New browsers for Android coming soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Mozilla Firefox is planning to make its mobile phone browser available for Google’s Android platform later this year, and Opera and NetFront (made by ACCESS) are also vying for a piece of the action.

The Android ships with its own WebKit-based web browser, but many users prefer to use the web browser they’re familiar with, such as Firefox or Opera, and the add-ons these browsers have available.

Vice President of Mozilla’s Mobile division, Jay Sullivan, said that Android and Firefox mobile were a great fit for each other. The only challenge delaying the release was the coding, since Android is based on Java while Firefox Mobile is based on C++ and C, and its development could not begin until the native development kit (NDK) that allows native code as part of the application was released, which only happened late last year.

Opera Mobile 10 for Android is still under development, and there is no firm release date yet. It is known to have shortcuts to favorites and a clean interface that leaves plenty of room for the web site to be displayed. It also has a speed-dial home page. Opera says one of its central doctrines is to provide the best Internet experience on any device, so the prospect of making it available for the Android platform was an exciting one. Opera delivers faster web browsing and smaller downloads for mobiles.

NetFront has a JavaScript Engine and supports the latest web standards such as HTML5. It now supports the Android platform, and this fits with the company’s aim to extend the use of the NetFront browser.

Sullivan said that the Android operating system is modern and favors early adopters, and has “seen a lot of uptake.” Google claims 60,000 handsets with the Android operating system are shipping every day, and new Android-based products are being created by many companies.

© 2010 PhysOrg.com