New Photos of Mozilla's Mobile OS Have Arrived Online

Back in February, we reported on how Mozilla is in an alliance with Telefonica and Qualcomm to become a serious player in the smartphone arena with its own open mobiile operating system. And, just recently, we reported that Techweek Europe had posted a series of screenshots, seen here, showing Mozilla's mobile operating system with a look and feel that Mozilla claimed was non-representative of the final OS. Now, adding credibility to sightings of the new OS in the wild, Robert Nyman, a Technical Evangelist for Mozilla, has posted a Flickr gallery of screenshots of what some are calling "Firefox OS."

We've previously covered Mozilla's Boot to Gecko platform -- an open, web-centric operating environment centered on the Gecko rendering engine -- which is part of the effort behind the new mobile OS. And since February, Mozilla's mobile operating system has advanced rapidly.

Here is a shot from Nyman's gallery, making clear that the mobile OS will place strong emphasis on Firefox branding:

 That mobile OS looks interesting, no? The real question is how welcome a new open mobile OS will be in the smartphone market. It's likely that, just as many people have favored Android because it's open, Mozilla can rally lots of Firefox and FOSS fans behind its mobile OS.

Nyman has made clear that Mozilla's mobile OS may change between now and its release, but it is moving along at a rapid pace. 

According to a Mozilla post:

"Industry support is growing behind Mozilla’s plans to launch a new fully open mobile ecosystem based on HTML5. The operating system, which Mozilla today confirmed will use its Firefox brand, will power the launch of smartphones built entirely to open Web standards, where all of the device’s capabilities can be developed as HTML5 applications."

"Mapping to key Firefox footprints around the globe, leading operators Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica and Telenor  are backing the open Firefox OS as an exciting new entrant to the smartphone marketplace. They have also identified the potential of the technology to deliver compelling smartphone experiences at attainable prices."

There are also important hardware details:

"Device manufacturers TCL Communication Technology (under the Alcatel One Touch brand) and ZTE today announced their intentions to manufacture the first devices to feature the new Firefox OS, using Snapdragon™ processors from Qualcomm Incorporated, the leader in smartphone platforms. The first Firefox OS powered devices are expected to launch commercially in Brazil in early 2013 through Telefónica’s commercial brand, Vivo."

And, you can keep your finger on the pulse of development of the new mobile OS from Mozilla at this page.