There has been a lot of talk about what a Firefox smartphone would look like, and now the guessing game is officially over as Spanish mobile carrier Telefonica launched the very first official Firefox Smartphone. The phone has officially been branded the ZTE (News – Alert) Open Phone and was launched on July 2 with the price tag of $88. There is also a lower price tag of just $38 dollars for Telefonica customers that have prepaid.

In some respects, the Firefox Smartphone isn’t going to really impress anyone with its size, or power. The 3.5-inch screen isn’t particularly impressive, nor is the processor speed. What is impressive when it comes to the phone, not counting a very cheap asking price is that it runs with HTML5 applications. Because of this particular feature, there is a chance that the ZTE Open and every succeeding Firefox phone could eventually boast much larger app stores than either Android (News – Alert) or iOS. There is also a chance that established apps on those platforms could be more easily moved over to the Firefox phone.

Image via iRumours

Luis Miguel Gilpérez, CEO of Telefonica (News – Alert), explained why his company was one of the first to launch a Firefox phone in a recent statement. "We believe that smartphones need to be more open and that the web is the platform for making this possible. Consumers should not be locked to any one system but have the choice to consume the content they want and the flexibility to be able to take it with them when they change devices. This first open Web device marks a significant milestone in making this possible. This is just the beginning as we plan to bring a wide range of Firefox OS devices to our customers,” he said.

Thanks to the HTML5 capabilities, a phone that was basically built from the ground up already has an impressive offering when it comes to applications. Apps like Accuweather, Facebook, Nokia (News – Alert) HERE Maps, SoundCloud, Terra, Time Out, TMZ and Twitter are already available. More apps are likely to be offered up quickly.