The beta version of Mozilla’s long-awaited FireFox 4 mobile browser is finally available for Android and Maemo smartphones.
Previously known as “Fennec,” the browser is built on the same technology platform as Firefox for the desktop – but is specifically optimized for surfing the ‘Net on a mobile phone.
“Two of the biggest architectural changes are Electrolysis and Layers,” explained Mozilla’s Stuart Parmenter.
“Our alpha contained Electrolysis which allowed the browser interface to run in a separate process from the one rendering Web content, resulting in a much more responsive browser.
“[But] this beta brings the Layers pieces which improve overall performance and in graphics areas such as scrolling, zooming and animations.”
Additional features include Firefox Sync (between mobile and desktop), pinch-to-zoom and the Awesome Screen – which instantly gives users access to their recent history, bookmarks and tabs by simply tapping on the Bar.
Additional information can be found here, while the beta can be downloaded here.
