Nokia adopts Apple’s WebCore for new mobile micro browser for 2006
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 13, 2005 at 6:19am
Nokia announced today that it is using best-of-breed open source software as the basis of a new mobile browser for its smartphone software, the Series 60 Platform.
The new browser aims at an unparalleled user experience when browsing full Web pages on a smartphone screen—over wireless connections with the top performance in the mobile industry. The flexibility and extensibility of the new browser will allow Series 60 licensees to further innovate and customize the browser, for example to meet their operator customer needs, states a [url=http://press.nokia.com/PR/200506/998214_5.htmlNokia press release[/url] this morning.
A key component of this development has been Nokia’s cooperation with Apple, as the Series 60 browser will use the same open source components, WebCore and JavascriptCore, which Apple uses in its popular Safari Internet browser. Based on KHTML and KJS from KDE’s “Konqueror” open source project, this software has enabled Safari to achieve industry-leading features and performance. Nokia intends to continue its collaboration with Apple and actively participate in the open source community to further develop and enhance these components, contributing Nokia’s expertise in mobility.
By adapting WebCore and JavaScriptCore components for its smartphone platform, Nokia and other Series 60 licensees will be able provide a rich Web browsing experience that takes advantage of today’s fast wireless networks and advanced mobile devices. According to the “Smartphone360” study, a Nokia-conducted consumer research among Series 60 smartphone users, over 50 percent of data traffic was generated by browsing.
“Nokia is excited to enrich Series 60 with optimized mobile Web browsing. Open source software is an ideal basis for development since it enables Nokia to leverage and contribute to speedy software innovation and development. As a result, the entire Series 60 value chain, from manufacturers and operators to end-users, will benefit from the flexible architecture, full Web compliance and a truly enjoyable user experience,” said Pertti Korhonen, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia.“Open source development also enables close cooperation with the industry’s best innovators, such as Apple. Both Apple and Nokia share a commitment to Internet standards and the use of a common code. The unified and compatible browser base will offer a very compelling choice for Web content developers,” Korhonen continued.
“Apple is pleased to assist Nokia in creating their new Series 60 browser based on the same KHTML open source technology that powers Apple’s Safari,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. “The Safari Web Kit’s blazing performance, efficient code base and support for open standards make it an ideal open source technology for projects like Nokia’s new Series 60 browser.”
The new Series 60 browser will be available to all Series 60 licensees as a standard Series 60 application during the first half of 2006. The browser will support all features of the current Series 60 browser as well as being enhanced with increased performance and exciting new features.
Related News
“Nokia, Intel collaborate on WiMax broadband wireless technology”
Eduardo Dias Says:
Some food for thought for us following Neo’s Next Wave:
WiMAX - Broadband Wireless Access Technology
“It can provide data rates up to 75 megabits per second (Mbps) per base station with typical cell sizes of 2 to 10 kilometers. This is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support (through a single base station) more than 60 businesses with T1/E1-type connectivity and hundreds of homes with DSL-type connectivity.”
“WiMAX is all about delivering broadband wireless access to the masses. It represents an inexpensive alternative to digital subscriber lines (DSL) and cable broadband access. The installation costs for a wireless infrastructure based on 802.16 is far less than today’s wired solutions, which often require laying cables and ripping up buildings and streets. For this reason, WiMAX makes an attractive solution for providing the last mile connection in wireless metropolitan area networks.”
WiMAX: Wireless Broadband for the World
“Another challenge is meeting people’s expectations. There is a lot of excitement for WiMAX now – ahead of the standard, ahead of products, and ahead of the deployments. There’s as much excitement now for WiMAX as there is for Wi-Fi, even though Wi-Fi has been around for about eight or nine years. I think our biggest challenge at Intel is to manage this excitement so that the industry doesn’t get discouraged. We’ll continue reinforcing the timeline for WiMAX, clearly explaining what is going to be available and when it will be available. We believe WiMAX is on a very fast track, and it will continue to add more and more capability every generation. But it will take time to get these capabilities to where service providers and users can really benefit.”
Some help from Apple?
The potential it has :
“PAUL OTELLINI: We wanted to give you an example of the kinds of integration that’s happening around us in the not-too-distant future. I said earlier that we’re also looking at bringing PC capabilities into this environment. I’d like to show you now a demo here of a product that we code-named Carbonado, and what this is is it brings VGA-quality video to handheld devices.
So, you can probably see on the screen up here in a second, one side is showing you a game, and the other side is a video clip from a movie. Full VGA resolution coming into handhelds.
This is essentially a graphics accelerator chip today. It brings us PC-like 3-D gaming and video into the handheld environmental. It’s 640 by 480 VGA resolution.
We will bring this to production first half of this year, 2004. It goes into the first PDAs in the second half of this year. We have a number of major OEM design wins that we’re not prepared to announce today, but believe me, they’ve happened. And we’ll be integrating this same video capability, video and graphics capability, into discrete silicon in 2005, into phones, and into the apps processor itself in 2006.”
Intel Intros Affordable WiMAX Chip
“Rosedale will cost $45 in 1000-unit quantities and Intel believes this will allow makers of home WiMAX equipment to reduce the cost of the consumer WiMAX hardware to $200 from the current level of $500. The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker indicated that 12 hardware companies had already adopted the chip.”
$200!!! Wow! That’s the price of an AirPort Extreme base station!
Now, you and me could make a microISP to cover an entire Metropolitan Area! I think that a lot of cable/DSL Internet providers and cell phone carriers may be worried...not to say really...pissed off. After spending billions of dollars and euros on fiber-copper-3G networks that led them to a huge debt now enters this newcomer that for a little fraction of what they paid promises to offer more than what they’re doing.
Posted on June 13, 2005
Eduardo Dias Says:
Sorry for the bad links.
Correction :
WiMAX: Wireless Broadband for the World
Intel Intros Affordable WiMAX Chip
Posted on June 13, 2005
Neo Says:
Thanks for taking the time Eduardo to list your links. I’ve bookmarked them and will review them in the next little while.
So Eduardo, how’s life in Portugal? Is there a big Mac community around where you live?
Cheers!
Neo
Posted on June 13, 2005
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
Cats Says:
Congrats Neo, as this is what you said in chapter 2 in October 2004!
“That “significant contribution to this next generation plugin technology” that Phil Schiller was referring to is none other than Apple’s WebCore.”
You called it right on and introduced Apple’s micro-browser connection! Excellent.
Posted on June 13, 2005