Mozilla announced last week they have a prototype of what it to be a very scaled down version of the Firefox browser for the iPad. Code named Junior, this browser will not be built upon the traditional Gecko rendering engine due to restriction imposed by Apple (AppStore). Instead the browser will be based on Webkit. While this does offer other browser choices for iPad users, they will not have all the options that a Gecko based browser would have. It will support multiple users who can have their own tabs and bookmarks.

mozilla links has some screen shots of the prototype along with a link to the Air Mozilla video. Percy has also expressed a very valid concern in regards to  Junior not being built on the Gecko platform:

“Extensibility may be out of question or very limited because of Gecko’s abscense.”

Firefox (or any other browser for that matter) without extensions is basically like…well…Internet Explorer 6. Seems to be a major step backwards for Mozilla. I understand they are wanting to compete in the tablet market, but may be the iPad is best left alone, at least until Apple loosens it restrictions on the AppStore. No word yet as to a proposed release date or if something similar (but likely with more features) may be offered up on the Android platform.