Preview - In 2010, Billy May released an animation about an imaginary Mozilla Open Web smartphone. Called Seabird, the phone was praised as an evolutionary smartphone that, albeit imaginary, included the vision for a phone that not just copies Apple’s iPhone, but incorporates Mozilla philosophy as well as a vision that is years ahead of the products we are using today. Mozilla’s B2G, a mobile operating system that will be demonstrated at MWC next week, could carry that vision and emerge as the dark horse in the smartphone arena.
B2G: Something different
Is there room for another mobile OS, if we already have Android and iOS with 46 and 30% market share, respectively. Microsoft has not made a dent into the market yet, Blackberry is declining and WebOS is, by any measure, dead. Mozilla is late to the market, no doubt about that, but there is always an opportunity for the right product at the right time. The opportunity for Mozilla and Boot-to-Gecko (B2G) lies in an operating system that leverages the strengths of its rivals, but exploits their weaknesses and drives the category forward. B2G will live and die with Mozilla’s ability to be different and execute effectively.
Just ahead of the MWC, B2G largely remains a sketchy product that requires lots of explanation. So far, we know that B2G is built on top of a Linux kernel, similar to the one used for Android (in fact, the roadmap page for B2G reveals that most basic features rely on Android functionality at this time). However, B2G will not be Android compatible, but introduce its own flavor. The B2G roadmap indicates that the OS already supports accelerometers, geolocation, camera features, messaging, and open web apps support. What does not work yet are Bluetooth, USB, and NFC integration. B2G will use Mozilla’s Gaia UI and come with its own web browser, an application store, an ebook reader, a media player, as well as camera/image gallery support.
There are a few images available that show how Gaia will look like. The overall layout resembles Android, but Gaia will integrate a URL bar on the home screen by default and differentiate itself with a minimalist layout and UI design. Ars Technica recently ran a first-look article, which indicates that Mozilla has quite a bit of work to do to upgrade the graphics.
Market opportunity: Success Factors
Just like any other mobile OS, B2G will have to attract vendors and, ultimately, handset buyers to succeed. Key success factors for B2G will include:
- Flexibility for platformization, innovation
- Extendability
- Influence hardware innovation
- Avoid fragmentation
- Security
- Availability of a wide variety of apps as well as B2G apps
Seabird may be the best example how B2G could debut. Realistically, however, B2G may not be even close to the vision of this phone.
The true opportunity may lie in a feature that Apple, Google and Microsoft will not offer: Cross-platform data and feature access. While all three are building their own platforms and are trying, for different reasons, to lock users into Mac OS X/iOS, Chrome OS/Android, and Windows/Windows Phone, Mozilla has stated that it sees an opportunity in connecting platforms and offer an open alternative to the walled gardens of its rivals.
The huge differentiator of B2G will be its open web app model that will allow users to potentially do more with their phones than Google, Apple and Microsoft want their users do with mobile devices. App availability will be a huge challenge for Mozilla, especially since Apple’s App Store carries the mind share of quality apps that deliver revenue for (the minority) developers. Convincing developers to work on B2G quality apps will be a difficult task and as long as key apps users want are not available on B2G, the OS will not be able to compete effectively. Of course, if Mozilla finds a way to create a community similar to the community that is building extensions for its browser, such apps could be much more appealing as they could run openly on any platform that supports a modern HTML5 browser.
If done right, B2G could gain mindshare quickly and could evolve into a very appealing mobile operating system. Add innovative hardware and innovative mobile phone designs and it’s not difficult to imagine that B2G could outgrow Windows Phone easily and teach users that openness of their phones is not a burden, but a desire.
The Patent Trap
Strangely, Mozilla has not talked about patents yet. The downside of competing in the mobile phone space is the fact that Mozilla suddenly exposes itself to much more serious corporate interests than it has in the browser market. Neither patent trolls nor established players take any prisoners and they keep a close eye on their patent portfolio. Mozilla itself does not own any patents and it is not a matter of if, but when it becomes a target of patent infringement lawsuits, if it does not have the necessary licensing agreements in place. We expect to hear more about this issue at MWC.
The bottom line
The question whether we need another mobile OS or not is not the right question. Mozilla has a serious disadvantage in the browser market, because it cannot support its browser with an OS platform against Google, Apple and Microsoft. The development of a mobile OS is conclusive an necessary for Mozilla. This is likely to turn into the supporting technology for Firefox and requires focus and Mozilla’s full attention. Luckily, Mozilla reportedly gets more than $300 million in funding from Google, which should provide the organization with the necessary resources to drive B2G into the right direction.
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