Mozilla developer shows off Firefox OS lock screen

MOZILLA DEVELOPER Rob Hawkes has shown off the lock screen for the Firefox operating system (OS) running on a Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone.

Mozilla announced that its Boot to Gecko operating system would be rebranded as Firefox OS the other day, with the firm managing to secure support from major mobile operators such as Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica. Now Hawkes has shown off the current state of the Firefox OS lock screen on a Samsung Galaxy S2 handset.

Hawkes' picture strongly suggests that Firefox OS will use a slide-to-unlock method, something that through the absurdity of software patents could mean a threatening letter from Apple in the post.

Mozilla's Firefox OS is being pitched at low to mid-range smartphones, with apps primarily based on HTML5 and Javascript. This means the armies of web developers working with those languages will have the skill to quickly become Firefox OS app developers and could mean that the operating system won't suffer from a lack of applications for very long after it is released.

According to Mozilla's rebranding announcement, the outfit expects devices running its Firefox OS to tip up early next year. µ