It's only been a few months since the first Firefox OS phone hit the market, but Mozilla revealed today that it's moving quickly to improve its new mobile OS, announcing the new and improved Firefox OS 1.1 update as well as a second round of hardware launches.
Mozilla says that the Firefox OS 1.1 update, which is expected to roll out to current users soon, brings with it "hundreds of improvements." Perhaps one of the most notable additions is MMS support, which will allow Firefox OS users to send and receive photos, audio and video files. There's also a new push notifications API to help cut down on battery consumption, an option to import contacts from Gmail and Hotmail, and the ability to download audio and video attachments from emails. Some of the other goodies coming with the Firefox OS 1.1 update include:
On the hardware side of things, Mozilla announced today that the second wave of Firefox OS device launches is about to get underway. Telefónica, which launched the first Firefox OS phone in Spain back in July, has revealed plans to bring handsets running Mozilla's mobile OS to Brazil and other Latin American countries in Q4 2013.
Deutsche Telekom is also planning on expanding its Firefox OS support with hardware launches in Germany, Greece and Hungary in the near future. Finally, Norwegian company Telenor has announced that it will bring Firefox OS devices to Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro before the end of 2013.
Mozila's Firefox OS is still in its early days, but it's the company is working hard to beef up the new platform and quickly expand its presence around the globe. New Firefox OS 1.1 features like MMS support, a push notifications API and support for additional languages will certainly help Mozilla's cause, and continued support from major carriers like Telefónica and Deutsche Telekom doesn't hurt either.
Via Mozilla (1), (2)
