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| A Firefox smartphone for the developing world |
| By Thom Holwerda, submitted by MOS6510 on 2012-09-08 02:09:32 |
| "The smartphones going into the world's next two billion pairs of hands may not belong to either Google or Apple, but to Mozilla. The Mozilla Foundation, which oversees open source software projects like the Firefox Web browser, expects to release a mobile operating system for smartphones early next year. Its target market is Latin America, then the rest of the developing world, where smartphones from Apple and Google are still too expensive for most people." Let's hope so, because at the rate things are currently going, we'll end up with like 90% Android, 9% iOS, and 1% other stuff. Who wants that? |
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| RE[3]: I want an open system that makes sense |
| By kragil on 2012-09-08 12:33:53 |
| Hmm stick to the truth, that might be true for AOT (ahead of time) compiled JS, but you'd have to modify your JS code slightly to make that happen. Highly dynamic languages like JS don't compile very well. FirefoxOS will not run anything like that. It will run Mozillas JS engine and it nowhere near as fast as compiled C or just in time compiled Java. Cold hard truth. |
 - Score: 4 |
| Tizen vs FF |
| By swift11 on 2012-09-08 13:41:13 |
|
Both Tizen and FF OS run HTML5 apps without a browser, but Tizen (= Linux + WebKit) supports multi-core CPUs. Edited 2012-09-08 13:44 UTC |
| - Score: 1 |
| ... |
| By Hiev on 2012-09-08 14:58:53 |
| I'm down for this phone, count me in as a customer as soon it gets released, as much I like the Speria Mini I own the battery life is ridiculous. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: I want an open system that makes sense |
| By some1 on 2012-09-08 14:59:07 |
|
> Compiled JS bytecode is just as fast as compiled Java bytecode [Citation needed]. Java is statically typed and the bytecode takes advantage of that. Also, Android uses Dalvik, which has a completely different bytecode, designed for faster interpretation. E.g. it's register-based rather than stack-based. Not that bytecode interpretation speed matters much, as both Dalvik and Gecko have JITs. But it's a lot easier to make Java code go fast than it's for JS code. |
| - Score: 4 |
| RE: ... |
| By some1 on 2012-09-08 15:00:25 |
| Why do you think battery life will be any better? |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: ... |
| By Hiev on 2012-09-08 15:23:36 |
|
Nothing, I'm just explaining the reason I'm switching my phone, and, if the battery life of Firefox OS is bad, then, I'll go for a Nokia (no Windows Phone), where the battery is better. And honestly, I'm very tempted to go for a $15 dollars phone, cause I'm sick of smart phones battery life in general. Edited 2012-09-08 15:31 UTC |
| - Score: 2 |
| Isn't it wrong? |
| By jefro on 2012-09-08 16:16:45 |
| Isn't it morally wrong to sell junk to developing countries that don't have fresh water, proper sanitation and adequate nutrition? Not sure anyone needs a cell phone either. |
| - Score: 0 |
| RE: Isn't it wrong? |
| By Hiev on 2012-09-08 16:27:58 |
| What phone do you have? |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: I want an open system that makes sense |
| By Nelson on 2012-09-08 17:18:50 |
| Lmao. Hell no. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE: Isn't it wrong? |
| By BrianH on 2012-09-08 18:31:28 |
|
In the developing world they tend to not have access to wired phones or internet, due to the costs involved with stringing those wires, so most communication with the outside world is through cell phones. Getting themselves out of poverty usually requires participating in the world economy, and that requires communication with the rest of the world. Cell phones are a luxury when you have access to other means of communication, but a necessity when you don't. So yes, it's moral to get them the means to improve their own lives, and even more so if it can be done cheaply. Even a single cell phone can help raise an entire village out of poverty. |
| - Score: 6 |
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