Mozilla is targeting an Alpha release of their forthcoming mobile browser called Fennec for this summer. This is really impressive considering they scrapped their mobile browser effort and started over this past October. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if Mozilla would be left behind on the mobile web, but I’m really excited to hear this news from John Cox over at Network World.
Their goal was to make an experience that could work for full standard web pages as well as those designed specifically for the mobile web. This is especially important given the fact that there and millions of pages out there that aren’t very well suited to browsing on a handset and that poor experience can really turn people off from the mobile web altogether. Other critical factors include increased performance, Javascript handling including the first browser to fully support AJAX and what looks to be a really fantastic user experience.
Get more info and watch a concept video from Mozilla’s head of User Experience, Aza Raskin.
Focus On Performance
Performance means the amount of time it takes the browser’s engine to render the HTML and Javascript pages on your actual screen. Since mobile web data speeds are a little slower, this is an area of improvement that can really have an impact on how fast the browser seems to respond for users. Kerry McGuire of mobile chip maker ARM is quoted as saying that, “We’ve seen a greater than five times performance improvement,” from Mobile Firefox. This is a really impressive number.
Javascript and AJAX Handling
Fennec could be the first mobile browser to fully support Javascript and AJAX. Mobile Safari does a relatively good job of supporting Javascript, then I would say Opera Mobile, then Pocket IE. Skyfire supports AJAX by actually routing your web pages on their servers, but as mobile phone and data speeds get faster, this method will be slower and more expensive than using a good mobile browser. Mobile Firefox might be third in line behind Safari and Pocket IE to get a Flash plugin, but I’m sure they won’t be long behind.
User Experience
Mozilla seems to be paying a lot of attention to the User Experience for Mobile Firefox if the video below is any indication. They’re making the interface very touch-oriented with big friendly buttons for big nubby fingers like man. However they’re also dedicating as much screen space possible for content. They’re also adding in animations for switching between tabs, panning and zooming that make for a more fun UX. This concept video shows a mockup of what the Mobile Firefox experience could look like.
Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.
- Firefox Mobile Alpha release just weeks away
- Full Flash comes to Windows Mobile
- Windows Mobile 6.1: “Full Desktop Browsing?”
I’m not sure what you mean about Fennec being the first mobile browser to support Ajax. Opera Mobile has existed for many years ans has supported xmlHttpRequest since at least version 8. It fully supports Ajax. Safari supports the same. Nokia used WebKit before Safari Mobile existed and that supports Ajax. You could say Fennec is the last of the major browsers vendors to support Ajax on mobile. Opera Mobile does not use a server like you mention in the article. Opera Mini does, but this is aimed at lower end handsets that Fennec, Safari and Opera Mobile could not be ported to.
The major mobile browsers out there support the Mobile Ajax standard, but choke on full on desktop Ajax. In my opinion that’s a poor double standard that will be irrelevant as phones get faster and browsers (hopefully) get better.
I believe that I said that Skyfire uses a web proxy and that it’s a short-lived vision.
While I agree with the notion that the best mobile experiences are designed for the handset, users should be able to surf any site on the web. Otherwise it can make the mobile web a serious turn-off.
I’ve also never seen any interesting let alone impressive mobile AJAX sites. You’re welcome to make a recommendation and change my tune.
[...] waiting for the release of Firefox’s mobile web browser, codenamed Fennec, ever since the proof of concept video that User Experience Design lead Aza Raskin released back in July. Firefox’s mobile browser [...]