While Apple retains the right to deny apps that they claim duplicate
core features (the supposed excuse for the Google Voice blanket
rejection), there are any number of apps that do just that. Try
searching browsers in the app store for proof.
So with an
announcement from Mozilla's CEO John Lilly that the open source giant
plans to "release an app to the iPhone App Store in the next few
weeks," that he claims will "surprise people," speculation began.
Theories centered around two strong contenders.
Tech blogger Om
Malik has one theory. He interviewed Lilly when the comment was made,
then later discussed Weave with Lilly and Jay Sullivan, VP of Mozilla
Mobile. Weave, a Firefox extension that syncs bookmarks, cookies,
passwords, and other elements of your Firefox experience to multiple
machines, allows you access to the same data from different locations.
Malik believes Mozilla's new app will allow iPhone users to access this
information while on the go. Would this app play nice with Safari?
Other apps do offer an "Open in Safari" option, so that seems the
least controversial route.
Others, such as Kevin Tofel at
jkOnTheRun, suspect that Mozilla plans to present an iPhone version of
Fennec, their mobile browser already supported on Windows Mobile. It's
no secret that Mozilla wants to get in on the mobile game in a big way
and getting on the iPhone would be a feather in the browser's cap.
Tofel goes on to indulge his speculation with fantasies involving a
mobile version of Flash built in to Fennec that would bring the
entirety of the Web to the iPhone at last.
While the first
theory would hardly qualify as a surprising move, Tofel's at least has
the level of improbability to it that might qualify. Whether or not
Apple approves such an app is a completely different matter. Mozilla
has stated previously that Firefox won't be on the iPhone and Apple has
all but declared Flash on the iPhone a non-starter. Time will tell in
this matter. In this case, a few weeks. Feel free to indulge your own
speculation or debunking in the comments.
