Mozilla at work on mobile web browser

Open-source development initiative Mozilla announced it is currently at work on a mobile web version of its Firefox browser for release sometime next year. "People ask us all the time about what Mozilla's going to do about the mobile web, and I'm very excited to announce that we plan to rock it," writes Mozilla vice president of engineering Mike Schroepfer on his official Mozilla blog. "Mozilla will add mobile devices to the first class/tier-1 platform set for Mozilla2. This means we will make core platform decisions with mobile devices as first-class citizens. We will ship a version of 'Mobile Firefox' which can, among other things, run Firefox extensions on mobile devices and allow others to build rich applications via XUL."

According to Schroepfer, the user demand for an enhanced mobile browsing experience is clear: "If you weren't sure about this before you should be after the launch of the iPhone." To accelerate the project, Mozilla announced the additions of two new developers, Openwave's Christian Sejersen and France Telecom's Brad Lassey.

Mozilla's announcement follows on the heels of a new version of Minimo, a mobile browser for Windows Mobile devices. Schroepfer said there are no plans to develop Minimo any further. In addition, Mozilla offers Joey, an application that enables users to clip and save text, photos, videos and related content from a PC for later access via mobile device.

For more on Mozilla's mobile future:
- read Schroepfer's blog

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