Intex Cloud FX is India's first Firefox OS smartphone
We might focus a lot on major mobile platforms like Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and even BlackBerry OS, but there are some like Tizen, Sailfish OS, and Firefox OS that still try to grab our attention, and sometimes our cash. Today, Mozilla is making such another attempt by partnering with Indian company Intex Technologoies to launch the Cloud FX smartphone, the first commercial device in India to bear Mozilla's Firefox OS platform.
Firefox OS is a rather curiuous mobile operating system. Its entire existence and design revolves around an experience that Mozilla knows best: the Web. When you consider that majority of users' interactions with their smartphones involve activities and apps that are either Web-based or can be done on the Web, that perspective makes a lot of sense. That said, Mozilla's mobile ecosystem isn't all about your conventional concept of "web apps", as the Firefox app Marketplace will prove. But it all boils down essentially to HTML5, CSS, and Javascript.
Firefox OS is largely a niche platform that hasn't caught much attention outside of a few circles. Now Mozilla is trying again to make even a small dent in the market, this time in India with Intex' help. The Cloud FX won't be winning any races though. It runs on a 1.0 GHz, presumably single core, processor, has only 128 MB of RAM, 4 GB of expandable memory, and a 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 320x480 pixels. That is almost a testament to Firefox OS' lightweight properties, which is somewhat ironic considering the Firefox browser is considered quite resource hungry by some.
Where Cloud FX will win, however, is in price. Snapdeal, who will be distributing the smartphone on behalf of Intex, has the device up with a 1,999 Rs price tag. That's roughly $33 when directly converted. For a device that can almost give you all your basic needs on a smartphone, plus the power of one of the most popular web browsers in the world for everything else, that is definitely quite a bargain.