Web-based services also make it easier to move without losing data like messages and fitness records. With an open Web approach, you don't have to purchase Angry Birds all over again if you switch from iOS to Android or vice-versa. It also means users don't have to go through Apple's App Store and iTunes service, or through the Google Play alternatives, to buy their software and download their movies. The open Web approach breaks the operating system lock: because every operating system needs a browser, a Web app will in principle run on it. J2me.js lets Java software for older feature phones run on Firefox OS, but the technology could in principle be adapted for Android apps, too. Andreas Gal describes the j2me.js project at a 2014 conference. In principle, a Web app can run on any browser, a strong contrast to iOS and Android apps that only run on Apple and Google operating systems. To that end, Firefox OS is a browser-based operating system, meaning that its apps are written with the same technologies used to build websites - HTML for content, CSS for formatting and JavaScript for programs. Mozilla's objective with Firefox OS - and all its other work - is to give people more control over their online lives through the use of open software. And though it may not be enough to sell a phone, it is important. That philosophy is core to the technological choices Mozilla made since Gal began the Firefox OS project in 2011. "The vast majority of customers are happy with one of the major operating systems already in the market." Open philosophy "Firefox OS has always felt like it was trying to solve a philosophical problem - closed ecosystems - rather than a customer problem," Dawson said. On top of that, Mozilla's agenda hasn't been focused on features that consumers are looking for, like camera quality. With few users, developers don't write apps, and with few apps, users stay away. Technical workarounds also won't help Mozilla solve the chicken-and-egg problem that all iOS and Android challengers face, said Jackdaw Research analyst Jan Dawson. And even if it works, it's big step away from encouraging developers to write apps directly for Firefox OS. Using software to bridge between operating systems is complex and technically difficult with a poor track record. If nothing else, it gives Firefox OS a flicker of life as a fledgling operating system trying to gain the attention of consumers, handset vendors and wireless carriers.īut there are complications. If successful, the j2me.js approach could help Firefox OS gain a foothold so Mozilla can counter the mobile power Apple and Google hold over most people with a smartphone by running at least the key apps that are in demand. Android apps are written in a different programming language, Java, but j2me.js can translate Java programs so they run on a JavaScript foundation instead. The j2me.js approach relies on the JavaScript programming language Mozilla founder and former Chief Executive Brendan Eich invented in 1995 for the Firefox progenitor Netscape Navigator. The nonprofit organization didn't detail its plans, but a project called j2me.js that Mozilla Chief Technology Officer Andreas Gal quietly launched last year could be key. Without crucial software like WhatsApp for text messaging, customers steer clear and head for better supported operating systems from the big two.īut as CNET revealed in May, Mozilla is considering technology to run some Android apps directly on its own OS as a way to bridge the app gap. The lack of apps are a common problem for operating systems challenging the two dominant mobile platforms, Google's Android and Apple's iOS. And it may have found its answer in a 20-year-old programming language. Mozilla's upstart Firefox OS mobile operating system badly needs app support.
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