Firefox's ZTE Open Device Launches in Spain

Firefox’s ZTE (News - Alert) Open has been launched in Spain for about $90, available at Movistar stores.

The amount includes $39 worth of airtime for prepaid customers.

The ZTE Open is the first of several Firefox operating system devices which will be launched \ during 2013.

Firefox OS devices will soon be launched in Colombia and Venezuela.

The availability of the phone is important for a key reason beyond the competitive price. For the first time, consumers can get a smartphone which is based on open web standards.

"We believe that smartphones need to be more open and that the web is the platform for making this possible,” the CEO said in a company statement.

“Consumers should not be locked to any one system but have the choice to consume the content they want and the flexibility to be able to take it with them when they change devices. This first open web device marks a significant milestone in making this possible," he said.

"Firefox OS powers the first smartphones built entirely on Web technologies and will stimulate an inspiring new wave of innovation for the Web," Jay Sullivan, Mozilla’s (News - Alert) chief operating officer, added in the statement. "We are proud to work with partners like Telefonica which see the potential to deliver an experience for first time smartphone users that will delight them and really put the power of the Web in people's hands."

The ZTE Open has a 3.5-inch, HVGA TFT touchscreen display, featuring a 3.2MP camera. It also has a 4GB microSD card. And it has 512 MBs of storage.

Also, the Firefox operating system has “an adaptive app search that literally transforms the phone to meet your needs at any moment, without the need to download anything. Simply swipe to the right on your Firefox OS phone and start to type what you are interested in to get a whole new customized phone experience based on your needs instantly,” according to the company’s blog post.

"It is packed with everything you would expect from a smartphone, delivering a great experience for those upgrading to one for the first time. As one of the top five smartphone manufacturers in the world, ZTE is devoted to providing more options for customers globally and enabling them to live better lives via advanced technology," Dai Wenhong, vice president of ZTE Corporation, said in the statement about the ZTE Open.

Other device makers which support the Firefox operating system are: Alcatel OneTouch, LG, Huawei (News - Alert) and Sony.

Obviously, Mozilla is relatively late as a provider of smartphones.

“Probably Mozilla’s biggest disadvantage is that it’s very late to the smartphone race, something that’s going to make its experiment a bit of a struggle,” VentureBeat said in a recent report. “Still, there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that Mozilla has something good going for it. Not only does it have the support of at least 18 big telecom companies, but it’s also attracting a lot of investment from manufacturing giant Foxconn, which is working on both hardware and software for the OS.”

In addition, Mozilla said Deutsche Telekom will also release the Alcatel One Touch Fire and the ZTE Open, soon. In addition, Telenor (News - Alert) will launch its first Firefox operating system phones in Central and Eastern Europe in 2013. Firefox operating system phones will launch in additional markets soon, as well.