THUNDER BAY – Firefox OS is coming together for smartphones. Fans of Firefox will likely embrace Mozilla’s new operating system. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcellona Spain,  Mozilla announced Firefox OS will launch with Firefox Marketplace, and a new ability to discover one-time use and downloadable apps to give people a powerful, personalized, speedy and enjoyable smartphone experience while also enabling easy creation, distribution and discovery of HTML5 apps worldwide.

Firefox OS

Firefox OS will power the world’s first Open Web Devices in key emerging markets and offer the performance, personalization and price you want in a smartphone. Firefox OS delivers a beautiful, clean, intuitive, personalized and easy-to-use experience that has built-in features to help manage data and storage usage while maximizing your value, time and overall enjoyment of the smartphone experience.

Mozilla is looking for companies and interested parties to partner with to make the new operating system more universal.

Firefox OS includes all the things people need from a smartphone out of the box – calls, messaging, email, camera and more – as well as the things you wish a smartphone offered, like built-in cost controls, social features with Facebook and Twitter, location-based services, much-loved features like the Firefox Web browser, new ability to discover one-time use and downloadable apps, Firefox Marketplace and much more.

“Every device is better if it’s social and we’re excited that Firefox OS users will have easy access to the mobile Web-based version of Facebook that will take advantage of our current and future features,” said Vaughan Smith, VP of Mobile Partnerships at Facebook.

With Firefox OS, you can simply enter any search term and instantly create a one-time use or downloadable app. Creating and consuming these apps on demand puts users in complete control of their app and smartphone experience and will make it possible for people to get the exact content they want, when they want it.

Firefox OS offers a deep contextual search that will take you to the exact content you want instead of just generic apps in the same category. It will allow far more sophisticated and deeper search capabilities as you can search both within apps and on the Web at the same time, which is not possible with native apps. For example, search for your favorite music artist and get results to buy your favorite song, concert tickets or even listen to your favorite song instantly.

Firefox OS is an extension of the Firefox experience you know and love so you can expect all the security, privacy, customization and user control Firefox has always delivered.

Because Firefox OS is based on Web technologies it offers users, developers and operators a highly customizable smartphone experience and even has offline capabilities for all the phone’s core functionalities.

Firefox Marketplace

Firefox Marketplace will offer apps in categories like games, news and media, business and productivity. These apps are tied to you and your online identity to take across devices and platforms. Leading mobile apps and Web developers around the globe will leverage the power of the Web unlocked by Mozilla to release apps in the Firefox Marketplace.

The Web enables limitless innovation and with Firefox Marketplace, every Web developer can easily create and distribute HTML5 apps so you can find an app for whatever you want – even local, niche and emerging topics. Firefox Marketplace will include popular apps such as AccuWeather, Airbnb, Box, Cut the Rope, Disney Mobile Games, EA games, Facebook, Nokia HERE, MTV Brasil, Pulse News, SoundCloud, SporTV, Terra, Time Out and Twitter as well as personally-tailored and local apps that are relevant to users in their respective regions.

“Firefox OS provides us with a great opportunity to reach new consumers in emerging markets,” said Glenn Roland, VP of New Platforms and OEM at EA. “We’re pleased to bring HTML5 versions of top games including Poppit! from Pogo, as well as several popular mobile titles to the cross-platform Firefox Marketplace this year.” 

“Bringing such popular titles as Where’s My Water? and Where’s My Perry? to the Firefox Marketplace is a great opportunity to increase our network of players in developing markets,” said Bart Decrem, SVP of Disney Mobile Games. “Having worked with Mozilla in the past, I’m especially enthusiastic about the potential of Firefox OS.” 

“Firefox OS enables the new MTV Brasil app to give people access to all of the news, video and multimedia content developed for mobile devices, including shows that are currently on air, said Robson Gomes, MTV Brasil Technology Manager. “Firefox OS makes it easier to give people the content they want and this is another important tool to access MTV Brasil’s universe of humor, music and lifestyle.”

Most mobile apps are built with Web technologies at the core and then wrapped in a proprietary technology to distribute the app on a specific platform. Mozilla is unlocking the Web as a mobile development platform with Firefox Marketplace and unwrapping mobile apps to enable more opportunity and control for developers and consumers.

Firefox Marketplace will make smartphones capable of offering more powerful and immersive Web app experiences. The Web now has the potential to be the world’s largest marketplace with the new Web APIs Mozilla developed. The open Web platform and these new Web APIs also enable developers to distribute apps directly, with no need for gatekeepers, true to the Mozilla mission of creating choice, innovation and opportunity on the Web.

“Firefox OS will break down the walls between apps and the Web because Firefox OS apps are built using Web technologies, like HTML5. We expect to see lots of amazing apps people love built for Firefox OS because more developers are already creating for the Web than for any other platform,” said Jay Sullivan, Mozilla Senior Vice President of Products. “Firefox OS delivers a rich, delightful and personalized experience for users and people can search for anything that is on their mind to discover relevant apps that can be used instantly, even apps they’ve never installed or used before.”

Firefox Marketplace can be previewed on Firefox for Android Aurora and will be offered with the first Firefox OS phones to launch later this year.