Computers That Are Telephones · Operating systems · Telephones

A quick update on Firefox OS

A couple of months ago I wrote about having bought a Geeksphone Keon, one of the early developer devices for FirefoxOS. I haven't done much—all right, any—developing with it, but I have continued to use it and update it occasionally on the Firefox 1.2 developer track. Some of the changes so far: Navigation and browsing have… Continue reading A quick update on Firefox OS

Computers That Are Telephones · Non-Work · Operating systems · Telephones

Firefox OS on the Geeksphone Keon

(Previous post: What is Firefox OS all about?) Hardware To get this out of the way first: this is clearly intended to be the lowest-end device that Firefox OS apps will need to support. It's distinctly bargain-basement. By far the best thing about this hardware is its soft-touch orange plastic rear cover, which is nice… Continue reading Firefox OS on the Geeksphone Keon

Computers That Are Telephones · Operating systems · Telephones

What is Firefox OS all about?

When I first read about Firefox OS, the ongoing project to make an operating system for phones and tablets that runs entirely in a Firefox browser, I thought: what a marvellously futile idea. The world isn't short on niche, provisional, or failed experiments in operating systems for phones: Sailfish, Tizen, webOS, BB10, Ubuntu-for-phones, Meego, (cough)… Continue reading What is Firefox OS all about?

Computers · Operating systems · Things That Are A Bit Like Other Things · Things that Are Gone

Windows Phone: a bit like BeOS

Today's possibly stretching-a-point Technology Analogy In a previous article I compared the situation of Windows 8 on the desktop to that of OS/2 in the late 80s. Windows Phone 8 is in a different position. While Windows 8 gets its awkwardness from the need to provide compatibility with the dominant platform—which in this case means… Continue reading Windows Phone: a bit like BeOS

Computers · Operating systems · Things That Are A Bit Like Other Things

Windows 8: A bit like OS/2

Today in Technology Analogy Week... In 1987, three years after the world's perception of the possibilities of the PC had been changed by the Apple Mac and two years after the Mac's cheap knockoff Microsoft Windows had been released, the world's leading PC manufacturer released a new operating system. OS/2 was the perfected pinnacle of… Continue reading Windows 8: A bit like OS/2