Is Firefox OS deliberately copying BB10?

**the_sleuth** · 12-15-2012, 09:46 AM

BB10 focus on being a developer friendly platform with html 5 and so forth. I am worried that Mozilla's Boot 2 Gecko OS or now called Firefox OS is deliberately copying the look and feel of BB10's UI. Look at these two images. The first one is new Firefox OS UI:

gecko-1.jpg

Now this one is from BB10 UI:

blackberry-10-L-Series-602x400.jpg

both images can be seen in these websites:
Hands on: Mozilla's Boot 2 Gecko OS [U] | Electronista
70% of Current RIM Subscribers Plan on Upgrading to BlackBerry 10 - N4BB

My concern, if (Big IF) Firefox OS sees the light of day, hardware manufacturers might look for alternatives if Android OS becomes stale in the next few years. Firefox OS will bring more confusion to the marketplace.

**Roo Zilla** · 12-15-2012, 09:55 AM

Looks more like a combination of WP tiles and iPhone icon grid to me.

**DuexNoir** · 12-15-2012, 10:24 AM

Agree with Roo Zilla, at first I also thought they were WP tiles.

One thing though, I wonder when Android and Samsung (or any other company) will throw out a copy of BB10 and BB hardware after RIM's launch (especially if it becomes successful). You know they are bound to do so.

**skullan** · 12-15-2012, 10:25 AM

To be honest, they don't look that close to me.

**mikeo007** · 12-15-2012, 10:35 AM

Really?
The only similarity I see is that they're both using a 24 hr clock...

**pantlesspenguin** · 12-15-2012, 10:43 AM

The similarity I see is just that the icons have the name written underneath in a shaded area. The shape and size of the icons are different though.

**Ben1232** · 12-15-2012, 10:47 AM

They will look similar now and for future icons too. RIM can't invent new shapes.

**calicocat2010** · 12-15-2012, 11:34 AM

RIM could invent new shapes Next year.

**RECOOL** · 12-15-2012, 12:17 PM

Calm down love its just icons BB10 aint copied yet.Looks like windows tiles meets big box icon.Checked out some demo's the UI's built on html I think the best bit was when he called online that just screamed liek by by carrier.

Everyones gonna copy BB10 model RIMS been gesture free for some time now.Gesture base is the way forward RIM just needs to protect its creation and mechanics.You can bet the same techsperts downplaying the gesture based BB10 will be heavily praising a buttonless iphone, droid to the heavens you watch.

Firefox is a different beast from demos I have seen its open source and able to get modified.Its pretty much Tizen hmm people really want to push this html route.Good thing RIM have a good browser and have not abandoned HTML5 support native vs html will not go away.

**BBPandy** · 12-15-2012, 03:06 PM

If you want to talk about copying, check out Google's new Map App for iOS.
That has a number of BB10 inspired features. It's just the name of the game.
I can't get mad at firefox for copying some BB10 features as BB10 took inspiration from others.
That's how tech evolves. It builds on what came B4 it. I CAN get mad at someone who copy others
& then sues people saying that they invented everything & everyone is copying them...cough, apple, cough

**lnichols** · 12-15-2012, 03:47 PM

There are only so many ways to implement an icon launch grid. The issue is going to be that there will probably be a lot of IP used in the OS, knowingly or unknowingly, just like with Android, that they aren't paying for and if the OS gets popular, lawsuits will occur.

**omniusovermind** · 12-15-2012, 03:56 PM

Jolla Sailfish OS based on the old MeeGo is another one you want to look at if you're going to look for OS's that come close to BB10 in appearance. Another company is working on resurrecting WebOS as well. Both were around prior to BB10 though so technically I don't know who you could really claim is copying whom

**howarmat** · 12-15-2012, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by BBPandy

If you want to talk about copying, check out Google's new Map App for iOS.
That has a number of BB10 inspired features. It's just the name of the game.
I can't get mad at firefox for copying some BB10 features as BB10 took inspiration from others.
That's how tech evolves. It builds on what came B4 it. I CAN get mad at someone who copy others
& then sues people saying that they invented everything & everyone is copying them...cough, apple, cough

like what exactly? we havent seen much of bb10 maps at all

**Saiga** · 12-15-2012, 06:51 PM

Gotta admit, I cracked up laughing over this. I can't believe someone would bring up anyone copying BB10 when it is painfully obvious to those with eyeballs that RIM deliberately copied MeeGo.

**BBPandy** · 12-15-2012, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by howarmat

like what exactly? we havent seen much of bb10 maps at all

I was talking about how u navigate it with the swipe gestures & also the 3 dots on the right side for the menu which slides out from the right.
but like I said in the next sentence, you can't get mad at them for that when RIM has taken ideas from other people.
"That's how tech evolves. It builds on what came B4 it. I CAN get mad at someone who copy others
& then sues people saying that they invented everything & everyone is copying them...cough, apple, cough"

**howarmat** · 12-15-2012, 09:03 PM

the 3 dots are actually something that android has been using for its menus for quite awhile now, before bb10 i would say. Its not surprising if they carried the dots over for the iOS version.

**Tatperson** · 12-16-2012, 07:55 AM

Originally Posted by BBPandy

I was talking about how u navigate it with the swipe gestures & also the 3 dots on the right side for the menu which slides out from the right.
but like I said in the next sentence, you can't get mad at them for that when RIM has taken ideas from other people.
"That's how tech evolves. It builds on what came B4 it. I CAN get mad at someone who copy others
& then sues people saying that they invented everything & everyone is copying them...cough, apple, cough"

The 3 dots were actually part of the design from ICS, before BB10 was even shown. The sliding part were already in YouTube and some other Google Apps, and they were pretty much influenced by Facebook for iPhone's "peek" like design (also before BB10). So no, it isn't a copy of BB10, it's just an evolution of their own design.

**dentynefire** · 12-16-2012, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by lnichols

There are only so many ways to implement an icon launch grid. The issue is going to be that there will probably be a lot of IP used in the OS, knowingly or unknowingly, just like with Android, that they aren't paying for and if the OS gets popular, lawsuits will occur.

I made a crack remark a while ago saying that BB should place the icons on a bush implying they would be asymmetrical. Fact is the icon grid is just a list of icons and its the most efficient use of space. Nothing special about it but there could be IP relating to that. To be honest the icons on the bush is not the best idea but it might be nice to have some freedom there like pinning in place and toggle off auto arrange. One thing I like with Gnome Linux desktop is I can make icons different sizes helping to customize and make one more noticeable. I'm not sure how to implement that on a touchscreen right now.

**mikeo007** · 12-16-2012, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by dentynefire

I made a crack remark a while ago saying that BB should place the icons on a bush implying they would be asymmetrical. Fact is the icon grid is just a list of icons and its the most efficient use of space. Nothing special about it but there could be IP relating to that. To be honest the icons on the bush is not the best idea but it might be nice to have some freedom there like pinning in place and toggle off auto arrange. One thing I like with Gnome Linux desktop is I can make icons different sizes helping to customize and make one more noticeable. I'm not sure how to implement that on a touchscreen right now.

WP8 is the only mobile I've seen do something like that. And it would probably only work with tile-styled icons.

**dentynefire** · 12-16-2012, 09:57 AM

If BB10 allowed those two things it would put to rest a lot of the criticisms like not being able to see the wallaper or even the general look of the grid which is plain looking. Plus that might be a compromise with the lack of themes. Problem is BB doesn't have a place to submit ideas for BB10 like they do the Betazone and BBOS. Is there a place to do this?

**tdawg00** · 12-16-2012, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by BBPandy

I was talking about how u navigate it with the swipe gestures & also the 3 dots on the right side for the menu which slides out from the right.
but like I said in the next sentence, you can't get mad at them for that when RIM has taken ideas from other people.
"That's how tech evolves. It builds on what came B4 it. I CAN get mad at someone who copy others
& then sues people saying that they invented everything & everyone is copying them...cough, apple, cough"

The three dots was an Android design ....And the gestures have been around for a while... Its called an Action bar and has been around since HoneyComb 3.0, which was released in May 2011.