Filipino tech developers tapped to create open source apps

MANILA, Philippines -- Globe Telecom has partnered with the Mozilla Philippines Community (MozillaPH) for the Manila leg of Firefox OS App Days to showcase Mozilla's open source operating system for the mobile web and to teach Filipino tech developers how to create mobile applications for the Firefox OS.

The Firefox OS App Days is a worldwide set of over 20 hack days to be hosted by 24 cities from January 19 through February 2, 2013. Philippines and Indonesia are the only Southeast Asian countries included in the list.

Globe said with Firefox OS, developers can easily create cross-browser applications for the web and portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. This means more opportunities to come up with stimulating and interactive websites as well as better and more powerful applications.

"We want to reach out to both individuals and teams of developers, mostly young professionals and students not only in Metro Manila and its outlying areas but also in other parts of the country, particularly Cebu and Davao. By partnering with MozillaPH, Globe would be able to keep abreast with advancements in technology especially in the mobile space," said Anne Michelle Santos, Developer Relations Manager of Globe Labs.

Globe Labs, which was launched by Globe in 2008, is an innovative community composed of IT professionals, students and business managers, with primary focus on mobile and future technologies which can be later on deployed to the market.

The Philippine leg is organized by the Mozilla Philippines Community led by Eusebio Barrun Jr. and Robert DC. Reyes, with support from Globe through Globe Labs.

Technology experts from Mozilla headquarters will fly in and present the new technology which is set to be launched on the first half of the year.

In August 2012, Globe Labs also supported MozillaPH Firefox OS and HTML Roadshow.  This time, Firefox OS will be finally introduced to the tech leaders and developers who will participate in the whole day event on January 26, 2013 at the Boracay and Balesin rooms of Alphaland Southgate Tower, Don Chino Roces Avenue in Makati City.