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April 14, 2014

Firefox Fans Now Have Virtual Brower for Apple iOS Devices

Firefox fans will finally have a way to use their favorite browser on their iOS devices, after Xform Computing announced the company’s VirtualBrowser for Firefox app is available from the iTunes App store.

Apple has long developed its products under its own terms, including Steve Jobs infamously declaring its iOS devices would not support Adobe Flash back in April 2010. Instead, Jobs threw the weight of his Apple development team behind the emerging technology of HTML5 instead.

And while Jobs had some good points about the power of HTML5, the lack of Flash support on iOS devices made it challenging for existing websites that relied on Flash technology.

"Anyone who has used an iPad knows its limitations," said David McClintock, CMO of Xform Computing, "which include lack of support for not only Firefox but also Adobe Flash Player, Java applications, browser 'sync' and browser add-on/extensions. VirtualBrowser App delivers these key capabilities for Firefox fans on their iOS devices."

VirtualBrowser for Firefox is built on Xform's AlwaysOnPC cloud app streaming platform. According to the company, every time a user opens the app, it starts a secure session of the Mozilla Firefox browser running virtually in Xform's Virtual Cloud hosting centers. This session is then streamed and displayed by the VirtualBrowser app on the user's device.

According to the company, VirtualBrowser enables users to stream Adobe Flash-based video player on iPad or iPhone from almost any site, as well as Flash-based games like FarmVille2 or ChefVille inside Facebook. The app also reportedly supports Adobe Flash-based education sites like Pearson MyMathLab, Muzzy Language, BBC Bitesize and PBS Kids games as well as productivity sites such as Prezi presentation editing, among others.

VirtualBrowser for Firefox also delivers Java on iPad and iPhone including most Applets, JNLP and JAR files.

Xform Computing reported that the VirtualBrowser for Firefox Basic app is available for free on iPhone and for a special introductory price on iPad for a limited time. Some features require the company’s Premium In-App service options, including streaming video, Java support, as well as installing and saving Firefox add-ons, history and settings securely via Xform's cloud.




Edited by Maurice Nagle


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