@FlipSwitch:
I'm waiting for Skyfire or Opera 9.5 to come out. Opera 8.65 was good, but there's no way I'm paying for something that only has 1/4 of the features it should of had.

Darkest Daze

That is going to be hard WebKit is more, more compliant, more lightweight, more versatile and better suited for a mobile platform. FF's only chance is that if the plugins are cross-platform.

Leonard Nimrod

@phoenix96: "drop" refers in this case to releasing it.

Discosis

Why can't I download it now for my Windows Mobile MotoQ? I NEED a better mobile browser; I can barely tolerate Pocket IE. I've tried Opera (better, but sucks also). I like the sound of Firefox Mobile, but I'd also be into a version of Safari if I could download it for Windows Mobile - I just need something with a desktop browsing experience.

FlipSwitch

Three words: Verizon Open Network.

Once the networks are open expect an American version of Compaq for cellphones. It won't be Apple (too $$$) or Motorola (too dumb) but either someone new or someone from Asia or Europe (like a Nokia or Samsung). They'll be in the business of selling handsets not wireless contracts, and you can install whatever you want.

Brock

btw, which providers block internet access, I know Tmobile doesn't at all.

jkr

umm minimo (mini mozzilla) has been out forever. Though technically not firefox (i don't think) it is produced by mozilla as a mobile web browser.

jkr

if firefox does end up on a phone its going to either be nokia or something running android, if google allows it.

CGrant

Why would they drop the browser before it's even released?

phoenix96

i dont understand how its up to the providers, and how they can stop me from putting whatever browser i want on my device...

its like my ISP telling me what internet browser to use on my laptop... they have no say whatsoever

rlreif

Mobile operator are such a Microsoft fanboys...

Mike918

Opera for Windows Mobile is the best mobile browser available at this point in time.

IE Mobile was lacking everything, including some of the essentials. Minimo, is rather dysfunctional and looks like crap on VGA screens. Deepfish was worse than trying to use the internet on an etch-a-sketch or one of those leapfrog learning "computors."

Opera can do just enough to keep me happy, and hopfully the next version will make it uber-elite.

Kevin1a

@Darkest Daze: I use Skyfire on my Moto Q and there is no going back! I left my email on the site and received the link about a week ago or so. I like it better than even Opera!

Gadgetgirl

fatfox on my mobile devices? no thanks.

m0unds

As a Windows Mobile user, i don't understand what say an operator has in what I decide to install on my phone

burnblue

I don't understand the issue here. Why do they care which browser you are running? What's the difference if you are on edge or 3g (other than speed) in this scenario? How are the providers threatened by another browser provider?

larry91403

Picsel browser is great if you have a touchscreen. It doesn't handle everything perfectly, but it looks cool.

recklessinoz

@m0unds: So don't install extensions and it's not bad. That's the point of putting the advanced stuff in extensions, not in the core browser.

I hope someone makes an unofficial iPhone version -- Mobile Firefox is planned to even be able to handle extensions. My desktop browser works just the way I want -- at the very least I want adblock on the mobile version. On a cell phone every optimization of the download/display matters.

Buran

I don't see Nokia trying to stop this in any way. Their web browser is exceptional (better than Opera 8.65 for S60 and makes Pocket IE look like trash) but I'd LOVE to have Adblock Plus mobile.

davekaybsc

@larry91403:

I'm guessing it's open-source and thus no one is commercially responsible or required to step up to the plate if anything goes wrong. Think about IE and Opera - both of these are backed by companies - if a flaw in one of the browsers caused something to seriously cripple your phone, the cell providers can hold Microsoft or Opera liable. The problem FF? It's free. You like it? You take it. But they won't be liable if anything goes wrong. The providers are looking out for both customers and themselves in this case.

I think the chances of it appearing on Anroid are far higher - Google already has a partnership with The Mozilla Foundation and the resources to provide support in case anything went wrong on one or all of the handsets their platform gets deployed/partnered on.

legacye

I hate to be a bitch, but would the editors please start telling the writers to capitalize Internet. It is a PROPER NOUN!!! Thank you, I'm done.

iridius

@iridius:

It's ok to be a bitch, but its not always capitalized. Internet2, ok thats a proper noun, its the name of that "special" internet. Internet is just 'a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange'. To say internet needs to be capitalized is to say intranet needs to be capitalized and thats a slippery slope were not going down.

Malfoy

"Mobile Operators Resisting Firefox on Phones"

WHY ?

uberfu

@rlreif: They could actually regulate how you connect to the internet and put settings on your phones that would block any software basically 3rd party software that would use your internet connection for a means of browsing the internet or even chatting through a messenger.
And yeah legally they can block any use of a third party software because they could just simply claim that the software messes up how their servers work or damages the server's functionality.
We use the internet off of their server basically off of their computer when we use it on our phone.
When you open a page you open the page through the phone company's or cable company's connection to the server that stores the information on the website.
So when it comes down to the technical stuff cell phone providers and carriers can do what ever they please.

SneakerFiend

Doesn't Opera already have a cell phone browser? The Firefox Mobile would only compete with Opera Mobile on whatever method of internet access Opera already uses.

JoshuaFan

If they support open source/Android they will have to support Firefox. If they unite against open source then Google will just have to enter the wireless service market and stomp the competition.

Vagabum

@legacye: It has nothing to do with who is liable in case of malfunction or misuse. It has everything to do with their ability to control and charge for content delivery, which they cannot do if the consumer all of a sudden has open access to anything on the web. Like the record labels have been wasting their effort without any real success, the mobile giants are just going to be fighting a losing battle against the advance of technology and there is zero chance of them winning in the long run.

Vagabum