Mozilla dangles Firefox OS preview phones to lure devs to workshops

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Mozilla is kicking off a series of Firefox OS app workshops in Spain, Colombia and Poland ahead of the launch of the first devices running the Mozilla operating system this summer.

The first series of Firefox OS handsets will be supported by 17 carriers and aimed at consumers in Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain, and Venezuela, with other markets to follow.

So it should come as no surprise Mozilla is now taking a second pass at developers looking to build apps in Spanish, Polish and Portuguese via a series of workshops in primary markets.

"Mozilla engineers and tech evangelists will help participants complete an app or port an existing one to the Firefox OS phone and into the Firefox Marketplace," Mozilla said on its Hacks blog.

In late January, Mozilla wrapped up its developer engagement App Days initiative in 20 cities in late January, including the locations of the new workshops.

The first round of workshops will be held in Madrid, Spain on 20 April, followed by Bogotá, Colombia on 18 May, and Warsaw, Poland on 1 June, in a bid to fill out apps on the Firefox Marketplace ahead of the summer launch.

There's an additional lure for developers keen to attend the workshops. While App Days developers were invited to purchase Mozilla's developer preview phones, Keon and Peak — made by Madrid-based and Telefonica-backed Geeksphone — workshop attendees will be given one of the devices.

Mozilla is looking for small teams or solo developers with JavaScript and HTML5 experience, as well as developers with existing apps built with PhoneGap, Chrome, webOS, Blackberry WebWorks or web apps for mobile or desktop.