Mozilla has brought further clarity to the future of Firefox OS on smartphones today, with the news that development will cease after the release of version 2.6 of the operating system.
Today’s news comes nearly two months after Mozilla revealed that the web-focused Firefox OS platform, which was designed to help manufacturers build budget devices in developing markets, would cease-to-be on mobile phones.
“We're announcing our plan to end-of-life support for smartphones after the Firefox OS 2.6 release,” said the Mozilla community announcement. “This implies that Firefox OS for smartphones will no longer have staff involvement beyond May.”
First unveiled back in 2012, Firefox OS was designed as an alternative operating system for mobile devices. With the market already dominated by other platforms, including Android, it struggled to gain a foothold, with only a handful of Firefox OS devices hitting the market — the first of these was the ZTE Open, which launched originally in Spain in 2013. However, more than a year after revealing plans to build Firefox OS televisions, the first such TVs went to market last May.
Mozilla has effectively exited the smartphone realm because of the competition from the likes of Apple, Google, and to a lesser extent Microsoft. Smart TVs may hold a slightly easier route to market, given there is less ‘operating system bias’ on TVs. Then there is the broader Internet of Things (IoT) space, which Mozilla said is where it’s now focusing too. However, what this world will ultimately look like, and what role Mozilla and Firefox OS will play, remains to be seen.
However, Mozilla did reveal a little more information about what’s on the horizon. It said that the Connected Devices team has been “testing out a new product innovation process with staff,” and three products have passed “the first gate.”
“Having multiple different product innovations in development will be the approach moving forward, and we’re hoping to open up the formal process to non-staff participation in the first half of the year,” it said.