Say hello to the Firefox phone. The Keon and Peak are developer preview phones to give you a taste of Firefox OS, a potential rival to Android.
The two phones are designed for app-builders to learn about the new Firefox OS and create apps for the software. Clad in orange or white, the phones boast 3.5- and 4-inch touchscreens respectively, and single home button.
The 3.5-inch Keon is a modest little number: it's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 processor clocked at 1GHz, with 512MB of RAM. There's 4GB of storage and the camera is a mere 3-megapixel job.
The Peak steps things up with a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon chip, 8-megapixel camera and roomy 4.3-inch screen.
The built by GeeksPhone, which with the GeeksPhone One became the first European company to launch an Android phone back in 2010. And they're backed by Telefonica, the European meganetwork that owns O2, probably in a bid to wrestle back more say in the world of phones. You can't buy them yet, but ZTE and Alcatel have already said they will make Firefox OS phones.
So what is Firefox OS? It's an open operating system that makes use of HTML5 apps. Instead of proprietary apps that only work on one type of phone, apps are built for Firefox OS to open Web standards. It's a less closed approach than Apple's iPhone -- iPhone apps only work on Apple devices -- or even Google's open source Android.
And the HTML5 apps still do what Mozilla calls 'phone things', like making a call, vibrating when you get a call, or sending a text message.
To learn more and get stuck in, app developers are invited to a series of Firefox OS App Days, where developers from the Mozilla community can learn about, hack, and build apps for Firefox OS. If you can't make it, you can preview Firefox OS on your Android phone or on your computer.
Is Firefox OS the future? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 5
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JohnsonDion1 22 January, 2013 14:07
Not another competitor in the smartphone os game, we only really need one!
Spelling mistake:
"that makes us of HTML5 apps"
Sorry to be the one to point that out.
davefromwales 22 January, 2013 14:54
isnt it funny. BlackBerry come out with a totally new OS and phone next week and some already say its `too late`, yet this phone which runs a totally new OS and isnt out until the end of the year at best estimates to the public is a `potential rival` to android.
well done cnet, you got that right lmao.
Peter Hudson 22 January, 2013 16:31
They are kind of right. BBX might be a new OS from RIM but they are selling it under the blackberry name. They say it's too late because the Blackberry brand has been tainted by years of poor hardware and lacklustre software.
BBX could be the best OS ever but they are gonna have some job trying to convince people to buy it.
davefromwales 22 January, 2013 17:59
peter, you could be right, although id wager having some rep somewhere is better than no rep anywhere like the firefox OS, oh and dont forget ubuntu coming as well which doesnt exactly have a large userbase right now.
also its worth pointing out that a certain company tainted its brand a long time ago with the likes of devices like the newton, but that didnt stop them making a comeback.
edex67 26 January, 2013 18:41
I'm interested in Firefox OS, but it doesn't have a real large corporate backer. We all know what happened to MeeGo, and Firefox OS might go down the same route if it doesn't get a lot of cash-rich investors on side.