[Question] Anyone into FirefoxOS?

[linr76]

Hi everyone,
i'd be interested to know if anyone here owns a FirefoxOS phone (like ZTE Open, Alcatel One Touch Fire, Geekphone Keon/Peak) or uses another supported device (Samsung Galaxy S2, Nexus S) with FirefoxOS?

i am quite intrigued by the idea and am thinking about getting into this FirefoxOS thing (as one more of my many geek hobbies...).

any thoughts, experiences, ideas?

[linr76]

ok, seems noone is interested in an open source operating system (FOSS)?

i know it doesnt seem to offer much right now, but i like the idea of a fully open OS and would like to support such an idea.

SailfishOS, Tizen, Android are all Linux based, but not open and under control of one or more interested parties (which want your money)

so additionally to the q above,
does someone own a ZTE V790? this seems to be more or less the same phone than the ZTE open.
same for the LG e610 = LG Fireweb.
i did not find out which Alcatel /TcL phones are equivalent.

both Geeksphones are not sold anymore, so chances to get one are pretty slim (as they are actively used as developer phones)

i have an old Samsung Galaxy Apollo /Leo/3 (GT-i5800) here, that would fit specs-wise pretty nicely, but unfortunately i do not know (yet) how to build FirefoxOS for it.

There were ports done for many Sony Xperia models (Sony itself "supports" only Xperia E), there is also a port for eg. Samsung Galaxy S...

but as is seems, the low powered Qualcomm CPUs (single -? and dual core - Snapdragin 200) have the most work done already, so if you are interested and you have a phone like this it would be nice if you could share here. obviously the phone needs to be supported by Cyanogenmod because you need the manifest.xml from CM in order to make the hardware work.

this could be a cool little project,
if you dont have any of the supported phones, the ZTE Open can be had pretty cheap (depending on where you live - 70 USD -100 USD)
the ZTE V790 would probably work also (that is about 55USD)

if you do not want to spend money, you can also give it a little test by installing a simulator in your Firefox Browser:
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]

be aware also that there are new FirefoxOS phones coming out from:
ZTE (Open II, Open C)
TCL (One Touch Fire C, Fire E, Fire S) and from the looks of it the Fire S can be had as a developer model with dual sim support....
Huawei (Y300 II)
LG (unknown new model right now only LG Fireweb)
Geeksphone Revolution (dual boot with Android)
an until now undisclosed low cost solution with Spreadtrum Communications SC6810 SoC (aka the "25 USD phone")

there are also 2 tablets being made ready, one 10 inch and one 7 inch (Foxconn and VIA)

[linr76]

Ok, even though noone seems to be interested here,
i want to quickly share that i have "bit the bullet" and ordered a ZTE Open from the UK ZTE ebay store.
costs including shipping (within EU) roughly 64 pounds / 80 Euro - low enough for me to "play" with it, and if its not what i want it is not a terrible loss of money.

If i get any responses here i will do an unboxing and review when i receive it (that will take some time because i had it sent to Austria to avoid having to pay import tax in Switzerland - and i'll only be able to go pick it up end of April)

if i do find i like it i will most likely upgrade soon after to one of the new higher spec models coming out.

so go on, i'd like to hear your thoughts about Firefox OS or at least if you are interested in a review of the ZTE Open

[WuddaWaste]

For the record, I am interested -- I just have neither the exposure nor technical aptitude for any worthwhile commentary.

A fully open OS has a plethora of potential advantages, but likewise an uphill battle to face before it can hope to attain any significant market share. Stoked to see that you're taking the plunge and excited to hear your opinions on the experience/potential/etc.

[linr76]

Thanks a lot, its encouraging to see that some people are actually interested.

from my pov Firefox OS has a great opportunity to become the number 3 behind Android and IOS, because Mozilla is not-for-profit and has great support worldwide from many developers.
Also its a really smart idea to try and get to the low end of the market first, because there will be the largest growth (our markets are saturated with high end devices and people can afford them - it would be harakiri to try and go for that - as you can see with Microsoft.)
While i dont think they will be a big threat to Google and Apple any time soon in Europe or America, all the ideas behind this new phone OS tick the right boxes. Lets not forget that Mozilla had a big impact in the WWW and how it works today. For this alone i think they deserve to be supported and if its my poor testing and feedback is wanted i'll make sure they get it. since they dont earn anything on the phone and ZTE/Alcatel get the Software for free thats pretty much the only "payment" you can give towards this movement.
They already secured ZTE, Alcatel, LG, Huawei and Sony to mass produce FXOS phones, they plan on bringing out this "25USD phone" with Spreadtrum and there are other big names in the pot still. wont take too long (read as soon as the OS gained some maturity) and we will see some high spec phones also.

so i'll snap a few pics and write up my experience, then probably flash the little devil with bleeding edge FXOS and brick it
keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best.

[WuddaWaste]

Fingers definitely crossed. By the way, mad props for colloquially using "harakiri" in a conversation, let alone a technical one!

[Sniper47]

Really looking forward to hearing more about this and sorry I haven't replied early. It's actually fascinating and surprising that big names have adopted it. Android is fairly open source, but has been closing the door slowly on AOSP by creating closed source apps that many people have come to rely on and creating the OHA club (open handset alliance) - "OHA members are contractually forbidden from producing devices that are based off incompatible forks of Android."

Very interested to see how this turns out.

[linr76]

next weekend i'll pick it up, but since its easter i wont be able to do a review just then.
keep watching this space, posts of my failures to come... chuckle...

[Dvalin21]

I too am interested in the outcome of this. I will be standing by, watching.

[WuddaWaste]