Mozilla Marketplace, the new web app store Mozilla are launching to compete with Google and Apple, is preparing to go ahead as a public beta in “a few weeks”.
Mozilla’s official website states that the company’s ambition is to bring “its core values – openness, freedom, user choice – to the world of apps.” The Marketplace will feature applications using Java, CSS and HTML5.
As reported by InfoWorld, Joe Stagner, senior program manager at Mozilla, told the AnDevCon III conference in California that Marketplace will offer developers millions more users than other leading app stores, such as Google Play and Apple App Store.
Stagner also stated that source code would be released “so if anybody wants to set up their own marketplace they can do”, continuing in the vein of Mozilla’s non-profit manifesto.
Mozilla opened its doors for developer submissions to their app marketplace in February.
Elsewhere, Mozilla has updated their Firefox Beta 14 for Android to make it more compatible with a native UI.
The app is available from Google Play and, even though it is only in a beta stage, has received a mainly positive reception from commenters on Play, with an average rating of 3.7 out of 5.
Mozilla’s release notes mention a wide variety of changes from the previous beta, including a re-designed user interface, new support for Adobe Flash and an end to automatic plug-in loading.
The notes on the beta also mention developmental changes including a new application programming interface (API) to prevent a user’s display from sleeping, as well as a pointer lock API which enables users to access events after the curser goes past the screen boundary.
