With the Mobile World Congress 2013 under way, Mozilla came up with some great news for expansion. Unlocking its latest updates on the web-based mobile operating system, Firefox OS, Mozilla went ahead by opening the gates of collaboration. The company announced that it had expanded its range of handset partners, thereby bringing aboard LG and Huawei ( later this year) to broaden the reach of its platform.

The search engine company already had Alcatel and ZTE associated with itself, but the Korean Smartphone manufacturer has shown interest and joined the line-up. Huawei has also committed to using the OS in the upcoming markets.

Keeping pace with the advancement of the commercial build-up of Firefox OS, Mozilla has announced that it will make the first set of handsets available to the consumers in Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela. The company has gone to the extent of plugging with 17 operators, including América Móvil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefónica, Telenor, TMN and VimpelComto to make the handsets available for the consumers without much fuss.

The primary operators that will release the devices will be América Móvil, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Telenor, which Mozilla prefers to be a “mid-year” launch. The company has entrusted that the other markets will follow soon.

TCL Communication Technology, the device manufacturers under the Alcatel One Touch brand and ZTE had come up with the proposal of offering the new Firefox OS, using Snapdragon processors from Qualcomm. ZTE, on the other hand, is working over its Firefox OS device and is even looking forward to a US launch.

Catering to the way users can easily interact and enjoy their Firefox OS handsets, Mozilla has officially confirmed the launch of the Firefox Marketplace, thereby offering web-based apps and games without the need for dedicated installations. AccuWeather, Airbnb, Box, Cut the Rope, Disney Mobile Games, EA games, Facebook, Nokia’s HERE maps, Soundcloud and Twitter have already accepted to be on board.

Coming to the actual handsets, only “developer preview” ones were shared with the public, together with the above mock-ups. On display are the Keon and Peak mobile sets. For the enthusiasts wanting to be a witness to the planning process of Mozilla, the Marketplace can be previewed in Firefox for Android Aurora, which is about to make its presence felt later this year. You can even try out the OS in Mozilla’s simulator for a hand-on.