I have been waiting to test Firefox mobile – pre-release title is Fennec – on an Android device for a long, long time. OK, a long time in the mobile tech world. And while there have been dektop versions, emulator experiences, some shaky phone installation procedures, and lots of photo/video evidence of Fennec’s existence, today marks the first occasion where I have been able to pick up an Android and actually surf the web with the illusive app. The software is in its Alpha stage, and this is apparent during use. Still, I’m so excited to test Mozilla’s mobile Android browser – though I’ve all but abandoned their full-blown Firefox in favor of Chrome – that I can overlook the three crashes I had before a successful launch and appreciate the beautiful design and the innovation it represents.

To try it out for yourself, head to this site and click on “Downloading.” You will be directed to hit up http://firefox.com/m/alpha on your 2.0+ Android device. When I attempted this with my EVO’s Sense browser, I tapped the download button and received an error and then an unusable .install file. Dustin was able to download the correct .apk file using a stock browser. If you run into trouble, try visiting the address with Opera Mini. That’s what finally worked for me.

Fennec isn’t the most reliable app for browsing at the moment, but now is a great time to see what Mozilla has in mind, with their sliding options panels, Add-ons, and desktop integration. If you can’t get any of that working, at least you can check out the interface. Good stuff.

Via Mozilla by way of Mobile Burn