Mozilla shows off the first commercial build of Firefox OS at MWC 2013 as 17 international carriers (including Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia) pledge support for the smartphone OS contender.
The OS also has manufacturer support-- Alcatel, LGE and ZTE will launch the "first wave" of Firefox OS devices in a number of developing and emerging markets (including Spain, Hungary, Poland, Montegro and Serbia) from H2 2013, followed by offerings from China's Huawei.
Based on open web standards, Firefox OS promises an end to the "walled gardens" of iOS, Windows Phone or (to an extent) Android. It turns smartphones into what essentially is a browser, with each feature turned into an HTML5-based app.
“Firefox OS brings the freedom and unbounded innovation of the open Web to mobile users everywhere,” Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs says. “With the support of our vibrant community and dedicated partners, our goal is to level the playing field and usher in an explosion of content and services that will meet the diverse needs of the next 2 billion people online.”