It doesn’t matter how cheap your smartphones are, if the operating system they’re running on doesn’t have any apps, nobody is going to buy them. That’s a problem that Mozilla has run into with its Firefox OS devices, which is why the company has created a new initiative known as “Ignite.” This initiative could see Android apps running natively on Firefox OS smartphones.
Rather than attempt to conquer the world $25 at a time, Mozilla may be shifting gears on Firefox OS with a new initiative called “Ignite”. An email obtained by CNET details what Mozilla CEO Chris Beard thinks Mozilla should be doing in the mobile space. Instead of trying to encourage purchases via low-cost hardware, Beard wants Firefox OS to be “compelling”. “We will build phones and connected devices that people want to buy because of the experience, not simply the price. We have not seen sufficient traction for a $25 phone, and we will not pursue all parts of the program” said Beard. Ignite also has Mozilla entertaining the thought of running native Android apps as well as web-based apps for Firefox OS. Yesterday, we learned Firefox would make its debut on iOS (sort of) despite Mozilla’s long-standing refusal to use the WebKit engine instead of Gecko for Firefox.
