Mozilla goes mobile with Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo releases

Mozilla has released Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo as the firm looks to expand the reach of the popular desktop browser to mobile platforms.

Firefox 4 for Android includes many of the features available in the desktop version, including the ability to browse history, bookmarks and open tabs.

The browser also comes with Firefox Sync, allowing users to synchronise browsing history, bookmarks and passwords between computers and mobile devices.

Other key features include the ability to share pages via social networking sites, save web pages to PDF, and customise the browser using Firefox add-ons.

"Firefox is up to three times faster than the stock browser on Android. Major enhancements to the JavaScript engine make everything from page load speed to graphics to overall performance snappy in Firefox," the firm noted in the Mozilla Blog.

"Firefox for mobile is built on the same technology platform as the desktop version. With modern web technologies like HTML5, developers can build rich, interactive applications and web sites."

Firefox 4 is available from the Android Market and can be downloaded on Maemo devices. Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo is offered in over 10 languages.

Since its release on desktops on the 22 March, Firefox 4 has been downloaded over 40 million times as Mozilla continues to close in on IE's global market share.

The latest figures from StatCounter suggest that Firefox has already become the premier browser in Europe.