Mozilla Dropped Android From Boot-to-Gecko Project

From PC World: Mozilla managed to avoid using any parts of Android in the development of its Boot-to-Gecko mobile Web project.

This week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Mozilla announced that Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom plan to build phones based on B2G, a platform that will run all apps on the phone, including basic apps like a phone dialer and SMS client, from the Web. Telefonica said it expects to release a low-cost phone running the technology this year; DT didn't disclose additional details.

When Mozilla first announced the B2G project last July, it said it expected to use parts of Android to compile the platform. But it ultimately didn't have to, said Jonathan Nightingale, senior director of Firefox engineering for Mozilla.

B2G uses some Linux code that includes drivers so that Gecko, the open-source browser platform that Firefox uses, can interact with the screen and other phone components. B2G has no licensing obligations except for using Linux and Gecko, he said.

"We got rid of Android completely," he said. "Why be beholden to any other piece?"

He demonstrated B2G running on a Samsung Galaxy S II. The phone had a dialer, SMS app, video player, photo viewer, browser and other apps. B2G also includes an accelerometer, camera and tilt sensors. Mozilla is at work on an NFC app.

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