Thursday 20 September 2012

ZTE to launch Firefox OS phones this year


ZTE plans to roll out low cost smartphones based on Firefox OS. Currently the company sells phones with Android and Windows Phone OS.

China based mobile handset vendor ZTE will introduce a new mobile operating system later this year or early next year. ZTE, while announcing this, added that the OS has been developed in association with Mozilla, the maker of Firefox web browser.

However, it is not clear if this new operating system will be the same as the Firefox operating system which Mozilla has announced or whether it will be a different version specially designed for ZTE.

The confusion comes from a statement by ZTE spokesman David Dai Shu who said, "We are trying to increase our efforts in coming up with our own operating system, while introducing products based on Android."

Mozilla had earlier said that its mobile operating system has support from network operators like Deutsche Telekom, Sprint, Smart, Telecom Italia, Telenor and Etisalat.

If indeed ZTE gets its own OS made with Mozilla's help, it will fragment Firefox OS even before the platform is launched.

ZTE currently sells smartphones based on Android operating system and also has a few phones based on the Windows Phone operating system from Microsoft.

ZTE doesn't sell its own branded phones. Rather, its handsets are sold by operators under their own brand name. ZTE, however, has confirmed to The Mobile Indian that it plans to launch ZTE-branded phones in the Indian market soon and it is in the planning stages for the launch.

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