Landscape andDevelopment Introduction

@gianpaj - Nov 2nd 2013GDG Dublin 2013 - Gianfranco P.

What is this talk about?

● What’s Firefox OS

● Why should I care

● How do I try building an app

● Resources

Firefox OS, a Browser or a Phone?

Neither, it’s an open-source mobile OS based on Linux and powered by Mozilla’s Gecko*

*Layout engine used by Firefox browser, Thunderbird, etc

Why?

● Supply something better to next 2 billion

coming online

● Replacing feature phones

● Smaller stack for developers

Cool, so how does it look?

1.3 Lock Screen 1.2 App Grid1.1 Home Screen

Marketplace (aka App Storetm)

marketplace.mozilla.com

Ok but, can I make a living?

● TL;DR -> soon● Developers receive 70% of the pre-VAT and

fee amount○ eg. from a 0.89€ app (pre VAT 0.74€) you get 0.59€

● Paid apps, freemium apps, and in-app payments● No signup developers fee● Ability to charge the user directly to their mobile phone

account

Where can I sell today?

● Brazil● Colombia● Poland● Spain● Venezuela

How did it get here?

● First demoded in Feb 2012 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

● April 2013 GeeksPhone Keon (dev preview)● July 2013 First commercial based phone

ZTE Open● Nov 2013 GeeksPhone Peak+

Why now?● Emerging economies.● Lower entry to Dev● Telefónica is doing a big push (Spanish broadband and

telecommunications provider in Europe, Latin America, North America and Asia)

● More phones are being launched○ LG○ ZTE○ Geekphone

CoreTechnologies

Where are we now?

● 1.1.0 released● 1.2.0 feature complete in Sept - fixing bugs

○ Code freeze Dec 9th● 1.3.0 feature complete in Dec 9th

○ Code freeze March 3rd

The current plan is to continue with FxOS releases every 12 weeks

Ok but what the real deal?

● 1.1○ Push notifications! (iOS and Android since 2009)○ MMS support (iOS and Android since 2009)

● 1.2○ Bluetooth contacts sharing○ Email notifications○ Email support for audio & video attachments○ Music player status on homescreen

Ok but what the real deal?

● 1.3○ POP3 support○ Access to music controls in notifications tray and

when screen is locked○ Add flash capability to camera○ Add WebRTC support to B2G○ NFC Pairing, Payments and API○ Reading from NFC tags

Works with Android!

But WebAPI is not ready? False!

arewemobileyet.com

Skills required?

read the docs :)

Can you write Web apps? Then you’re sorted.

github.com/robnyman/Firefox-OS-Boilerplate-App

small plug soundtravel.co

Summary● Firefox OS, if successful, will change the way we use

the Web.

● We are used to visit websites but Firefox OS will bring

an era where we will be using Web apps more than

Websites. Ubuntu for Phones will also support Firefox

OS to help bring in this change.

Resources● Dev

○ github.com/robnyman/Firefox-OS-Boilerplate-App○ groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mozilla.dev.webapps○ leanpub.com/quickguidefirefoxosdevelopment○ shafiul.github.io/slides/kickstart_fxos.html

● General Info○ hacks.mozilla.org/category/firefox-os○ reddit.com/r/FireFoxOS/○ people.mozilla.org/~bking/presentations/oylg2013/firefoxos.html

ThanksLink to slides: goo.gl/y3aVsD

@gianpaj