The response has been tremendous since Firefox Home, our free iPhone app, became available in Apple’s App Store. We made some updates to Firefox Home, which are now available, so if you haven’t tried it yet, get it now.

We read your comments in the App Store and on our forum and truly appreciate all the feedback you have given us. Your comments and ideas are great input for our future plans with Firefox Home. Keep ‘em coming!

Firefox Home 1.0.1 Available in the App Store
We worked quickly to address the top three problems you reported and have released updates to both Firefox Home (v 1.0.1) and the Firefox Sync add-on (v 1.4.3)

In Firefox Home 1.0.1:
* FIXED: Now supports usernames with uppercase letters
* ADDED: Help button on login page that links to troubleshooting tips
* IMPROVED: More helpful error messages when problems occur
Get this update on iTunes.

In Firefox Sync 1.4.3:
* FIXED: Now correctly supports multi-byte characters in passwords
* ADDED: Ability to complete initial sync if setting up in Private Browsing mode
* IMPROVED: Helpful UI indicator to show sync status
* See the Firefox Sync Account Setup Demo
Get this update on the Mozilla Add-Ons site.

We believe Firefox Home is an excellent Web companion for the iPhone because it lets you access your Firefox history, bookmarks and tabs no matter where you are. We are humbled by all the interest and positive reviews we’ve seen on the Web.

“If you’re at all like me and leave dozens (or more!) tabs open on your home machine, you’ll definitely like the convenience of being able to access something you left open while you’re on the go.” — Chris Foresman, ars technica

“Can’t remember where you saw that important story just before you left the office? Open the app and check your history. Want a shortcut to save you from typing a long URL on the iPhone or iPod Touch? Open the app. (As a bonus, on my tests, it opened Web pages faster than Safari.)” — Bob Tedeschi, New York Times: Gadgetwise

“Firefox’s Home App for iPhone has opened my eyes to a world where desktop and mobile web browsing become one, but we’re not quite there yet. Being able to pick up on the iPhone where I left off on the PC is one of those ideas that suddenly seems long overdue,”  – Jared Newman, PC World.

Firefox Home, Different from Firefox Web Browser
Firefox Home is a part of making the personal Web experience portable across multiple computers and devices. Firefox Home is a valuable app that gives you instant access to your most recently and frequently visited sites, right at your fingertips. You now have the ability to get up and go in a moment’s notice, and access your flight status, reservation time or driving directions you were looking at at your desk without a second thought!

Going Global
Many of you have asked when Firefox Home will be available for download in your country’s App Store. We’re working to make Firefox Home available worldwide in the very near future. Stay tuned!

Get Involved & Stay Connected
This is the first release of Firefox Home on iPhone, and with your ideas, we hope to provide more features to this application over time. Please leave your comments or ask questions on our Firefox Home Support Forum. Designers, let the creative juices flow and participate in the Firefox Home iPhone Skin Design Challenge.

Editor’s note: On May 28, Firefox Sync graduated from Mozilla Labs. For more details, check out Ragavan Srinivasan’s blog announcement, reposted below.

We are excited to announce that the “Weave Sync” project from Mozilla Labs has officially graduated and is now being incorporated into the Firefox roadmap. “Weave Sync” is now named “Firefox Sync” and the service will become a feature of Firefox in an upcoming major release. Until then you can download Firefox Sync as an add-on.

In addition to graduating and changing names, the latest version of Firefox Sync, v1.3, has a few new features and developments including:

• Availability in more than 15 languages including German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese
• A simpler sign-up and setup process
• A single button to access all your remote tabs and more.

For those of you that tested Sync and gave feedback while it was a part of Mozilla Labs, thank you, this would not have happened without you. And even though this project has graduated, we are still looking for your feedback and involvement as we incorporate Sync into Firefox.

And, yes, Mozilla Labs will continue to focus on finding ways to enhance the Firefox user experience, increase user control over personal information, and provide new opportunities for developers to build innovative online experiences. In fact, check out the Contacts project and the Account Manager feature for some of our work there.

Finally, in case you missed the latest news, we have been working on an application for the iPhone based on the Firefox Sync technology. The app is called “Firefox Home”, and it will give iPhone users instant access to their Firefox browsing history, bookmarks, and the set of tabs from their most recent browser session, in addition to having “Awesome Bar” capability.

Set up Firefox Sync on your desktop now to ensure you’re ready for Firefox Home once it’s available for the iPhone.

Act now and enter the Mobile Add-ons Challenge for your chance to win Mozilla swag and a shiny new Nokia N900.

There are exactly two weeks left to submit your winning Firefox mobile add-on.  Developers are challenged to build an add-on that shows innovation, compatibility and that considers the mobile context (small screen size, touch screen, on-the-go, etc.)

At the end of the Challenge period (April 12), our panel of judges (consisting of members from the Mobile and Add-ons teams) will select ten (10) winners who will receive a new Nokia N900 in addition to other great mobile merchandise!

The last challenge resulted in many fantastic add-ons. Check out our previous winners’ award-winning add-ons that are being used by thousands and recognized by press around the globe. Despite these awesome innovations, there is much more room to help enhance the look, feel and functionality of Firefox on mobile devices. Here are some themes the Mozilla Mobile team finds especially interesting:

• Using device APIs: js-ctypes (Fennec 1.0) might be used to hook into the device (addressbook or camera) and add functionality to a Web app by making a pagemod (jetpack- or greasemonkey-like add-on). Check out these helpful resources around js-cytypes:ctypes on Mobile Developer Center and blog post using GStreamer js-ctypes
  
• Photo, media, social and sharing tools: Create a social aggregator for quickly viewing streams from Twitter, Facebook, etc; Create a tool for sharing images, links and text
• Saving files and Session Restore: Save as PDF, Save Image, Remember last open tabs, etc.

So what are you waiting for? Develop a Firefox mobile add-on for a chance to win a new phone, and most importantly, see your innovation used by people around the world on multiple platforms and devices!  See the complete contest details and rules here.