Following the Roadmap for Mozilla's Mobile Operating System
18.05.12
Web Based With A Web App Store
Mozilla's project is built off a concept called Boot 2 Gecko (B2G). Gecko is Mozilla's open source browser engine that runs the Firefox browser across platforms. Gecko is used in Mozilla's Android browser, codenamed Fennec (an arctic fox). Gecko has its roots in Netscape in the late 1990s and has evolved through several names and iterations in the last decade plus. Mozilla believes it is now ready to fully power a mobile device.
Mozilla's mobile OS will run several elements of the Android backend. Most of that has to do with native phone functions such as messaging, battery, telephony and contacts. Those are the simplest and most basic functions of Android and can be accessed by anyone. These are the building blocks of a mobile OS and are on track for Q4 2011.
Also on track for this quarter are the backend system and user interface. The backend system is called Gonk and the goal is to have it ready for all device APIs by Q1 2012. Basically, the roap map shows us that Mozilla is building the backend systems this quarter and will be trying to tie all the processes together in time for a demo early next year. The UI is called Gaia and includes home screen, lock screen, SMS, a web browser, contacts manager and a dialer to be set up in the first round of development. You cannot have a functional working prototype of any phone, smart or otherwise, without these basic features.
Source: ReadWriteWeb