Twitter to build app for new Firefox OS smartphones

Microblogging site says it will have an app available for the browser-based mobile operating system when handsets launch in the next couple of months.
Twitter is jumping into the Firefox mobile mania, committing an app to the forthcoming platform.
The microblogging site announced today that when devices running Mozilla's browser-based operating system begin to be shipped to consumers in the next couple of months, it will have an app for the mobile platform in its Firefox Marketplace.
"Similar to our other mobile apps, Twitter for Firefox OS has a rich interface, featuring the Home, Connect, Discover and Me tabs, as well as the search and compose Tweet icons, so you can easily find and send Tweets from anywhere in the app," Twitter engineer Manuel Deschamps wrote in a company blog post today.
The new app will also feature Web Activities, a feature unique to Firefox OS that allows users to tweet photos from within any app that supports the feature.
Mozilla announced yesterday at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain, that it's lined up 18 mobile network operators and four mobile discount smartphones makers to back its open-source mobile operating system. The first phones should arrive in the second quarter of the year.
Like its desktop cousin, Firefox OS runs Web apps written in Web languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but it also features phone-specific interfaces for things like monitoring battery life and phone orientation.
Mozilla won commitments to sell Firefox OS wholesale smart phones from these carriers: America Moovil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, TMN, and VimpelCom. Handset manufacturers on board are Alcatel, ZTE, LG Electronics, and Huawei, with a boost from chipmaker Qualcomm.