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Firefox for Android tablets breaks cover, devs happy

The wildly popular browser may not be quite ready for Android tablets yet, but you can still try it out. So what's all the fuss about?

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

It's looking like a good week for tablet owners in search of a better browser. Yesterday we brought you news that Dolphin Browser HD was out on the iPad, now Firefox for Android tablets has broken cover. And you can get your hands on a version now.

Though don't expect a complete, polished version, as it's still early days for the browser that runs on Android Honeycomb. It's in the 'nightly' builds part of the Mozilla site, which are for testing purposes only. So if you're prepared to put up with the odd bug or two, you can get Mozilla's browser on your Android tab right now.

The tablet version uses the same Awesomebar as the desktop version, as well as tabbed browsing. The tabs have been moved further to the left on the tablet version, making them easier to reach and allowing more results to be displayed. So careful who's peeking over your shoulder.

In landscape mode, tabs stay down the left side of the screen, for easy access with your left thumb while you scroll the page with your right. Switch to portrait, and tabs roll up into a menu item at the top of the screen, freeing up space for browsing.

Thanks to the bigger screen, Mozilla has added buttons to go backwards, forwards and to reload.

Writing on his blog, Mozilla's software developer Lucas Rocha said: "Keep in mind this is very early stage work. There are lots of rough edges and design is continuously evolving." 

So while it may not be the finished article, it does offer an insight into how we could all be browsing on our Android tablets very soon.

Will you give it a whirl? Let us know how you get on over on our Facebook page.