Lining up their interests is a challenge Apotheker also has to work through, and must be aware of after the Web OS debacle.
"Firefox OS will break down the walls between apps and the Web because Firefox OS apps are built using Web technologies, like HTML5, " said Jay Sullivan, Mozilla's senior vice president of products.
Built for the cloud, they run through a combination of the Chrome OS browser and Web apps.
The fact is, Google is preparing the marketplace for the Chrome OS for the web, an Android for our notebooks and netbooks.
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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
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
Apple has taken another step towards making OS X safer on the web.
To reach true OS agnosticism 6Wunderkinder, however, relied on HTML5 -- which makes porting an app easy, but comes with its own drawbacks, including lackluster performance. (Just ask Mark Zuckerberg.) With the revamp, Wunderlist 2, the task management platform now has truly native apps for Android, iOS, OS X and Windows to compliment its web site.
ENGADGET: Wunderlist 2 debuts, ditches HTML5 for native apps on Android, Windows, iOS and Mac
What you are really buying with a PowerBook is the underlying OS and Apple's growing suite of Web-centric personal apps such as iCal, iTunes and iPhoto.
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
Mozilla has yet to get developers very interested in developing for Firefox OS, but improvements in the performance of web apps overall (see my recent story on Famo.us for an example of how far this has come) may change that sentiment quickly.
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No other OS has come close to this level of integration between web and desktop.
ENGADGET: Canonical integrating Ubuntu WebApps in Quantal Quetzal (video)
Let's start with the basic premise of Firefox OS. Like Chrome OS, there's little more here than a web browser running on top of Linux.
ENGADGET: Firefox OS is repeating the mistakes of others and hoping for a different outcome
Unlike PCs that use installed software such as Microsoft Word, Chrome OS computers run their applications through the firm's web browser and store their files in the cloud.
Despite a few imperfections with usability and web browsing, the big M has polished a gem with this OS, and it truly shines through this iPhone lookalike's beautiful display.
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?
So, as I read that: Chrome OS is about getting to the browser, which presents the Web richly, and has the store selling applications optimized for a rich interactive environment.
They were asking that Apple be enjoined from using the "Tiger" moniker to promote its new operating system (Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, natch) anywhere on its web site or in any new advertising, packaging or signage.
Google also developed a new operating system called Chrome OS that is derived from its browser technology and designed to run only Web-based software.
WSJ: Google's Chrome Surpasses Firefox as No. 2 Browser to Internet Explorer
The aim is to provide users with an instant way of accessing the web without the hassle and delay of a heavyweight operating system like Windows or Macintosh OS X.
ECONOMIST: Google goes in search of an instant operating system
However, one analyst questioned whether this would make Firefox OS stand out, bearing in mind developers were already free to offer web apps for most other devices, and in the case of Android could also sell native apps outside Google's own Play store if the user adjusted their settings to accept them.
BBC: First Firefox phones revealed by Mozilla and Geeksphone
Going one better, Good OS launched a stripped-down version of gOS earlier this year that runs just a web browser (Firefox) for accessing applications on the web.
ECONOMIST: Google goes in search of an instant operating system
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?
More broadly, Apple's move to put a shrunk-down version of its operating system, OS X, on the iPhone and the iPod Touch tells us that Apple sees portable, Web-friendly gizmos as a big part of its future.
Android is already in 26% of smartphones (more than the iPhone OS) but is becoming a viable software choice for manufacturers to connect their gadgets to the open Web (read: not Facebook).
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