Mozilla to Make Smartphone for Developing Countries
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The Mozilla Foundation, the organization behind the Firefox browser, is working on a cheaper smartphone for customers in developing countries.
CREDIT: Mozilla |
The folks behind the Firefox web browser are creating a smartphone for the developing world. They expect their phones, which will use a Firefox operating system, will cost one-third to one-sixth as much as Apple and Google competitors, the New York Times' Bits Blog reported.
"We are looking at a $100 to $115 price point," Carlos Domingo, director of product development at Telefónica Digital, told the New York Times. Telefónica, a Spanish cellphone carrier, is the Mozilla Foundation's major partner in this project. Mozilla oversees Firefox and other open-source software.
Mozilla will start selling the phones in Latin America and spread to other markets later.
The foundation and its partners expect to sell their phones along with prepaid minutes, which is how most cellphone customers in developing countries buy their airtime. The companies will build the Firefox phones to work with webpages, so the devices won't necessarily need special apps, although developers do plan to open an app store. The operating system will be free and open source, like other Mozilla projects, Gary Kovacs, chief executive of Mozilla, told the New York Times.
Sources: New York Times, Mozilla
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