
Mozilla and KDDI Launch First Firefox OS Smartphone in Japan - prajjwal
https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/12/22/mozilla-and-kddi-launch-first-firefox-os-smartphone-in-japan/
======
hardwaresofton
Super excited to see FFOS getting launched in Japan!

Also, glad that FFOS is on a higher spec phone, should deter some of the
detractors.

People often scoff/don't understand when I explain it to them, but I run FFOS
(I have the Flame) because I (want to) support Mozilla and everything they
stand for.

~~~
SwellJoe
This. I'm happy to put up with some mild inconvenience to move toward more
open ecosystems. I have predominantly used Linux since 1995 (since long before
Linux was nice on the desktop), and as Firefox OS devices make their way to
the US, I'll likely migrate off of Android.

Also, Firefox, the browser, is really firing on all cylinders these days. The
developer edition is awesome, syncing is awesome and works across all devices
(I use Firefox on phone, tablet, and Linux and Windows). And, most
importantly, I trust Mozilla more than any other browser provider. I store a
lot of stuff with Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Flickr, but I'm not entirely
happy about it (to varying degrees).

~~~
peatmoss
Is the sandboxing released into public builds yet? I've been sort of holding
off on making the jump back to FF until that happens. Still champing at the
bit a little for precisely the reasons you mention. Firefox is worthy of
support simply by virtue of being both open, and supported by an organization
whose motives aren't intrinsically suspect.

~~~
SwellJoe
For what it's worth, Firefox has been somewhat more stable for me than Chrome
on Linux lately (there are other reasons to want the sandboxing, but stability
is one of them). Now that Flash is so much less common than it was a few years
ago, the instances where my browser dies due to a misbehaving plugin have
dropped to almost none. Also, the only reason I ever start Chrome is to watch
Netflix or other sites that won't work in Firefox (I still had to tweak the
user agent to claim to be something different to convince Netflix to work); so
it's possibly not surprising that it crashes more than Firefox.

And, of course, it's anecdotal.

~~~
icebraining
It should be noted that while Firefox doesn't have tab sandboxing, it does
isolate Flash (by launching it in a separate process called plugin-container).

~~~
rgbrenner
Here's how firefox describes plugin-container [0]: _Plugins are loaded
separately from Firefox, allowing the main Firefox process to stay open if a
plugin crashes._

This is different than a sandbox. A sandbox limits what the plugin is capable
of doing to the system. The whole point of sandboxing flash is that it has had
numerous security holes.

0\. [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-is-plugin-
containe...](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-is-plugin-container)

------
veidr
This is exciting as hell. Not because I will use this device (I won't, but I
will buy to play with like I do Android phones). But it excites me so much
because:

1) mobile is an important space ( _free protip!_ ) — both in terms of software
and business, and in terms of just living your life with your family and
friends in the modern age

2) this is the _kind_ of competition that is needed in this space

I don't use the Firefox browser very often in modern times, but I witnessed
it's whole evolution. If it didn't exist, I don't think Apple and Google would
have made these awesome Firefox-killers. They would have made MSIE-killers and
the world today wouldn't be as awesome as it is for desktop browsers.

The still-in-its-infancy world of mobile mostly sucks today, because you have
only two significant players controlling it.

One of them is a monomaniacal control-freak that won't even _let_ you change
your default browser, and demands that you pretend we live in a sparkling
antiseptic world where there are no messy things like bittorrent or porn or
(gasp!) programming software directly on your mobile device.

The other player is like this sort of Orwell-meets-Disney-City player, giving
you free email (that it reads) and all sorts of free services (that let it
track where you are, who you talk to, what you buy...). Not Big Brother, but
more like Big Creepy Uncle, who seems nice but always wants to take pictures
of you that make you feel uncomfortable afterwards.

Android is sort of open but the open/rooted version of it doesn't really
compete with itself very much.

Competition between three players is always better than two. But when one of
them is a legitimate free open source player, it is _much_ better.

Think about a computer user who has never used Linux once. Just Windows and
Mac. Even that person has had their computing life massively enriched by the
existence of Linux, and the influence that its existence has had on the
platforms that person does use.

We don't have that third player on mobile yet, which is keeping us in the cave
man era. It seems increasingly like Firefox OS is really going to become that
player.

------
lhl
I'm going to be in Japan next week and was excited enough by the IMO gorgeous
industrial design and hopefully-fast-enough mid-range specs to want to get
one, however, while the Fx0 has Band 1/18 LTE, KDDI's 3G network is CDMA, not
GSM/UMTS. I'vealso been told by friends that all their phones are typically
locked as well. Dropped an email and it'd be great if that weren't the case
and proper antenna's/baseband support was built in, but I won't get my hopes
up.

There's a dedicated site/product portal for the Fx0 and it looks like they
kicked off the launch w/ some hackathons last month: [http://au-
fx.kddi.com/](http://au-fx.kddi.com/)

~~~
kalleboo
The product info page says it supports global roaming (LTE/UMTS/GSM) at the
very bottom[0]. au/kddi will not unlock their phones right now, but starting
May 2015 all Japanese operators are required to unlock their phones, so you'll
have to wait until then.

[0] [http://au-fx.kddi.com/products/#title07](http://au-
fx.kddi.com/products/#title07)

~~~
lhl
Ah, good to know. I'll drop by the Tokyo store and see if they'll sell me one
w/o a contract. Last time I dropped by a Japanese phone store they wouldn't
sell me a phone w/o one, and of course, wouldn't sell me a SIM w/o an alien
registration card.

------
msh
The article from the verge got more pictures and details:
[http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/23/7440079/fx0-firefox-os-
sm...](http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/23/7440079/fx0-firefox-os-smartphone-
specs-release-date-photos)

------
tacojuan
That phone looks awesome.

I really want a firefoxOS phone that is spec'd out like a nexus 5 to exist...

~~~
mhenretty
If it's any consolation, you can build and install FirefoxOS on a Nexus 5.
Note, we are still working on Lollipop support.

[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/Firefox_OS/Preparing_for...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/Firefox_OS/Preparing_for_your_first_B2G_build#Configuring_B2G_for_your_device)

~~~
doublec
You can even dual boot Android and Firefox OS:

[http://bluishcoder.co.nz/2014/06/11/dual-booting-android-
and...](http://bluishcoder.co.nz/2014/06/11/dual-booting-android-and-firefox-
os.html)

The main issue is lack of support for some Nexus 5 hardware, like the camera.
Bugs raised for this are not dealt with as the Nexus 5 is not a supported
platform.

~~~
fabrice_d
Nexus 5 is our main Lollipop target so all these issues will be fixed.

------
ANTSANTS
I'm digging the translucent case. Brings back good memories of Nintendo 64.

~~~
stesch
And the first iMacs.

------
fidotron
Surprisingly sexy looking thing, except for the home button.

Conspicuous lack of information about screen resolution, and a ridiculously
high price given the specs relative to equivalent Androids and Windows
devices.

I'm a (fairly loud) FF OS detractor, and this flailing around looking for a
niche (apparently this time Japanese web dev geeks that will prize ideology
over function) betrays a complete lack of market demand for it. Google's
Android 5.0 screw up is causing there to be the biggest opportunity for a
mobile OS land grab in years, but you're not going to progress with an even
more extreme version of the ultra-thin-client model.

~~~
colordrops
> Google's Android 5.0 screw up

Care to elaborate?

~~~
aroch
For inexplicable reasons, Lollipop removed silent mode. The new task switcher
is an abomination and memory management is way too harsh (constant gc-ing)

~~~
revelation
And this would be the reason for a "landgrab" in mobile?

Most users hardly notice spyware hijacking their browser. I don't think they
will be too concerned with _harsh memory management_.

~~~
aroch
I said nothing about landgrabing...Just pointing to some of the failings of
lollipop.

------
jonnyscholes
Has copy/paste support dropped? I'd love to use my flame as my daily driver,
but I use Lastpass (and rely on) which is rendered useless without copy/paste.

Either way this is super exciting!! Well done to the FFOS/Mozilla team!

------
dingaling
Shame it's based on the fairly old 32-bit Snapdragon 400; it immediately looks
obsolete next to the current wave of Chinese wunderphones.

The 400 is bargain-basement material on that sort of market, usually paired
with a 720p screen around the $100 mark. The only phones cheaper than that use
the MTK chipsets.

------
proveanegative
It is still impressive to me by itself that Mozilla was able to enter the
mobile OS market. That said, I wonder if and when Firefox OS will turn into a
platform that it would be rational for you to target as a for-profit
developer. Has anyone here on HN made any money off FxOS apps yet?

------
bobajeff
"Fx0 is the first high-spec Firefox OS smartphone with the latest Firefox OS
update inside"

So does this mean it has FxOS 1.4? or 2.1?

It's good that they have a mid-range phone now. Hopefully they'll someday have
something here in the US that's competitive.

~~~
agapos
FxOS2.0 was mentioned in several articles.

~~~
bobajeff
So is that the latest release or is it still 1.4?

~~~
fzzzy
2.0 is now the latest, as of the release of this phone.

------
vijayr
Anyone has recommendations for a FF phone, in the U.S? I looked into them 6
months ago, couldn't find a good one for daily use - will gladly give up my
iPhone for a decent FF phone

~~~
kevining
We're currently working on the next generation reference device. Until that
comes out, my recommendation is to try out the OS on a Nexus 4 or Nexus 5. I
use FirefoxOS on a Nexus 5 and it's quite nice, except not all of the hardware
features work yet, including the camera. These are being actively worked on
though and should be finished within a few months.

~~~
listic
Does this mean that a device like Alcatel Fire S will be obsolete before
release?

------
pacala
Congratulations! Super-excited to have an open mobile OS making strides
forward.

