The first handsets to be powered by Mozilla's Boot2Gecko OS, which we tried out at Mobile World Congress, will reportedly arrive in Brazil via Telefonica as early as the end of the year. Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs made the timing announcement today in São Paulo, confirming that the platform will make it past concept development and into the retail smartphone market.
The browser company aims to replicate a full range of standard smartphone features, but with an open platform that focuses on web-based apps. The system uses web standards such as HTML5, JavaScript and CSS for apps and core features, such as the dialer and camera utility.
The tech preview at Mobile World Congress utilized a Samsung Galaxy S II with Android completely stripped away, rather than placing a layer atop the stock OS. Features are still arranged on tile icons, mimicking the basic layout of Android and iOS.
"It's an open platform to allow complete control of applications, much like a browser, and applications are installed the way you expect," said Kovacs, according to quotes posted by ZTop. "The difference is that they are created with web standards, and we will have links and clicks between apps, something that already happens on the web today, but not in the applications closed platforms."
Boot2Gecko на Samsung Galaxy S II
Telefonica earlier this year noted that the Gecko program would be tied into the "Open Web Devices" platform, though the carrier has yet to announce any specific details regarding the chosen handset manufacturer and hardware specs for the first Boot2Gecko phones.
Rumors suggest LG may be one of the companies participating in the program. Additional details remain unclear, though the platform is expected to bring smartphone features to entry-level hardware.