Monday, Jun 18, 2012    Text size: 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Firefox is close to unveiling a new full-screen browser designed for the iPad.

Alex Limi and Trond Werner Lansen, members from Mozilla product design and strategy team, said that Firefox Junior won't feature toolbars, search bars or omniboxes when it is released.

The full-screen browsing creates a "magazine-like feel," Limi said, where the app navigates with two transparent buttons on either side of the screen, positioned near one's thumbs that lets users go back or open a new page. 

The right button, with its plus sign, opens a page that lets users search for a new page or web address, contains thumbnails of favorite sites and lets users see other sites recently visited.

If users swipe to the left, you get another page that looks like the browser's home page, with thumbnails for separate user accounts and the main Firefox logo.

The leading browers for iPad is Apple's own Safari, but Lansen said it's still not a good browser.

"If you look at Safari on the iPad it's a pretty miserable experience," Lansen said.  

Limi and Lansen gave no launch date for Firefox Junior but said another competitor is planning its own  iOS browser.

They said Google plans to ship its own iOS version of Chrome sometime soon.

A video presentation of Firefox Junior can be viewed here.