Chicago (IL) - The first pre-alpha release for Windows Mobile, eagerly awaited by
many, has apparently spoiled the party. According to early reports,
users who tried to test the browser on their Windows Mobile cellphones were unable to load any web pages. Mozilla attributes the
problem to issues with memory management and has confirmed they are able to reproduce it. A fix is not yet available as developers are
still struggling to understand the exact nature of this issue. This means everyone desiring to test mobile Firefox on their cellphones
will have to wait a bit longer.

The mobile Firefox browser, dubbed Fennec, and which is still in its Alpha 2
stage (before beta, and well before official release), has met with difficulties since its first pre-alpha release for
the Windows Mobile platform. According to Mozilla, Fennec for Windows Mobile simply refuses to run, and
instead greets users with a background checkerboard pattern. The open
source organization thinks the source of this problem is related to the
memory management, though they are still investigating the cause. "The
good news is we found a showstopper!", wrote Mozilla's Mark Finkle in a
blog post. "The bad news is the browser is basically useless for many
people." Mozilla has promised to post an updated Fennec as soon as it fixes the issue.

Mozilla also said Windows
Mobile Fennec targets ARMv6-based devices, meaning that older ARMv5 devices won't work
at all with this Fennec release. The organization is working to bring compatibility with ARMv5 devices in future. Fennec is officially scheduled for release in 2010.
The browser promises a unique mobile browsing experience that stems from
several innovative features not found in today's mobile
browsers.

Fennec maximizes screen real estate by removing
controls (except the address bar) from the top of the screen. Other
controls are hidden vertically, outside of screen boundaries, and are
revealed with a left or right finger swipe which scrolls the entire page
horizontally to provide access to options. As such, Fennec is enabled for
touch-based navigation and comes with a smart address bar that also
doubles as a search box, providing a convenient way to quickly search
on popular search engines. It also successfully tackles tabbed
browsing.

Perhaps its most significant feature is
support for Mozilla's XPI platform, meaning users will be able
to easily replicate their desktop Firefox environment by installing the
same set of extensions on their mobile Firefox (provided that extension
developers have updated their code to address the different form factor and
screen dimensions). Such extensions could easily emerge as Fennec's killer feature,
in addition to plugins, themes and a bookmark manager that syncs
bookmarks in Fennec with a desktop version of Firefox. Geolocation features will
also come built-in.

The software also promises to bring speedy performance
that has earned its desktop counterpart a loyal following. It will
include the same TraceMonkey optimized Javascript interpreter
responsible for speed gains in desktop Firefox. All these factors
combined have contributed to initially mostly positive reviews that
have labeled mobile Firefox as an impressive
new mobile browser. Some believe it could dominate the mobile
market which is fragmented with too many mobile platforms and browsers. And, with no
definite leader in sight beyond Opera (that is predominantly used on
cellphones today), its addition to the lineup of mobile Safari for iPhone and iPod
touch and Internet Explorer Mobile that comes preloaded on Windows
Mobile devices will definitely shake things up.

The pre-alpha release of
Fennec currently works on Nokia's N810 Internet tablet. A test version
is also available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux desktops. Mozilla has publicly stated Fennec will work on a range of
cellphones and mobile devices powered by Windows Mobile, Symbian and
Linux, effectively giving Fennec access to two thirds of the mobile
market. The organization has vaguely hinted that it might support other
platforms as well, such as Nokia N800 and N810 Internet tables and
"several embedders" who are using Mozilla technology. Support for the
iPhone is not planned at this time because terms of the iPhone SDK
prohibit applications that rely on frameworks outside those that the
iPhone OS provides.