Web Browser maker, Mozilla has unveiled two 3G phones powered by its open source Firefox operating system with focus on low-end markets.
The phones, called Keon and Peak, have been made by Mozilla in partnership with a Spanish start-up, named GeeksPhone and Spanish telecommunications provider Telefonica.
However, the phones are currently meant for developers for preview so that they can develop apps and improve the operating system.
The “Keon” model features a small 3.5-inch screen, 1 GHz Processor and 4 GB storage, making it barely comparable to a cheap Android phone in the USA market.
The Peak, on the other hand, is a better handset with decent features like a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and a higher quality 4.3-inch qHD display. It also has an 8-megapixel rear facing camera and a 2-megapixel camera in the front. The phone comes with 4 GB of storage.
This launch is very important from the perspective of budget smartphones market as Firefox OS is a browser-based open source operating system for smartphones and tablet computers and is designed to leverage cloud computing and HTML 5 ecosystem, which will enable better performance from mobile phones with lesser hardware requirement.
“This week we are announcing our new Firefox OS developer preview phones because we believe that developers will help bring the power of the web to mobile,” Mozilla said in its official blog.
Mozilla is targeting the lower end of Android market rather than taking on the Windows Phone, iOS or high end Android devices. Its phones are likely to be very cheap and should be able to create a mark in the feature phone market which still dominates most of the developing markets like India.
Launching the development project in July 2011, Mozilla touted the system as more accessible and completely open, compared to “walled gardens” of Apple iOS and Google Android.