Mozilla have released a pre-alpha build of it’s popular Firefox browser for Android devices. The browser, previously known under the Fennec codename, has been released to gather feedback from the Android community.

This news comes just a month after Mozilla announced it was putting Windows Mobile development on hold, and shows there is still life in the mobile version of Firefox outside of Windows Mobile and Nokia Maemo devices.

So far, the browser is only confirmed to be working on the Motorola Droid and Google Nexus One at this early stage of development.

Vladimir Vukićević has stated that this early build has poor memory management, and this build requires Android 2.0 or above, and likely an OpenGL ES 2.0 capable device. This is on top of a few other smaller issues.

Firefox for Android can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/fennec-android.

Firefox Mobile is almost a direct port of it’s big brother Firefox, with a completely redesigned user interface for touch screens.

The browser includes the awesome bar, a download manager, early HTML5 support, tabbed browsing, add on support, safe browsing, and is currently available in over 30 languages.

Firefox Mobile can be downloaded and installed on the Nokia N900, with more Maemo devices expected on the market soon.

Firefox Mobile RC 1 (formerly known as Fennec) is now available for Nokia’s Maemo mobile platform.

This includes devices such as the Nokia N900 and N810.

Firefox Mobile is essentially Firefox 3.5 under the hod, with a new graphical user interface for the mobile device. This means that you get the same rendering engine (supporting some HTML5 elements), the awesome bar, spell check, and a download manager.

Currently available in over 15 languages, an updated Windows Mobile version is expected in a few weeks.

A full list of changes can be found in the release notes, while the browser can be downloaded from the Firefox Mobile website.

Developer versions are also available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Changes since beta 3 include:

• Build now works on the N900
• Streamlined bookmarking, editing, and management
• Install and manage search engines
• Improved touch-friendly theme
• Improved panning and zooming performance
• Support for add-on options in the Add-ons Manager
• Integration with Maemo5 system UI controls
• Notification of tabs opened in the background
• Numerous other bugs and polish issues addressed

Download links can be found in the Fennec Beta 4 release notes. Fennec is the mobile version of Firefox, and is set to be released some time in 2010.

“We’ve made big improvements to kinetic panning and added the ability to scroll iframes. A lot of work has been done to make our theme more robust, taking advantage of things like media queries to support various devices, orientations, and platforms which you’ll see more of in the next Windows Mobile release. Overall, this beta is a major improvement to previous Fennec betas” said Stuart Parmenter, Mozilla’s director of mobile engineering.

Full details of all changes, plus download links can be found in the release notes.

Fennec Beta 2 for Nokia devices includes a new theme, built-in JavaScript error console, and improved add-on support. Full changes can be found in the release notes.

For the Windows Mobile users, Fennec Alpha 2 increases performance, polishes the user interface, plus a list of other changes in the release notes.

Download Fennec Beta 2 (“Maemo”) for Nokia devices
Download Fennec Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile

This new release worked with Windows Mobile 6 devices and includes new memory management technology (the same used in Firefox), a user interface designed with CSS, and support for add-ons.

A full list of known bugs, changes since pre-alpha builds, and installation instructions can be found in the release notes.

There have been many improvements since it’s early public alpha release, including TraceMonkey, Mozilla’s new JavaScript powerhouse.

This release also includes the Smart URL bar (also known as the “awesome bar”), and now supports tagging for bookmarks.

A full list of changes and features can be found in the Fennec release notes. Installation instructions for the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet are available.

You can install Fennec on an HTC Touch Pro by navigating to the installation cab file in your exsisting browser. This will then start the installation of the browser.

Early reports vary, with some users unable to open any web pages using Fennec. Mozilla is sure to fix bugs and add new features at the browser progresses.

Happy browsing!

Fennec Acid3 Results

Mozilla has been working hard on it’s mobile version of Firefox dubbed Fennec. Building on top of Firefox 3′s reduced memory footprint, Mozilla is aiming to bring the desktop browsing experience to your mobile.

With the hastened development, the latest version of Fennec scores a very impressive 88/100 in the Acid3 test on Windows Mobile. In comparison Firefox 3 only scores 71/100, while Opera 9.6 scores 85/100.

Once released, Fennec is sure to set the mobile browser market on fire, giving stiff competition to already established browsers such as Opera Mobile. It’s sure to be an interesting year ahead for the mobile browser market.