Mozilla today unveiled some developer hardware to accompany its HTML-5-powered mobile Firefox OS, which is built entirely using open web standards.
The company showed off new Firefox OS developer preview phones via its blog, saying that it’s developers “will help bring the power of the web to mobile.”
The new phones are being developed by Geeksphone in partnership with Telefonica and Geeksphone. The devices include a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 3.5-inch HVGA multi-touch screens, 3-megapixel camera, 4GB of ROM and 1580 mAh battery.
Mozilla also said the phones will feature HSPA (3G) and GSM (2G) connectivity.
Mozilla made a pitch for developers to participate in Firefox OS App Days, a worldwide set of 20+ hack days happening this week.
Mozilla hopes that the Firefox OS will allow an even higher proportion of the population to enjoy a better smartphone experience at that important $100 price point.
OEMs are apparently willing to jump. TCL Communication Technology, owner of the Alcatel brand, and ZTE have already committed to building the first handsets to run Firefox OS.
Whether this kind of operating system has the potential to push a disruption of the traditional native app store someday isn’t really the point. Rather, Mozilla sees itself as offering an alternative to the current model.