firefox

According to CNET, Mozilla is planning to deliver its mobile Firefox (aka Fennec) browser to the Android OS. About a year ago Mozilla said that Java was too limited in terms of functionality, so they refused to use it, but since Google has recently announced the Android NDK (Native Development Kit) v1.0, which should enable developers to write programs running in the operating system’s Linux-based layer, they should have no problem compiling an Android version of the Fennec.

Mozilla's Firefox Mobile has hit the Alpha 2 stage. It was codenamed Fennec, and is still available for the OS2008 (”Maemo”) software platforms that runs on the Nokia N810 Internet Tablets. In addition, Windows, OS X , and Linux users can also take the browser for a test drive.

Improvements/features of in the 2nd Alpha include:

Several screenshots of the forthcoming Firefox Fennec mobile browser have appeared recently on Mozilla blog. These screens were taken with Fennec running in Windows Mobile interface, and we don't know yet whether any other versions for oher systems will be compiled anytime soon.

The first alpha build of the application will be available in a couple of weeks.

John Lilly, CEO of the Mozilla Foundation has provided an update concerning the progress made in the development of the Firefox Mobile browser. He said that an "alpha" version of the application would be available internally "within a few weeks." But that doesn't necessarily mean that the final consumer version will be released anytime sooner than 2010 as it was planned.