For Mozilla, the risk of not bringing its mission to the mobile market is an even worse outcome. That would mean Apple and Google will have an easier time locking customers into technology ecosystems that extend from the operating system into areas like app sales and online services. That kind of lock-in can bring restrictions -- if you buy a movie through Apple's iTunes, you can't watch it on Android, for example, or you get more features when using the Google Docs word-processing with Google's Chrome browser than with Apple's Safari. Because iOS apps only run on iOS and Android apps only run on Android, anyone wanting to switch from one OS to the other likely will have to repurchase any games, utilities or other software. And it's not necessarily so easy to transfer all your data -- messages, photos, videos, fitness logs.

Mozilla put the spotlight on $25 Firefox OS phones for the last year, but it's not the only option for the organization, France-based carrier Orange offers slightly more powerful models that cost up to $40, including network service in many African countries, for example, and in Japan, KDDI's Fx0 offers a quad-core processor and relatively large, high-resolution screen at a price of about $410, Mozilla's alternative is to embrace the Web, No matter what operating system a device uses, it needs yellow dots iphone case a Web browser, Firefox OS thus runs apps written for the Web, which in principle means those apps run on any other device, too..

The Web's universality means there are plenty of programmers who know how to use it. But it's been tough for Firefox OS to get all the apps it needs. Although Mozilla's long-term priority remains Web apps, it's thinking about getting a nearer-term boost from the hundreds of thousands of apps available for Android. "To bridge this app gap between user expectations and the readiness of the ecosystem, we will explore implementing Android app compatibility," Beard said. That work will take place "within a framework that keeps our long-term focus on the Web," though, he said.

The email doesn't detail just how Android app compatibility could work or what kind of apps would be available, Beard said the effort is focused on support for "a few key apps."Beard worked as Mozilla's chief marketing officer in Firefox's early days before heading off for a stint as executive-in-residence at venture capital firm Greylock Partners, He returned as Mozilla CEO in 2014 to replace Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich, who was brought down by a gay-marriage firestorm, With Firefox OS, Beard is trying to return to a strategy that worked earlier for Mozilla, when it was yellow dots iphone case trying to take on Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser..

"Firefox won converts by providing compelling end-user value: it was clean, simple, fast, secure, and open standards based," and it had features like tabbed browsing and pop-up blocking that people liked, according to Beard. Firefox OS likewise needs the right combination of features, apps, and pricing to attract converts despite "sophisticated competition from the most aggressive and largest technology companies in the world."As Beard evidently recognizes, it won't be easy. Microsoft had let Internet Explorer languish, so Firefox had an easier time taking on its dominant position. iOS and Android, though, are top priorities at Apple and Google.