[throwaway12357]

I can't help but feel some "couch coach" desperation with Mozilla's confusion at where should they aim at.

Google has Android which is open source but "spyware" prone and suffers from vendor incompetence/uninterest in updates -- in fact this will bite Google sooner or latter. While Apple's iOS is privacy aware but closed source and carries a huge price premium.

On the other hand Mozilla is known for open source and for caring for privacy. Furthermore with Snowden's revelations, at least among the IT crowd, as well as governments, there is interest for a secure system.

Give me a high-end phone [1] which focus on privacy.

Something that supports a stack like Xposed and Xprivacy out of the box.

Something whose baseband processor is decoupled from the other processors. And if possible the source code for the sensors or at least the ICD, so that you have an alternative to binary blobs.

Give me something that supports encryption and can get consistent no hassle OTA updates.

And make it with a compatibility layer to Android's apps [2]

I'm all for open source, but Android just ends up being nothing but an headache. A better solution would be welcome.

[1] just look at the OnePlus One for $350 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnePlus_One In fact Mozilla should have partnered with them.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybris_%28software%29

[seba_dos1]

Neo900 [1] develops a device like that - privacy oriented open platform, with maximum user control over the device. Even though its specs and price might be a bit unsatisfying to some, it's actually a pretty reasonable approach worth supporting - basing its design on N900 and GTA04 is for a small project like that like reaching the low-hanging fruit, while ideas and solutions developed for it such as baseband "sandbox" or hackerbus will be able to be used later in future devices. See also [2] for more details.

Full disclosure: I found this project so worth supporting, I actually became team member somewhere at its beginning :)

[1] http://neo900.org/

[2] http://neo900.org/stuff/ohsw2014/ohsw2014.pdf

[soapdog]

Have you looked into the blackphone?

Also, mozilla does not make hardware, it can't provide you with the hardware safety you need.

Android is not open source. AOSP is open source but a lot of the stuff you see in a modern high-end Android device is not OSS. On the other hand, all of Firefox OS, its built-in apps and its associated services are FOSS. You can check the code and audit it.

[TylerE]

Does iOS really carry a price premium? My experience, similar to the old Mac/PC debates, is the difference is actually minimal at most when you compare with actually equivalent hardware.

[wodenokoto]

It only exist in the premium class, so in that sense, if you want iOS just for the iOS, you are stuck buying premium hardware.

I do think iOS devices are generally a good deal (in the sense that they are worth the money),but that doesn't mean they are not premium nor premium priced. Quality costs money.

[dblohm7]

Hybris is not useful in this case. Firefox OS is already based on Bionic.

[pinaceae]

so you want iOS, but don't want to pay for it. great market for Mozilla to break into!