Telecom Italia and Mozilla are launching the first smartphone in Italy equipped with the new Firefox OS operating system. The ALCATEL ONETOUCH FIRE, available for purchase now online (www.tim.it), will be in all Telecom Italia stores from 6 December at a cost of €79.90.
The new smartphone comes with a 3.5 inch display, a 3.2 mpxl camera and a 2 GB microSD card, as well as all of the main functions present on smartphones that run on other operating systems already on the market. ALCATEL ONETOUCH FIRE integrates with the main social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, the phone offers map navigation including off-line mode using Here Maps, and has the distinctive functions of the Firefox browser that hundreds of millions of Internet users have appreciated on their PCs. People can now enjoy the same user-friendly web experience on a mobile phone, with all of the extra security, privacy and easy searching for content and applications.
The Italian launch of the Firefox OS operating system on mobile is the latest development in the partnership between Telecom Italia and Mozilla announced at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona.
In a market dominated by two operating systems, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, Mozilla simplifies the smartphone internet experience, making it more intuitive and bringing Web technologies, applications and paradigms to mobile. Mozilla’s strategy is to create a new operating system for mobile that is completely open source, alongside the new Firefox Marketplace that uses the Web as its platform.
On Firefox OS, users benefit from a new operating system that increases the number of applications available and offers developers an open platform using web languages and protocols that make it quicker and more economical to transpose to mobile applications designed and conceived for the Web.
Marco Patuano, CEO of Telecom Italia, says: “We are particularly proud that TIM is the first mobile carrier in Italy and one of the first in the world to adopt Firefox OS. Take-up of HTML5-based solutions will be a major driver of innovation among telcos, and this offers an opportunity to develop a new ecosystem. We have been working with Mozilla from the beginning because we believe that opening up smartphone and tablet operating systems to Web paradigms is a virtuous cycle that enhances customer experience and offers greater scope for all Internet ecosystem players.”
Jay Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer at Mozilla, says: “We built Firefox OS as part of Mozilla’s mission to put the power of the Web in people’s hands and offer the best smartphone experience possible. We’re very happy to see Telecom Italia launching the first Firefox OS devices in Italy, with more developers being inspired to innovate.”
Rome, 3 December 2013
