Engagement/Developer Engagement/Technical Evangelism/Loan Program

Loan program

The goal of the loan program is to give access to a Firefox OS device to more developers. We got many requests in the Phones for Apps program, and unfortunately, we cannot give a device to all developers. Having a real device can be a good motivation for some developers to develop on the platform. We also have a good simulator, but there is nothing as good as testing your application with a real device. By loaning devices to developers, it will give us the opportunity to get more quality application, and saving on cost (shipping vs buying new devices).

As an example, with the Phones for Apps we got 10 000 applications, and we may have given 200 phones. If each developer creates one application, we are potentially missing 9800 applications (we know that some developers don't need a real device to publish their application). If we dedicate only 20 phones for the program, with an estimate use time of 4 weeks per phone (2 weeks for the developers, 1 week shipping in/out & 1 week of administrative/delay), in one year, we'll have a potential of 260 more applications (52 weeks / 4 weeks * 20 devices), that mean an average of 13 applications per phones.

Rules of the program

• Every developer can participate.
• You already built or ported an application for Firefox OS.
• You need to ship back the device two weeks after you received it.
• You need to publish your application to the marketplace one month after you received the device.

Process

• Developers who want to have a device to test their application, will apply for the program.
• We will ship the devices to people who applied.
  • Depending upon the number of devices allowed in the program, and number of participants, we may want to check with participants first if they still need a device (if we have delay)
• We will enter the date the phone has been delivered
• We will contact developers two weeks after the date they received it

Possible problems

• We cannot guarantee that developers will really build application (like with the Phones for Apps program)
• We cannot guarantee that the developers will ship back the phones (see next step point on this)

Application form

• First name
• Last name
• Company
• Address
• City
• State
• Postal Code / Zip Code
• Country
• Phone number
• Email
• Link to the actual application or code (to prove that the application exist - low hanging fruit)
• Acceptance of the terms & conditions
  • You actually have an application ready to test on a real device.
  • You will return the device after two weeks in your possession.
  • You will publish a Firefox OS application in the marketplace one month after you received the device.
  • If you don't return the device or wants to keep it, your credit card will be charged.

Next steps

• Finding a way to guarantee the return of the devices
• Validate the big picture of the program with the rest of the team
• Create the Google form (or any other form) for application for the program
• Promote the program in our network (maybe a Hacks blog post)
• Contact (if it's possible) people who applied for Phones for Apps program who didn't get a phone