Mozilla is prepping big time for mobile.   In July they announced that by 2013, we can expect mobile devices running on Firefox OS.  And what phone would be complete without apps?

Mozilla announced that they’ve released Firefox Marketplace for those who are using  Firefox for Android Aurora.  The early release will provide app developers a means to get feedback on their apps as the Marketplace grows and progresses.

“Just last year, we started working to turn the Web into a viable apps development platform,” Mozilla said in their blog post.

“We created the Firefox Marketplace to allow developers to build, distribute and monetize rich, immersive apps that use Web technologies like HTML, JavaScript and CSS. We’ve made amazing progress developing Web APIs across platforms as we work to unlock the power of the Web on mobile, just as we did on desktop.”

Firefox Marketplace is available for Android users, but will soon be ready for the Firefox OS and Firefox on other platforms in the future.  To use, you must first download Firefox Aurora on your Android device, open it and select “Apps” in the options to browse the Marketplace for apps.  You can also provide feedback on each app so developers can make  improvements.

The Firefox Marketplace features a selection of showcase apps in the areas of games, productivity and news & media.  For now, there are only a limited number of apps that you can try out, such as  Distant Orbit, Jauntly, Soundcloud and Twitter.

Mozilla is carefully putting their plans into action.  Firefox OS is still under development, but they’re reeling in developers to jumpstart their marketplace.  Based on the success of their marketplace, they can make adjustments to their mobile OS in order to make it more enticing to consumers, or if the mobile marketplace is a disaster, they can abandon it as early as possible.  The good part about having their own marketplace before their mobile OS launches is that they can start establishing relationships with developers, and if their marketplace is more welcoming than Apple or Google’s, their mobile efforts will be a success.