After announcing the Firefox OS that is to be run on the first "open web" devices, Mozilla apparently plans to launch its Firefox open source mobile platform this year. An All ThingsD report states that the Firefox OS will initially reach emerging markets where Mozilla sees its Firefox as having a strong presence. The rollout is said to begin from June 11 starting with Venezuela, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Brazil.

Major smartphone manufacturers such as LG, Huawei, Alcatel, ZTE and Sony have even agreed to bring out Firefox platform specific smartphones under their brand name. In fact, Alcatel and ZTE had even showcased their respective Firefox OS handsets at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year. The ZTE Open handset is said to be the world's first smartphone running Mozilla's Firefox operating system. The key tech specs of this smartphone can be found at the official ZTE press center.

As you'd expect, Firefox OS will be open source and provide a web-style user interface. Another positive aspect is that developers won't have to pay for the SDKs that build apps for the platform (unlike Apple's iOS), and so can enhance functionality of Firefox smartphones at a brisk pace.

With the likes of Android, iOS and Blackberry having already made inroads and taken people by storm in the subcontinent, it will be a rough way ahead for Mozilla. Even the pricing strategy of Mozilla Firefox OS based phones is unknown as of now, but a competitive pricing can be expected considering the fact that Mozilla has been giving us a "competitive enough" web browser over the years. A sobering fact for Indian users - we'd need to wait a while for Mozilla's Firefox OS phones to reach us, or import them through "grey" channels (similar to Nexus-branded phones which are still not officially sold in India).

TAGS: Mozilla, Firefox, smartphones, zte