Mozilla Rewards App Ideas With Free Firefox OS Phones

Mozilla has launched an initiative that will reward developers who submit original Firefox OS app ideas with free units of Geeksphone Keon – the highly sought-after preview device that went on sale last month.

The organisation hopes that working with a physical phone instead of a simulation will offer an advantage to developers who have been supporting the platform from the start, when the budget-friendly smartphones and the Firefox Marketplace become available in certain regions in June.

Firefox OS will not be coming to the US before 2014, and there is currently no indication as to when it might be released in the UK.

Phones for apps

Announced in 2012, Firefox OS (previously known as Boot to Gecko) is an open source operating system for phones, created in HTML5.

Mozilla’s CTO Brendan Eich previously described it as the perfect choice for customers in the developing markets. True to this notion, Brazil, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Venezuela will be the first to receive phones running Firefox OS in June.

To participate in the programme, developers need to submit an original app proposal. If it’s accepted, Mozilla will send out a brand new ‘firephone’.

The device in question is Keon, made by Spanish manufacturer Geeksphone. It features a 1Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S1processor, 3.5-inch HVGA multitouch screen, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 3MP camera, the usual array of sensors, 512 MB RAM and 4GB of onboard storage, expandable with a MicroSD card.

Keon, which costs just €99 (£84), sold out in a matter of hours when it became available for the first time in April, despite Mozilla warning repeatedly that the device is not ready for consumers.

There is no information on how many phones Mozilla has reserved for the giveaway, but it said the number on offer was “limited”. The programme will close at the end of May or when the organisation runs out of Geeksphones.

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