Firefox tablet on the cards as Mozilla and Foxconn team up
Mozilla and Foxconn are teaming up to produce a new Firefox OS device, rumoured to be a tablet.
A new contender could be about to set the tablet world ablaze. Mozilla and Foxconn are teaming up to produce a new Firefox OS device, rumoured to be a tablet.
The iPad still dominates tablet sales, but Android is fighting back with recent smaller, cheaper slates like the Nexus 7. A Firefox OS tablet would also enter the market at the budget end.
Firefox OS is mobile software developed by Mozilla to be used in budget smart phones, with customisation options allowing manufacturers and phone networks to wrest control of their phones back from Google.
The device is to be built by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry, the company that runs the Foxconn factories where many consumer electronic devices -- including Apple products -- are built. Industry experts Focus Taiwan reckon the new device will be a tablet.
The two companies are set to unveil the new Firefox OS device on 3 June, making Hon Hai the 19th company to sign up to the foxy software. Companies such as Alcatel and Huawei have already unveiled Firefox phones, but the first devices -- the Keon and Peak -- are aimed at developers.
If you want to try Firefox OS for yourself, you can install Firefox OS or use the online Firefox OS Simulator.
Could we finally see a tablet challenge the rule of the iPad and the rise of the smaller, cheaper Android tablet? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.