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Cape Town - Firefox OS is targeted at people who are yet to experience what a smartphone is capable of, but the system may eventually provide a direct challenge to Google, says a representative from web browser maker Mozilla.
"We think that the most important consumer is the one that has yet to really experience the web," Rick Fant, Mozilla vice president of Planning and Ecosystem, told Fin24 about the target audience for the first batch of devices powered by the new operating system.
The company better known for its web browser has developed the Firefox operating system for smartphones and Fant says that the OS is an ideal way to introduce new internet users to smart devices.
"A lot of those [users] are either feature phone users and new users to the web and phones in general - we very much believe it's entry level."
Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Store and Apple's App Store offer platform subscribers apps and content. However, the generally accepted practice is that content can only be downloaded from the store front.
Open model
In the case of Apple for example, the iPhone maker takes a 30% cut of content sold through its store.
As far as Mozilla is concerned, this business model runs counter to the nature of the web and the design of Firefox OS mirrors that of the internet.
"The existing players in the market are in the space of wanting to maintain some level of control over what happens in this market and so the best way to describe it is we are putting together an environment - an ecosystem if you will - that allows for no control point," said Fant on the sidelines of the AfricaCom tech conference in Cape Town.
A number of the Firefox smartphones are equipped with dual SIM capability. (Mozilla)
While he conceded that a completely open model may expose people to undesirable content such as pornography, he argued that consumers have to make the choice, not companies.
"We think it's better to have a model where there are no barriers for the developer and the consumer to find one another," Fant said.
Despite this, Firerfox OS has a market place but Fant said that unlike other platforms, there is no plan to leverage its app offerings to earn revenues from developers or consumers.
"But it is not a requirement either of the purchasers - there's no set business model by Firefox OS nor is there a requirement to use the Firefox market place.
"The consumer can purchase or gain access to an app or service provider directly by just typing in the URL or doing a search," he added.
Security tool set
Other application stores have limitations of what kind of apps and what content is allowed.
Google Play Store outright forbids applications that contain sexuality.
While Firefox OS smartphone apps will be web-enabled, they should not consume huge amounts of data. (Mozilla)
"Apps that contain or promote pornography are prohibited; this includes sexually explicit or erotic content, icons, titles, or descriptions," the search giant says in its terms and conditions for the platform.
There are also prohibitions on apps that promote illegal activities and infect malware into a user's device.
Apple's App Store takes on a more stringent tone, using words like "creepy" and "amateur hour" to describe the reasons for having applications rejected.
"We will reject Apps for any content or behaviour that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, "I'll know it when I see it'. And we think that you will also know it when you cross it," says the company.
Firefox OS is built on HTML5 with a similar security tool set found in the browser which commands around 17% of market share.
Fant doubled down on how the new platform linked developer and consumer directly and said that the company does not nanny application development.
Fundamental internet shift
"The developer can have a direct relationship with the consumer without going through a third party control point - a third party store that may take a percentage of their income or may restrict them from certain business practices."
Fant argued that the traditional app market had created an environment where apps were not much more than walled gardens for web properties.
"The existing players in the market have been doing a great job of bring services to the market, but if you look at it, you will find that the majority of those services are web-based - they are web services that happen to be packaged as apps."
He said that as the next billion people mainly from emerging markets like SA accessed the web, there will be a fundamental shift in the way that people accessed the internet services.
"We think the web is ready to explode more broadly on smartphones so we believe the web paradigm or direct connection between the consumer and developer is what will accelerate growth of things like Firefox OS."
Watch this video to see what the Firefox OS smartphones will look like.
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