Mozilla.org developers continue to crank on the mobile version of the Firefox browser, called Fennec. On June 26, Mozilla released Fennec 1.0 Beta 2 for Maemo and Fennec 1.0 Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile. Maemo is a primarily open-source software platform for mobile devices including the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet. The Windows Mobile operating system runs Pocket PCs, smartphones and other devices.

The new Fennec releases feature usability enhancements, according to a blog post by Stuart Parmenter, Mozilla’s mobile team technical lead. “We’ve continued to increase performance and responsiveness. We’ve revamped how you install add-ons, improved our download manager and the whole look of the application.  We’ve started work on making forms on Web pages easier to use, providing a nicer combo box UI than before,” Parmenter wrote.

Parmenter also took note of add-ons for Fennec that are starting to appear, including GeoGuide, which displays maps and weather using Fennec’s location-aware APIs. GraffiTwit is a Twitter client that lets users create tweets and post images.

Sheri McLeish, an analyst at Forrester Research, predicted Fennec will face an uphill battle in gaining popularity on mobile platforms. “It’s a crowded market. There are lots of [browser] relationships with device manufacturers already.”

Firefox became popular because it was easy for desktop and laptop users to download the software and use it for several years before replacing their machines. However, mobile software, including browsers, tends to be more tightly tied to each device, said McLeish. In addition, people tend to use devices such as smartphones for a shorter time span than desktops or laptops. Thus, they are more inclined to use the software that comes loaded on the mobile device and less inclined to replace it with software they download, the analyst said.  

In addition to Maemo and Windows Mobile builds, Fennec builds are also available for Windows, Apple Macintosh and Linux, which are intended to allow developers to become familiar with the platform.

Fennec gets its name from a tiny variety of nocturnal fox native to Africa’s Sahara desert.  

Stan Gibson is a Boston-area technology writer.