have this point to be linked to even. Notably, Bing was even in for some consideration and the talks were even going on between Bing and Mozilla.

However, that deal is even sealed and this app is even in the Android Market. So, one should not make any unreasonable assumptions on it.

Talking about the app, Mozilla’s official blog had a post, which read:

“Firefox for Android leverages large tablet screen sizes and optimizes popular features for tablets. The Awesome Screen integrates Firefox Sync and makes it easy to access your browsing history, open tabs, bookmarks and saved passwords across desktop and mobile devices so you can type less and browse more.”

On using this app, one would notice that the small bugs are finally fixed and the app’s boot-time is even faster.

The blog post even had the company saying, “Developers will enjoy new HTML5 tools in Firefox that make it easier to create fun and interactive mobile web experiences for phones and tablets.” Further, it noted, “The HTML5 Input Tag for Camera Access enables developers to make websites and web apps more powerful and interactive.”

It directed a specific activity by stating, “Developers can build mobile websites and web apps that allow you to use the camera on an Android phone or tablet to take pictures, scan bar codes and more without leaving Firefox. You can see a demo of the camera input element in action here.”

Again, talking about the integration, it noted, “The Awesome Screen integrates Firefox Sync and makes it easy to access your browsing history, open tabs, bookmarks and saved passwords across desktop and mobile devices so you can type less and browse more.”

There is even a video demonstrating the latest version of Firefox being used on Android-based tablet. The demonstration is specifically to show how this browser is superior, with the effectiveness and clarity in usage. The speed is actually swift and there is considerable amount of support too. The video is posted below for one to see if it lives up to its expectation.

{iframe width=”620″ height=”390″ align=”top”}http://www.youtube.com/embed/FNcgXMW3_0M{/iframe}

If one wants to download this app, it is available for free in the Android Market, and download link for the same can be found here.