Firefox 3 still has that new browser smell, but that's not stopping the Mozilla Foundation from planning ahead for its next major move.

Firefox 3 still has that new browser smell, but that's not stopping the Mozilla Foundation from planning ahead for its next major move.

The organization on Wednesday unveiled Aurora, a concept video touting the future of Web browsing.

"Aurora is intended to serve as a springboard for an open discussion about how to evolve the user experience of the Web browser," according to Adaptive Path, a San Francisco-based design firm that is developing Aurora for Mozilla Labs.

Adaptive Path will release the video in four parts.

"Aurora incorporates many innovative design ideas [that] are nuanced, and build on each other in complex ways, so we've used each part of the video to show how the concepts work together in specific situations," the company said.

The key components of Aurora include: natural interaction, continuity, multi-user applications, and context awareness.

Mozilla put out the call via its blog to "industry, higher education and people from around the world to get involved and share their ideas and expertise as we collectively explore and design future directions for the Web."

The Foundation has already introduced a number of concepts, including Aurora, a new method for organizing bookmarks, and suggestions for Firefox Mobile.

The mobile prototype, dubbed Fennec, is being designed for a touch screen, according to Aza Raskin, head of user experience at Mozilla Labs.

"Switching between input methods is time-consuming and annoying, so the user shouldn't have to switch to a stylus or other secondary form of input," Raskin wrote.

Raskin also said Fennec would have an interface that's large enough for those of us with fat fingers, a minimal number of keystrokes, and as much content on the screen as possible.

Mozilla is working on a more structured way to let users contribute concepts. In the meantime, it's asking users to just get the ideas out there.

"If it's a mockup, put it on Flickr. If it's a prototype, host it on your Web site. Tag it with 'mozconcept' and then let us know about it by posting to the Concept Series discussion forum," Mozilla wrote on the blog.

This post originally appeared on AppScout.