Posted 07/01/09 at 09:19:38 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Last week, Google rolled out a native development kit for Android developers. Developers can now create Android apps using native-code languages such as C and C++. Prior to the release of the Android Native Development Kit, applications for the platform could only be written in Java and run using Google’s Dalvik Java virtual machine.

The NDK has elicited some interest among software developers, with Mozilla being the most prominent of the lot. Mozilla is now giving serious thought to bringing Fennec, the mobile version of its Firefox web browser, to the Android platform.

"Developers are taking a look at the NDK to see if it provides the capabilities we need to bring Fennec to Android. If it's possible, I think our community would be interested in doing it, because Android will be appearing on more smartphones with the capabilities to provide a good browsing experience," Mozilla’s VP of mobile Jay Sullivan said.

Although running software natively can aid performance, there are other factors to offset that advantage. "Your application will be more complicated, have reduced compatibility, have no access to framework APIs, and be harder to debug,” Android engineer David Turner warned in a blog post announcing the release of the NDK.

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Posted 03/19/09 at 04:46:39 PM by Andy Salisbury

Mozilla’s beta for Fennec (also known as Firefox Mobile) went into its early beta stages just this week.

Currently Fennec supports only the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet (running OS2008), as well as Windows, Mac OS X (so long as you have an Intel processor) and Linux. Sadly, it doesn’t appear as if there are any versions for the iPhone and Blackberry users of the world just yet.

According to Fennec’s release notes, “The initial focus of Fennec development was on building a new user experience that reflects Firefox's design principles, adding touch screen support and other interactions appropriate for mobile phones and other handheld devices, while preserving leading features like the Smart URL Bar (‘awesome bar’) and support for add-ons.”

Have you had a chance to give it a try? Hit the jump and let us know what you think!

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Posted 12/28/08 at 11:03:17 PM by Justin Kerr

Outside of mobile Safari, and perhaps to a lesser extent Opera Mini, the mobile browser experience can be somewhat unsatisfying. Poor page rendering, or completely unusable interfaces seem to plague the mobile experience. That’s where Mozilla has seen an opportunity to expand its browser platform, and a market that is still relatively untapped. With the launch of Fennec Alpha 2, Mozilla is one step closer to its goal of a mobile Firefox. Alpha 2 seems to address many of the performance issues that hindered the previous version, and these complaints were clearly acknowledged in a blog posting by Mozilla’s Mark Finkle.

“While we focused much of the previous alpha on getting the user experience how we wanted, we’ve spent much of the time since focused on improving performance. We’ve made major strides improving startup performance, panning and zooming performance, and responsiveness while pages are loading.”

My somewhat unscientific testing seems to backup these claims and performance has defiantly improved. Currently support is limited to Nokia's Maemo based N800 and N810, but compatibility with Windows Mobile and Symbian is apparently well underway. These platforms could defiantly use a bit more choice when it comes to browsers, and many are hoping it will finally give the power enjoyed by mobile Safari users to those who prefer non Apple hardware.

Do you think Fennec has what it takes?

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