Mozilla announced today that a new phone running the Firefox OS will be launched by the end of this month. The company is launching a trial version of the new phone in order to entice developers who may want to create new apps for the phone. At first glance, the Firefox phone looks a lot like – surprise! – an iPhone. Looks aside, the Firefox OS will be open sourced, so that developers can customize to heart’s content.

Not only will Mozilla be launching a new open sourced phone later this month, but it’s also possible to download the Firefox OS onto an Android phone currently. Either method will allow developers to play around with the OS and develop apps for the new phone. It is not recommended that consumers who aren’t looking to develop apps purchase the new phone, but getting an app in the Firefox Store (no official store name yet) will definitely help to kick start an app development career.

Design and Size

It’s exciting when a company announces a new phone. But, not so exciting when that phone looks just like every other phone before it. From looking at photos released by Mozilla, the new phone will have a round home button, be rectangular in shape, and come with a front-facing camera.

The phone’s width and size appears to be the same as an iPhone 4. At the bottom of the photo show by Mozilla, the phone has just a few apps that users can play around with. Keep in mind that this phone doesn’t come with a complete app store yet, which is why it’s a phone designed and intended for app developers. A company called Geeksphone based in Madrid, Spain is developing the phone. The company’s site features two Firefox phones that will, presumably, be released shortly.

Keon and Peak: Two Different Phones

The first phone is the “Keon” that includes a 3.5-inch multi-touch screen; a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1GHz CPU; a 3 MP camera; 512 RAM; 4GB ROM; GPS; WiFi N; Micro SD; and Micros USB features. The other phone listed on the company’s website is the Peak phone just for developers. This is, no doubt, the phone that Mozilla wants developers to purchase and use.

The Peak includes Snapdragon S4 1.2GHz x 2; 4.3-inch multi-touch screen; 8mp back-facing camera; 2mp front facing camera; 512 RAM; 4GB ROM; GPS; Micro USB; WiFi N; Micro SD; Flash; and a whole bunch of other features. The Peak phone is white and includes the words “Developer Preview (so you can show off your developer skills to the world)” and the Keon is Firefox orange. How much will it cost you to purchase either phone and when can you get your hands on either phone?

Pricing and Availability

Geeksphone is enjoying its well-deserved limelight right now. But, the company isn’t letting Twitter followers or anyone else know what the price of the Firefox phones will be just yet. A recent tweet from the company states that pricing information will be released in the next few weeks. I’m going to assume that the phones will be launched during that time as well.