Mozilla Planning Imminent Fennec Release

There's no doubting that Firefox is a heavyweight among Open Source applications, or that innovation has been its strong suit. What has been doubted, however, is when it will finally light up the mobile world.

That doubt can be put to rest, it would seem. According to the BBC, Mozilla's Jay Sullivan has announced that Fennec — Firefox's mobile incarnation — is at the starting gate and could be in the hands of users before the ball drops. The release, a year and a half in the making, will only be available to those with a Nokia N900 for the moment, though Android and Windows Mobile versions are in the works. iPhone owners won't be so lucky — Apple's stranglehold on the device's applications means no Fennec, at least for now.

A number of features will be available, including the obligatory tabbed browsing, as well as the Awesome Bar, one-touch bookmarking, and a variety of zoom/scroll/navigational options. One feature of note is the ability to sync Fennec with its big brother — users will have the ability to pass what is open on their desktop to their mobile. Extension support will also be available, though according to Sullivan, the difference between mobile phones and desktop systems means they will take on their own flavor.

Though a specific date was not given, Sullivan told the BBC that as long as no "show stoppers" — usually referred to as "blockers" — were found, the release would be out before the year is.