Firefox for Mobile 1.0 finally ships, but only for Nokia's Maemo platform

Mozilla's long-awaited mobile version of Firefox has finally been released, albeit only for Nokia's Maemo (what used to be code-named Fennec) platform. Like the desktop version of Firefox, version 1.0 of Firefox for Mobile looks to set itself apart from other mobile browsers with the inclusion of browser add-ons.

Mozilla's Weave Sync add-on is already available for Firefox for Mobile, and in the blog post announcing the new browser's release Mozilla point out some third-party add-ons that they anticipate will be useful in a mobile context, including AdBlock Plus, URL Fixer, TwitterBar, language translators, and geo guides.

While I love the additional functionality that browser add-ons provide, I have to say that they are also often responsible for speed and stability issues. When I enable all of the add-ons that I like to use in Firefox, it perceptibly slows, 30-40% on some pages. Certainly this has as much to do with how well-written the add-on is as it does the nature of an add-on architecture, but I bring it up as it relates to one of the most important aspects of mobile computing (even, and maybe particularly on a phone): battery life. If add-ons put an additional load on your mobile browser, isn't this going to negatively impact your battery life? For you, is it worth the trade-off?

[via Technology News]

Tags: add on, AddOn, battery life, BatteryLife, browser, browsers, firefox, mobile, mobile browser, mobile computing, MobileBrowser, MobileComputing