FollowAt a time when the smartphone community is looking for innovation,Mozilla Firefox and Jolla Sailfish are set to launch their individual operating systems in 2013.The launch is on time to provide the much-sought alternatives for the key players – Apple’s iOS and Android operating systems.
Recently smartphone manufacturer ZTE revealed plans of working with a European wireless carrier to launch a smartphone running on Mozilla Firefox mobile OS.The company also has plans to launch a similar device in the United States.
A Firefox OS smartphone, sans any manufacturer’s brand, was revealed before the CES trade show.But,Mozilla states that its OS will be powered by HTML 5 and manufactured by TCL Communication Technology (Hong Kong) under Alcatel One Touch nameplate and ZTE.Firefox OS has received support from Sprint (United States), Deutsche Telekom (Germany),Etisalat (Abu Dhabi), Telecom Italia (Italy), Smart Communications (Philippines), Telefonica(Spain) and Telenor (Norway).
Jolla’s Sailfish OS is likely to be used in smartphones heading to the Chinese market early this year.It initially appeared in Helsinki in November 2012. Reviewers compare the Sailfish interface to that of the live tiles featured on Windows phone 8,as it allows user interaction directly through the icons on the home screen.The company’s employees are said to have worked for Nokia’s MeeGo OS,which was discarded in view of the more favorable Windows Phone in 2011.
While the new operating systems may not make a big impact at first, the smartphone market,which is getting tougher and bigger, is likely to witness some difference.Either OS seems to be geared up for the low to mid-priced segment of smartphones. It is likely that both the operating systems will be used in white-label devices,i.e. devices from the same manufacturer, but supplied by different carriers.
BlackBerry 10 is about to be launched and iOS and Android are already dominating the market.So,will Firefox and Sailfish make it?Perhaps, they will catch up very slowly.
