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Mozilla is one of the open source players which is seeking to replicate PC-based success by creating a mobile platform. Earlier this year, the Foundation talked about its plan to develop one of the new breed of browser operating systems, rather like Google's Chrome OS, with its 'Boot to Gecko' project. Now it has published a timeline and published the first images of its planned user interface, with developers able to test the new system as early as December.

Boot to Gecko (B2G) initially combines the browser UI with a stripped-down Android but is likely to move away from the Google system in future and target even thinner Linux variants. The project's eventual goal is to build a framework that will let apps run from the web on any OS which supports the B2G technology.

The mobile OS will reach developers before year end, with product demonstrations planned for the first quarter of 2012 and full release around mid-year, according to the project's web site. By the turn of the year, basic functions such as the accelerometer, camera, messaging, telephony and power management, should have been built and integrated. In Q112, the aim is to have an app store and more complex web services ready, and possibly also the Bluetooth, USB and NFC functionality. Other tasks include the development of an e-reader, media player and browser, all tailored for the new platform but open to all kinds of web content and services.

Like Chrome OS, B2G is designed for devices which mainly behave as thin clients, constantly accessing the cloud rather than having significant local processing and storage. Such a way of working is gaining momentum, driven in particular by HTML5 web applications and by new streaming content services such as Amazon Cloud Drive. With the traditional 'fat' operating systems only partially adapted for such patterns, there is a race to create a powerful new platform optimized for the cloud - with open source players like Gnu and would-be Google challengers like Baidu all jostling for position.

According to NetworkWorld, Mozilla is also creating a distinctive user interface called Gaia, with mock-ups already seen on the website, indicating a UI superficially reminiscent of the iPhone's, despite very different underpinnings.

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