Firefox Marketplace now open to early adopters
updated 08:00 pm EDT, Sun October 21, 2012
Android beta users can get early look at Firefox apps
The app marketplace that will supplement Mozilla's Firefox browser and Firefox OS is now accessible by users of the Android Firefox Beta browser. The fledgling marketplace shows off a number of the apps, games, and utilities that will be available on Mozilla's forthcoming mobile operating system when it debuts next year. The marketplace is still in a beta stage and only accessible on Android mobile devices.
The design of the marketplace hasn't changed since it was shown off in early September. Now, as then, free apps appear to dominate the marketplace, but that may change depending on how successful Mozilla and its partners are in gaining market share once their devices launch in early 2013.
A number of manufacturers and carriers are looking to Mozilla's Firefox OS as a potential alternative to Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 and Google's Android. Mozilla says that its operating system, which is based on HTML5, will be able to run Android-like apps on low-end hardware faster than they would run on mid-range Android hardware. Mozilla and its partners are targeting entry-level consumers in developing nations. The first phones to run Firefox OS will appear from manufacturers such as ZTE later this year and early next year, with carriers such as Telefónica supplying them.
