Firefox Mobile - Interview With Mozilla’s CEO

Mozilla’s chairman explains why mobile devices need an open-source browser.

There’s no doubt that it’s getting easier to access the Web on a mobile device. Thanks to the iPhone and Apple’s Web browser, Safari, millions of people feel as though they finally have the Internet in their pocket. But there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done in order to allow for the kind of innovation on the mobile Web that is possible on the traditional Web, says Mitchell Baker, chairman of Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser.

Baker has been instrumental in building the open-source software community that gave the world Firefox, a popular alternative to desktop browsers such as Internet Explorer and Safari. But now Mozilla has turned its attention to the mobile Web. Last October, the foundation announced an initiative to build the first, fully open Web browser for mobile devices. As an open-source software project, the browser will be built using code from software programmers from all over the world. The hope is to spur innovation in an industry that’s famous for locking out software developers.

Technology Review’s information technology editor, Kate Greene, caught up with Baker at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco last week to ask about her vision of the mobile Web.

Also, check out “Video: Firefox Mobile Concept « Linux and Open Source Blog”.