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Cellphones Firefox Handhelds Mozilla

Mozilla Launches Firefox OS Devices In Stores, Opens Up App Payments 57

An anonymous reader writes "After almost two years of development, Mozilla today officially launched Firefox OS devices in stores. At the same time, the company has opened up payments for developers interested in charging for their apps or charging for content inside their apps. Last week, the first commercial Firefox OS devices arrived in Spain ready to be sold by Telefónica, starting on July 9 with the ZTE Open for €69 ($88.80) including VAT. Mozilla says Poland, Colombia, and Venezuela also have upcoming launches soon, and more countries will be joining the list as well, but today today marks the day official Firefox OS devices are available in store."
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Mozilla Launches Firefox OS Devices In Stores, Opens Up App Payments

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  • Great, pick a country that's in a depression to launch a product.
    • Re:Spain? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Deathspawner ( 1037894 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2013 @10:00AM (#44225671) Homepage
      It's an $88 USD offering, so that might be the point. Spain users might be able to latch onto it quicker than o thers.
      • Good point. Besides, Telefonica is one of the European telephony giants, and has very, very deep pockets; hence, Mozilla actually landed a good deal by having Telefonica doing this launch. Good for them ! I wish them all the luck they need, and more.
      • by gl4ss ( 559668 )

        It's an $88 USD offering, so that might be the point. Spain users might be able to latch onto it quicker than o thers.

        it's almost too good, it includes 30 euros of prepaid. also you can pay 24*2.38 euros if you're on postpaid.

        which begs the question is it simlocked? I know it would be.. well, counter to the name.. but still, can anyone confirm it is not sim-locked? it's telefonica after all...

        • which begs the question is it simlocked? I know it would be.. well, counter to the name.. but still, can anyone confirm it is not sim-locked?

          At least the one that went one sale in Germany, recently, was not :-)

    • What better market is there to amass market share than in a depressed market where competition is nil? Profits may not be high but market share is vital as all economy's do rebound. This is not a short term play folks...
    • For what I can see in my social circle, Spain has a great number of Android phones, some iPhones and almost nothing else. There's some people holding on to their old Blackberries and very few people who use Windows Phone.
      What I mean is that Android is pretty entrenched here, much more in the lower end smartphones segment, and I don't think Firefox OS has a good chance of succeding. I believe most Spaniards, faced with the choice of selecting a cheap smartphone would rather choose what they know, and that i
    • Well this is another attempt to catch a market in Europe. During the whole palm craze a company launched a linux based open source phone in spain and it flopped BAD I hope this does not happen to firefox. I wish they would have learned from other companies mistakes.
  • cyanogenmod (Score:3, Funny)

    by intermodal ( 534361 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2013 @10:06AM (#44225743) Homepage Journal

    I want to see phones ship with Cyanogenmod by default. But while we're wishing, I want a free app that turns my smartphone into a portable unlimited beer tap. And also, a bag of holding would be nice.

  • Why is there a picture of a red panda with the article? Did some journalist actually think it was a fox?

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Because red pandas are also known as firefoxes. It's where the name and logo for the Firefox browser comes from.

      Hard to believe anyone on Slashdot wouldn't know this.
    • Re:Panda (Score:4, Informative)

      by RLU486983 ( 1792220 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2013 @10:30AM (#44226037)
      Apparently, "Firefox" is the nickname for the Red Panda.
      • But the Firefox logo is clearly a fox, not a red panda.

        • by meza ( 414214 )

          From this [actsofvolition.com] blog I think the original sketch up for the logo looks more like a panda while the final rendition was for some reason made to look more like a fox. But maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me. I honestly never knew a fire fox was a panda and not a fox (or just a made up name). And I had also completely forgotten about Phoenix and Firebird.

  • by Blaskowicz ( 634489 ) on Tuesday July 09, 2013 @11:12AM (#44226563)

    I couldn't find the price of the ZTE Open yet, I mean unlocked, without SIM and without dealing with an operator at all. The Alcatel One Touch Fire is the other Firefox OS phone for now but I don't know how much it costs.

    I guess if it's cheap enough it could be used as a PDA and media player only, or as a phone with no data plan and use wifi, SD, USB only.
    But I'm fine with my small clamshell Samsung phone too (with no secondary display, no camera, no anything), long battery life and perfect form factor. It would be a pain to carry a rectangle everyday in one of my pants pocket (I carry enough crap already : tobacco, cigarette paper, keys, lighter, smartcards, corkscrew, a small purse with cash coins and USB drive)

    • by Anonymous Coward

      It looks like it'll be in the same rough price bracket as the two Geeksphones. The price you are seeing is for an operator-locked device, and it may be subsidised, but it is not on contract; it's PAYG. These things are cheap.

    • It would be a pain to carry a rectangle everyday in one of my pants pocket (I carry enough crap already : tobacco, cigarette paper, keys, lighter, smartcards, corkscrew, a small purse with cash coins and USB drive)

      When I switched to a 4" touchscreen earlier this year, I was surprised to discover that it actually fits *better* in my tiny messenger bag/purse (or back pocket) than my compact dumbphone did because it's maybe half the thickness even with a case on. Alternately, you could just get a slightly bigger bag.

    • How about quit smoking? You halve the amount of crap in your purse and with the money you save at the end of the year you can buy yourself the latest and greatest phone, and a tablet, and a laptop, and likely a TV too.

      Oh and you'll live longer too. And there's a possibility later in life your death may be less painful.

  • by smash ( 1351 )
    Given the asshattery displayed by the browser team as of late with regards to... well, everything since say, 2005, I suspect they'll probably pick up at least 40% of the Windows Phone 8 users.
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