ZTE is to sell its new Firefox smartphone on eBay only in the UK and the US markets. The £59.99 handset, the first to run the Firefox mobile operating system, will be available exclusively on eBay. The ZTE Open runs applications written in the web-based HTML5 language rather than a unique company-owned platform. A spokesman […]
ZTE is to sell its new Firefox smartphone on eBay only in the UK and the US markets.
The £59.99 handset, the first to run the Firefox mobile operating system, will be available exclusively on eBay.
The ZTE Open runs applications written in the web-based HTML5 language rather than a unique company-owned platform.
A spokesman for the Chinese manufacturers ZTE said the handset was aimed at first-time smartphone users.
The phone is already on sale in Spain, Colombia and Venezuela, via telecommunications company Telefonica, and ZTE says the Open will be available “soon” on eBay in the UK and the US.
It will be not be locked to a specific mobile network operator.
The phone features a 3.5in screen and 3.2-megapixel camera and is powered by a 1GHz processor.
The main selling point for the handset is its use of Firefox OS – Mozilla’s ‘web-first’ operating system for mobile devices. The OS is built entirely using HTML 5 and open web technologies, which Mozilla hopes will allow more developers to transfer their internet-based tools and apps onto the Firefox OS ecosystem.
The new handsets already include a number of big-name applications via the Firefox Marketplace including eBay, Wikipedia, Huffington Post, Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud.
Mozilla promise that “there won’t be any local apps or features because these devices are general, unlocked global variants targeted at developers and early adopters around the globe.”
Dr. Li Gong, Mozilla Senior VP of Mobile Devices said: “Mozilla is dedicated to moving the Web forward as a platform for innovation and building products that people love. […] With a great potential user base, we know that even more developers around the world will create their apps with new APIs to stimulate an inspiring new wave of innovation.”
