Firefox 4 for Android, Maemo launched

One week after launching version 4 of its Firefox browser for desktop and laptop computers, Mozilla on Wednesday released a version of Firefox 4 for smartphones running Google's Android and Nokia's Maemo operating systems. In a blog post, Mozilla said that Firefox 4 for Android offers "unparalleled customization" for modern Web technologies and promises to make mobile browsing "effortless and fun." "Firefox is up to three times faster than the stock browser on Android. Major enhancements to the JavaScript engine make everything from page load speed to graphics to overall performance snappy in Firefox," it said. One week earlier, Mozilla released Firefox 4 for computers and laptops, promising faster browsing while maintaining flexibility with extensions. Mozilla said Firefox 4 for Android will similarly provide "seamless and secure access to personal data across desktop and mobile devices, including browsing history, bookmarks, open tabs, form data and passwords." "Firefox for mobile allows users to take the Firefox experience they love everywhere and minimizes typing with features like tabbed browsing, bookmarks, add-ons and Firefox Sync. With a sleek new look that hides browser controls when not in use, Firefox allows users to focus on the websites they visit. Firefox Sync gives users seamless access to their browsing history, bookmarks, open tabs, form data and passwords across computers and mobile devices. Firefox also offers thousands of ways to customize the features, functionality and look of mobile Web browsing with Firefox Add-ons," it said. Mozilla said Firefox 4 is available from the Android Market and for download on Maemo devices. Firefox for mobile is offered in more than 10 languages. With GPS, but no Flash yet It added Firefox for mobile is built on the same technology platform as the desktop version. With modern Web technologies like HTML5, developers can build rich, interactive applications and websites, it said. However, Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo currently does not support the Flash plugin, Mozilla said. Mozilla said that Firefox will request access to the phone's GPS location as part of its location-aware browsing feature. "The browser will only use your location if you have granted a website permission to do so. It is not used for any other purpose or without your knowledge," it said. No full version for other OSes yet Mozilla said that platform and distribution restrictions prevent it from bringing the full Firefox browser to Blackberry, Symbian and iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch). "We're working to bring Firefox Home to to to other devies and platforms in the future so that users can access their Firefox data wherever they go," the company said. It also said that as of now, Firefox is not currently available for the iPhone due to "platform or distribution restrictions." But Mozilla said its free app Firefox Home can be downloaded to the iPhone for free, and synchronizes Firefox desktop history, bookmarks and tabs with the iPhone. — TJD, GMA News