NMC: Series 60 v3 Gains Safari-Derived Web Browser

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Utilising the open-source WebCore and JavaScriptCore components from Apple's Safari browser (which itself s derived from the KDE Konqueror browser), Nokia will ship this new web browser to licencees of version 3 of the Series 60 platform. The full press release also notes that it will support RSS feeds, have a significant number of open API's for developers, and allow plug-ins such as FlashLite.

Full Press Release

Nokia introduces a new Web browser for S60 3rd Edition

Powerful open source engine enables intuitive Web experience in S60 smartphones

Nokia Mobility Conference 2005, Barcelona, Spain/Espoo Finland - Nokia today unveiled the new Web browser for its world leading smartphone software, S60 platform. The new browser is aimed to provide smartphone users with a true Web experience and industry leading performance when browsing full Web pages on the Internet using a smartphone.  The new Web browser is available to S60 licensees as part of the S60 3rd Edition offering.

"Nokia studies of S60 smartphone users show two clear trends: browsing is generating over 60% of data traffic, and the improved network performance of WCDMA/3G more than doubles the browser usage compared to GPRS/EDGE, offering increased revenue potential for operators," said Heikki Heinaro, Vice President, S60 Applications, Nokia Technology Platforms.

"Nokia's approach to browsing on smartphones in the 3G era is to offer a premium solution for content discovery and download, with equal access both to Web sites on the Internet and mobile optimized content. The new Web browser is poised to make Web browsing fast, intuitive, and more enjoyable for both consumers and enterprise users," Heinaro continued.

As announced earlier this year, the new Web browser for S60 is based on the WebCore and JavaScriptCore components of Apple's Safari Web Kit, the industry's smallest and fastest open source full Web rendering engine for mobile devices that Apple uses in its popular Safari Internet browser. Based on KHTML and KJS from KDE's Konqueror open source project, this software has enabled Nokia to achieve major improvements in Web site usability on smartphones, through the re-use of a proven desktop rendering engine that has been developed and optimized by a large open source community over many years.

"Safari Web Kit's blazing performance, efficient code base and support for open standards make it an ideal open source technology for projects like the new Web browser for S60," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "We're delighted that Nokia can take advantage of Apple innovation and our commitment to open source development to bring a new Web experience to S60 smartphones."

The new browser provides a True Web experience though features such as:

  • - Preservation of the original page layout, presented just as the Web site designers intended;
  • - Easy navigation of Web pages through page miniatures, reducing the amount of scrolling;
  • - Pop-up blocking, enhanced start page, and simplified menus;
  • - Visual History, an easy-to-use back function, showing miniature views of previous pages;
  • - Text Search, which works as you type, taking you directly to the interesting part of the page;
  • - Web Feeds, providing easy access to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds from Web sites, blogs, and news stories;
  • - Dynamic HTML, supporting dynamic menus, rollovers, and scripted behavior such as AJAX applications;
  • - Extensive support of industry standards including W3C's HTML, XHTML 1.0, DOM, CSS and SVG-Tiny; other Web standards such as SSL and ECMAScript; and Netscape style plug-ins including Flash Lite and audio.
The browser's open source codebase and extensible architecture will enable other industry parties, such as S60 licensees and the open source community, to develop new features for the browser. S60 application developers can use open APIs to build on top of the browser, using it to render rich content within their application.  Nokia is committed to open source, and intends to actively participate in the open source community to further develop and enhance the browser, contributing Nokia's expertise in mobility.
 
"The KDE Project is excited that Nokia will bring KDE's award-winning open source technology to mobile devices through the S60 platform. It is a testament to the value of the open source community's work, and will stimulate further innovation in KHTML and mobile applications. We look forward to facilitating this innovation through further collaboration with Nokia," said George Staikos, the representative for the KDE Project in North America.