It promises to be more secure, and there will be a version of Firefox for mobile phones.
But tell that to Mozilla, which held a press conference unveiling progress with its Firefox OS mobile operating system.
Firefox's mobile operating system showed up on a mystery phone tonight at a pre-CES event ahead of its unveiling later this year, carrying no branding and looking light on features.
ENGADGET: Firefox OS shows up on a mystery phone, we go hands-on (update: now with video!)
Unfortunately, many sites display in full because they don't yet detect Firefox as a mobile app, but the installation of the Phony 3.2 add-in lets it impersonate other smartphone browsers, and it seemed to work well.
ENGADGET: Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on)
The Firefox OS for mobile devices is built on Mozilla's "Boot to Gecko project" which unlocks many of the current limitations of web development on mobile, allowing HTML5 applications to access the underlying capabilities of a phone, previously only available to native applications.
ENGADGET: Mozilla says a slew of carriers and handset makers set to support Firefox OS
We use the term "buy" here loosely, since mobile Firefox will be free just like every other version of Firefox out there -- a key selling point (again, forgive our nomenclature) against rival Opera in the battle for the hearts and minds of the mobile internet warriors running WinMo -- and that's what's got carriers so intrigued.
ENGADGET: Mozilla chatting with operators over Mobile Firefox
And while Mozilla has certainly made progress on that front, the organization understands that diversifying is an important factor in the future success of the company, first through Thunderbird and more recently through the Firefox OS, a mobile operating system targeted toward users in developing nations.
Firefox OS is yet another mobile platform built entirely on HTML5 that treats websites as apps.
Firefox OS is a new mobile operating system built entirely using open web standards.
FORBES: So Why Is Google Funding Its Own Competition In The Firefox OS?
Mozilla's pretty convinced that its official mobile version of Firefox is going to fundamentally change the game, and carriers appear ready to buy into the hype.
ENGADGET: Mozilla chatting with operators over Mobile Firefox
One of the surprising factoids to come out of Mobile World Congress this year was the number of carrier networks supporting Firefox OS, the forthcoming web-based mobile platform from Mozilla.
FORBES: Carriers Have A New Weapon Against Apple And Google: The Open Web - UPDATED
Yahoo's hoping to hit the proverbial two birds tonight with Axis, which combines a desktop web browser extension (your choice of Chrome, Firefox or Safari) with a mobile app on the iPad and iPhone.
ENGADGET: Yahoo Axis on desktop, iOS unifies your bookmarks, makes the web visual (hands-on)
Speaking of smaller players, Mozilla, makers of the Firefox web browser, is creating a mobile phone operating system and is expected to show off the hardware it will run on at its press conference.
CNN: 5 things to watch for at 2013's biggest mobile-tech show
Geeksphone has already shipped more than 10, 000 devices tailored to run Firefox OS, the new web-based mobile phone platform coded by Mozilla, to developers.
FORBES: Developers Snapped Up Roughly 1,000 Firefox Phones In First Few Hours Of Availability
Chorus.im is different because it works through a mobile browser like Safari, Opera or Firefox.
FORBES: It's Yet Another Mobile Messenger, Except Chorus.im Wants To Be In Your Browser
Seventeen mobile operators have signed up to sell Firefox phones made by Alcatel, LG, ZTE - and soon Huawei.
Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox browser, launched a cellphone at this year's Mobile World Congress that is entirely HTML5 based.
The not-for-profit organisation behind the Firefox web browser has announced handsets based on its operating system for mobile phones.
In fact, Firefox OS is one of a handful of other web-based mobile platforms launching this year, including Tizen from Samsung and Intel, Sailfish from Jolla and Ubuntu from Canonical (in 2014).
FORBES: Mozilla Launches Firefox OS For Mobile, Challenging Apple And Google With The Open Web
On the mobile front, Google has bets both on its Android platform and the new Firefox OS, assuring an Apple-beating global share of users consuming its services on their devices.
Firefox is based on HTML5 technology that is used on many websites and allows easier integration with the mobile browser.
This week we are announcing our new Firefox OS developer preview phones because we believe that developers will help bring the power of the web to mobile.
FORBES: So Why Is Google Funding Its Own Competition In The Firefox OS?
Corporate app store Web-pages need to work in cross-platform browsers such as Firefox, Chrome and Safari to allow actions to be carried out with the existing Web interface on a mobile device.
应用推荐