Mozilla announces Mobile Firefox

"Through Joey [Mozilla's experimental mobile browser] we've seen how the desktop and mobile browsing experiences can be bridged to build a better experience for both. Wouldn't it be great if your bookmarks, history, extensions, etc. from Firefox on your computer just worked on your phone?"

Schroepfer says recent developments in smartphones have shown that a desktop-like browsing experience is vital for mobile devices. "The user demand for a full browsing experience on mobile devices is clear," he argues. "If you weren't sure about this before you should be after the launch of the iPhone."

However, he concedes that processing power poses a problem for mobile browsers, but claims forthcoming handsets will ease the burden. "Getting a no-compromise web experience on devices requires significant memory (>=64MB) as well as significant CPU horsepower. High-end devices today are just approaching these requirements and will be commonplace soon."

"For example, the iPhone has 128MB of DRAM and somewhere between a 400-600MHz processor. It is somewhere between 10x-100x slower on scripting benchmarks than a new MacBook Pro and somewhere between 3-5x slower than an old T40 laptop on the same Wi-Fi network. But rapid improvements in mobile processors will close this gap within a few years," he says, citing planned Intel and ARM platforms.

Launch dates

Schroepfer claims Mobile Firefox won't arrive in time for Firefox 3, which is scheduled to launch at the beginning of next year. However, it certainly appears to be on the medium-term roadmap. "Mobile Firefox will arrive later [than Firefox 3], certainly not before 2008," Schroepfer adds.

Mozilla hasn't announced what platforms the mobile browser will run on, but Linux seems a likely target given that Mozilla already has a version of Firefox running on Nokia's Linux-based N800 internet tablet.