I’m sure many Android users are waiting for this to come to reality. And yes, it’s coming soon and now the Firefox for Android is already in first alpha. According to the time-line, the official release is expected before the end of 2010. The Firefox for Android currently optimized for Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid and run on Google Android 2.0 or higher. However, the official release supposed to have support for more devices.
The Firefox for Android is part of the Fennec project to bring the Firefox web browser to mobile devices. There are some interesting features to include into the browser:
- Firefox Sync – this feature will enable you to synchronize all the settings of your desktop Firefox with your mobile Firefox including desktop history, bookmarks, passwords, form data and tabs and now it will come as a built-in feature.
- Electrolysis – Electrolysis is used to protect against plugin crashes. This feature will increase stability, enhance performance and optimize security.
- Readability – this feature includes responsive zooming, reformatting the page, and making the web page functions to be easier for reader to view.
- Add-ons – if you use Firefox on your desktop, this probably one of the thing that makes it different with other browsers. And the Firefox for Android also will come with this functionality. There are some ready to use add-ons at the moment to support functions such as find points of interest near your (i’m thinking about navigations), translate language directly from your browser, block pop-up ads, etc.
So, that’s the good news for Android users. Sad to say, there’s no plan yet for Palm webOS, BlackBerry, Symbian or iPhone. And as for Windows Mobile, the development had been stopped.
[via: Firefox Dev Blog]
