Firefox 1.1 hits Maemo in final form, featuring Add-ons, Save to PDF and more

Two months after an impressive beta, Mozilla's finalized its first full mobile browser for Maemo -- beating iPhone, Android and most assuredly Windows Mobile versions to the punch. Though it doesn't seem to have gained any new features in the interim, what it does bring to the table is sweet indeed: portrait browsing, auto-updating add-ons and the ability to magically convert webpages to PDF right on your phone. If you have a Nokia N900 or N810, do your device a favor and download it right now; if not, you'll find a handy guide to your burning jealousy at our more coverage link.

[Engagged Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:52PM]

Yey! Downloading now!
Maemo is getting even better..

[MagnetMan Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:06PM]

@Engagged

Very, very slowly....

It's a wonderful achievement, but it seems a little late. Soon phones will be capable of running desktop browser ports as ram and processor speeds continue to improve. I wonder how relevant firefox mobile will be then.

[zob Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:16PM]

@MagnetMan you've to realize that phones will never be as big as desktop computers, screen wise, thus they need special versions.
Also do you know what a PORT is? That's right. They adapt the desktop browser without re-programming most of it.

So what is Firefox mobile? Well, it's the Firefox desktop browser. It's no crippled in any way. There's just additions to make it suitable to to phone's screen size and phone's interfaces.

That's also why it's great.

[Eddie W Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:24PM]

@MagnetMan
Yeah maybe... but just wait until you try to use a full desktop user port on your phone and you'll see why having a mobile interface is important. Firefox is laying the groundwork for that transition. We'll see how they do competing with Opera (for instance) they've invested more earlier. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

[Rev Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:20PM]

@MagnetMan

Many of us N900 users know the difference very well since we already can run lots of desktop software on our devices. While many programs can be used, the interfaces often leave lot to desire.

Shortcuts in F-buttons? Not very shortcutty.
Menus with tiny fonts
Toolbars that fill most of the screen estate
etc.

On the other hand, redoing interface is usually lot less time (& skill) intensive than rewriting the whole software. With open source, anyone can do it.

[MarkTwain3 Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:55PM]

@Engagged Maemo5 > MeeGo

[o7o Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:45PM]

@MarkTwain3 why you think so?

[TinWard Posted Jul 4th 2010 5:33AM]

Is that a bear on a flying carpet?

[FlyingAero Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:52PM]

Nokia needs to make another N810. If the specs were updated at a reasonable price it would rule the market. Downloading now to see how it stacks up against Tear and Opera...

[FlyingAero Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:06PM]

@FlyingAero At first glance its crawling on my n810...but I havent charged or restarted it since Sunday

[DrDr Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:24PM]

@FlyingAero

My next phone is the Epic 4G. Same display specs but Super AMOLED, and a 5 row hardware keyboard.

It is the N810s spiritual successor.

[JFH Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:37PM]

No its not. its a glorified vm. please dont insult the N810 like that.

[Av4ry Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:52PM]

Better than safari

*Sent from my iPhone.

[1 Infinite Loop Cupertino CA Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:00PM]

I know you're trying to be funny but no need to relate every topic on engadget to Apple. This is a Nokia post not Apple.

[SeeKo Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:22PM]

@1 Infinite Loop Cupertino CA

Actually, it is a Firefox post!

[DrDr Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:54PM]

Does this actually work on the N810/N800?

[FlyingAero Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:00PM]

@DrDr Go to mozilla.com/m in microb and open in application manager

[JFH Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:55PM]

Good browser, but MicroB is hard to beat!

[FlyingAero Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:59PM]

@JFH MicroB is soo slow! Tear is the way to go!

[audi2009 Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:55PM]

Nokia still makes phones?

[MarkAnderson Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:57PM]

@audi2009

I used to like Audi.

Shame that.

[JFH Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:12PM]

@audi2009

You are still in your mom's basement?

[lockstockedd Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:39PM]

@audi2009

at least have the decency to use original ignorant/stupid comments

[teradome Posted Jul 3rd 2010 6:05PM]

It's not a smartphone, it's a "mobile computer!" the n97 is the smartpho...oh wait, did they backpedal out of that one yet?

[MarkAnderson Posted Jul 3rd 2010 7:00PM]

@teradome

Nope, the N97 is a smartpohone. It's just not a particularly good one.

[JFH Posted Jul 4th 2010 4:15PM]

@MarkAnderson

Unfortunately it is kinda bad. Could have been good with decent ram and a better processor...

[Mr w00t Posted Jul 3rd 2010 2:59PM]

do my device a favor?
you clearly dont know what you are talking about... microb beats the crap out of firefox in speed.
do YOURSELF a favor and try that.
microb is 10x more browser than safari mobile.

[weedalin Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:04PM]

@Mr w00t I don't know if they really meant it literally . . . it's just an expression.

[Mr w00t Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:05PM]

@Mr w00t sent from N900 MicroB

[Mr w00t Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:22PM]

yeah...I am kinda stressed this days. you know, engadget likes to piss on nokia.

[Shalabi Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:29PM]

Why is Mozilla wasting it's time on Nokia phones?

[JFH Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:42PM]

@Shalabi

take a wild guess genius. other os manufacturers have their own browsers. very good move for both firefox and nokia. firefox sync works great with my n900 and MacBook Pro running Firefox.

[Agent Michael Scarn Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:47PM]

@Shalabi

Why is Mozilla wasting? It is time on Nokia phones!

[MacAnkka Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:57PM]

@Shalabi
Maemo is also the easiest to port to. It is a very desktop-like linux operating system, after all.

And before anyone starts going "but android is linux too..", you've got to remember that even though the kernel is linux-based, the rest of it shares very little in common with GNU/Linux (the awful ugly-step-child-of-Java virtual machine, no X windowing system, lacking GNU libraries, etc...).

[ExplicitFunction Posted Jul 3rd 2010 6:05PM]

@Shalabi

Why? Take a look at Nokia's market share.

[naashak Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:29PM]

hmm....so is MeeGo/Maemo shaping up to be more of a browser-centric OS than Chromium (without the browser-only shortfalls)?

[JFH Posted Jul 3rd 2010 3:40PM]

@hated one

no silly one, how can a browser be compared to a phone. and since you are asking, MicroB is better than Mobile Safari. Even if it wouldnt have great flash support.

[metamorphic Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:13PM]

Given that the N900 is undoubtedly the best mobile internet experience on the market (until its usurped by the presumably MeeGo-based N9), this is like a match made in heaven. Hope we see a continuation of this on MeeGo as well.

[naashak Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:50PM]

@metamorphic

From what I hear N9 comes with Firefox.

[metamorphic Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:19PM]

@HighestRanked2
orly? The iPhone doesn't even have Adobe Flash support, Silverlight support and a QUERTY keyboard - how does these make it a "good" mobile experience? Silverlight is already on Symbian and will be made available on Maemo/MeeGo thanks to Qt. Sorry, but Jobs hasn't gotten to my brains yet.

[JFH Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:33PM]

@HighestRanked2

Shoot, this one is even worse. Comparing a browser to a display. I am surprised you remember to breathe once in a while.

[retarded commenter Posted Jul 3rd 2010 11:49PM]

@metamorphic I was unaware that querty keyboards exist

[Lucky Businessman Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:32PM]

Finally!!! Mozilla for Nokia yahoo!:)))

[marmaduke Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:46PM]

@Lucky Businessman
What does yahoo has to do with anything?

[metamorphic Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:25PM]

@marmaduke
I think "yahoo" here is an exclamation of joy, not Yahoo! the company. ;) Though they do have a partnership with Nokia...

[incognito Posted Jul 3rd 2010 6:14PM]

@Lucky Businessman, well, MicroB is a Mozilla (Gecko) based browser, most similar to SeaMonkey... So, it's Firefox for Nokia, Gecko has been around for quite some time...

[denisx Posted Jul 3rd 2010 4:44PM]

Well... I thought MicroB was better than the previous version of Firefox, but i'm gonna download this version.
Also I would like to thank the guys at Mozilla for giving me more choices and alowing me to use my favorite extensions :)

[metamorphic Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:22PM]

@denisx
Don't mind the troll; I don't think his brain functions in a non-Apple world, thus his inability to use Google or Wikipedia. MicroB is great, but as you say it's always to great to have options. With the open source nature of Qt, this will only get better hehe.

[metamorphic Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:28PM]

@HighestRanked2
Has Apple addled your brains so badly that you don't know what Google or Wikipedia is? It's quite indicative that you resort to trolling instead of making an intelligent point - oh right, I forgot you're a soulless fanboy, so that's not possible.

[JFH Posted Jul 3rd 2010 5:29PM]

the only thing left behind in obscurity is you. MicroB is the name of the browser on the N900 and it really offers the best desktop like experience on a mobile device. Why do you insist on being so shallow and dumb on purpose? you can do better, at least try.