LG had previously committed to producing a phone powered by Mozilla’s Firefox OS, and following several vague rumors concerning the device’s impending arrival, it has now been made official. It’s called the LG Fireweb, and is technically superior (although not by much) to existing Firefox OS phones such as the ZTE Open, but sadly, its release is equally restricted.
The Fireweb is visually reminiscent of LG’s low-end L-Series 2 phones, and shares a similar spec to the L5 2. The screen measures 4-inches and has a 480 x 320 pixel resolution, while inside is a single-core, 1GHz processor produced by Qualcomm. The camera has 5-megapixels and in a first for a Firefox OS phone, is accompanied by auto-focus and an LED flash.
There seems to be some confusion over how much internal memory the phone has, with Vivo saying it has 2GB, but Engadget indicating it has 4GB. Like the ZTE Open, there is a microSD card slot to increase this amount by 32GB. Other features include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G connectivity, and a 1540mAh battery.
LG has installed Firefox OS 1.1 as standard on the Fireweb, making it the first device to be put on sale with Mozilla’s newest version of the software. It comes with various important updates, including the ability to import contacts from new sources, receive notifications, and autocorrect words on the keyboard. Firefox OS’s adaptive search function, previously accessed with a swipe to the right, has now been placed on the main home screen.
So where is LG releasing the Fireweb? At the moment, it’s only available on the Telefonica-owned Vivo network in Brazil, but will be heading out to Peru, Uruguay, and Mexico very soon. It’s priced higher than the super-cheap ZTE Open, at about $200 SIM-free, or $60 with a contract.
