Mozilla Reveals Firefox OS 1.1 Update, New Features and Performance Improvements for Firefox Phones

It's only been a few weeks since the first Firefox OS phones were released to retail, and already there's an update to Mozilla's mobile operating system. Depending on how you look at it, that bodes well for the future of Firefox OS, in that it shows Mozilla is committed to the operating system (Mozilla previously stated it was planning an "aggressive" release schedule for updates). This particular update adds several new features, ushers in support for additional languages, and speeds things up across the board.

The feature list is relatively long for a 1.1 update (meaning more than just one or two tweaks). Some of the things it includes are MMS support (you can now send and receive pictures, audio, and video files via MMS), a Push Notification API for developers, Adaptive app search now being placed front and center on the home screen, and a new Music search feature.

Firefox Phones

Mozilla also enhanced several existing features. As far as Contact Management goes, Firefox OS 1.1 users now have the ability import existing contacts from Gmail or Hotmail, in addition to the existing Facebook and SIM card import options. Users can also add any phone number or email address to their contacts listed in their call log, SMS messages, or email. Dialer suggestions have been added, too.

In terms of performance improvements, Firefox promises you'll see faster application load times and smoother scrolling with the 1.1 update.

Firefox 1.1 will be available for current users and on developer phones soon, Mozilla said in a blog post.