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Mozilla has released a new update of its Firefox browser for Android that brings user interface improvements for consumers and new developer tools to create rich mobile Web applications. Google, Apple, Research In Motion and others should take heed of what Mozilla is doing because it is the evolution of the mobile browser and is a signal of what is to come for smartphone consumers and developers.

The new Firefox for Android app is faster and sleeker than its previous version. In a few words, it actually works. That was not always the case with previous Firefox for Android builds that were difficult to navigate. It is designed to look and feel like an Android application and has a new home screen page, buttons and easy to use features like Firefox sync, add-ons, tabbed browsing and bookmarks. In preliminary testing, the app is more responsive, pinches and zooms faster and generally looks cleaner. Outside of optimization, Mozilla is pointing the way that mobile browsers could and should go in the near future.

Mozilla has released the first beta of Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo. Also known as Fennec, the mobile version of the browser is built on the same platform as the desktop version and includes features like Firefox Sync, Add-ons, and the Awesome bar.

According to a blog post announcing the beta release, Mozilla says it has made two big changes from the alpha version, namely with Electrolysis and Layers. The former splits the browser into two processes: one for the user interface and one to render the web content. The Layers architecture helps in performance and in graphic areas such as scrolling, zooming, and animations.

Even though mobile devices are getting increasingly powerful, most mobile browsers are still limited versions of their more fully featured desktop counterparts. With today's release of the latest alpha version of Fennec for Android (2.0 or higher) and Nokia N900, Mozilla is aiming to change this. Specifically, Mozilla hails Fennec as the "world's first mobile Web browser to support add-ons."

Fennec (aka Firefox Mobile) is now available for phones running Google's Android OS. This highly-anticipated web browser is a mobile-ready port of its desktop cousin, Mozilla Firefox. Like its predecessor, Fennec offers tabbed browsing and add-ons. It also offers an optional add-on called "Weave" which allows you to sync your Fennec history, passwords, bookmarks and tabs between the mobile and desktop versions of the browser.

But before you rush out to install Fennec now, be warned: this download is "pre-alpha," which means you should expect to see some bugs, kinks and other issues.

Fennec, the mobile version of the Firefox web browser, is now available in an early build designed for Android handsets thanks to a fan-compiled download posted on an Android developers forum. And by early, we mean unofficial, pre-alpha, device-specific and downright buggy. But for anyone interested in mobile browser developments, this port is an interesting sneak peek into the future of Firefox's mobile plans.

Just a few days after releasing Firefox for the Nokia N900 handset, Mozilla just announced that it is also making good progress on an Android version of Firefox. According to Firefox developer Vladimir Vukićević, development of Android for Firefox is progressing quickly. While there are no plans for the release of an official alpha version just yet, Vukićević has already managed to compile and install an early version of Firefox for Android.

Mozilla plans to release Fennec, the mobile version of Firefox, for Nokia's Maemo, Windows Mobile and Android devices in the near future. In an interview with Om Malik, Mozilla CEO John Lilly also said that Mozilla has fallen behind in the mobile space, as WebKit-based browsers like Safari on the iPhone currently have a large lead, but he is confident that Mozilla can deliver a better browsing experience. Mozilla, according to Lilly, wanted to wait for devices to get to the point where they could handle everything a desktop browser could. Mozilla, however, isn't likely to develop a mobile version of Firefox for BlackBerry anytime soon.

The Opera Mini application is now considered not only the world's most popular mobile browser, but also the world's most downloaded app. According to independent applications marketplace GetJar, the browser has been downloaded more than 25 million times from its store. "The fact that Opera Mini is the most downloaded app on an open app store like GetJar makes us proud," said Opera's Chief Strategy Officer Rolf Assev. "It proves that our vision of providing a browser that works on almost all phones will give millions a better way to access the Web."

Last week, Google announced a change in how software can run on Android, the company's mobile operating system which powers such devices as T-Mobile's G1 and the upcoming MyTouch 3G. Instead of just allowing Java applications that run on Google's Dalvik virtual machine, Android will now allow software that runs natively in on the Linux operating system itself. This will be made possible through a new toolset for developers, the Android Native Development Kit. The change may allow Mozilla to bring their young mobile browser, Fennec (aka "Firefox Mobile") to the Android platform.

In yesterday's post about my recent trip to Mozilla HQ, we looked at where Mozilla's Chief Innovation Officer, Chris Beard, thinks Firefox is heading. Mozilla's vision for Firefox is for the browser to help users navigate and manage an increasingly complex world - something akin to the concept of intelligent agents. Part of this vision is to enable users to easily and effectively browse the web on their mobile devices.

This is where Fennec, Mozilla's new mobile browser, comes in. In this post we look at Fennec's progress (it recently delivered its first beta) and Chris Beard gives us his thoughts on Fennec's strategy.