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Nokia And Apple Collaborate On Open Source Browser

Posted by Zonk on from the phone-browsing dept.

Michael writes "Nokia's ambitious bid to make the mobile phone as important a client device for business and leisure as the notebook PC took another important turn last week with news that it has created a browser in collaboration with Apple, which will be managed under the open source process. This starts to address awkward web browsing, a key weakness of the phone's bid to be the 'new notebook', and it raises interesting questions about how much further Nokia and Apple could go in cooperating on the anti- Microsoft ecosystem, and how far Nokia is committing its future to Linux."

19 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. How about... by KC7GR · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just for once, I'd like to see a phone manufacturer make a product that's really good at one thing, and one thing only: Being a PHONE!

    Keep the peace(es).

    --

    Bruce Lane, KC7GR,

    Blue Feather Technologies

    1. Re:How about... by ShadeEagle · · Score: 4, Informative

      Problem is, things like "market research" gets in the way of things like that.

      "People" want a phone that checks their e-mail, checks their websites, checks their blood pressure and checks their oil, all at a touch of a button.

      Oh, and full polyphonic and mp3 ringtones.

    2. Re:How about... by ZephyrXero · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The problem is however that we want such a device that does all these things well, and so far...all these devices that try to do everything just do a mediocre job at most of these tasks. I'd love a PDA/Cell Phone/Ogg & Mp3 player/Game System/camera/etc....but I doubt I'll ever see one that does them all very well on the same machine :/

      --
      "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
    3. Re:How about... by systemic+chaos · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Market research would correctly assess that I would like the possibility of an mp3 ringtone, but they seem to also think that I would A) want to buy the ringtone from them and B) want it to be blasted so heavily distorted from the tiny speaker that although it can be heard in neighboring states, no one can tell what it actually is playing.

    4. Re:How about... by Alef · · Score: 5, Insightful
      What I would like to have is a modularized system, where the phone/PDA/MP3-player etc is replaced by several independent units that connect using for instance bluetooth.

      It could be, for example, an uplink-unit, screen, earpiece and memory-unit. When the technology used to communicate changes, I'll just replace my uplink-unit and so on.

      But needless to say, this will never happen, since all those gadget manufacturers (Nokia, Apple or whatever) benefit from me having to buy a new phone+screen+camera+memory+earpiece+mp3-decoder every time I like/have to upgrade one of these technologies.

  2. dupe... by dominator · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/13/ 1158208&tid=181&tid=3

  3. and that's surprising because... by nightcrawler.36 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Like it or not, Apple is a stylsitic trend-setter. Nokia has the market share for the affluent techno-yuppies, which is where Apple's been. Sounds like a natural relationship.

    --
    - nightcrawler "Reality is an illusion, albeit a ver persistent one..." -A.Einstein
  4. Is the same browser.. by brainnolo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is it the same browser of few days ago or they are starting a brand new one?

    Slashdot. Dupe for Nerds.

  5. Why should new/better be 'anti-microsoft'? by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Apple and Nokia are going to put together something that fills a niche, and does it well/better than anything else out there, why must that be considered part of some "anti-Microsoft ecosystem?" How about it's just "better," and people will use it or not?

    This morning, I found a new, better way to butter my toast. It's so revolutionary that it may be part of the anti-margerine ecosystem.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  6. Re:Smart Move by daniil · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Naah. It's not because Apple is failing. It's because desktops themselves are failing. Already, laptops are outselling desktop computers. Other mobile computing devices are becoming increasingly popular as well.

    --
    Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
  7. Register: WTF by smittyoneeach · · Score: 4, Funny
    TFA Headline:
    Nokia shifting to Linux as it joins with Apple to challenge Windows 2
    I recall 'Doze 3.0, back in the days of the square wheel, and I'm pretty sure that there wasn't much web browsing going on then.
    If MS has tricked Nokia and Apple into somehow competing against Windows 2, I'm calling that the IT Judo Throw of the Year.
    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  8. Nokia's Slogan by Boss,+Pointy+Haired · · Score: 3, Funny

    For a long time, Nokia's slogan to accompany their mobile office features of advanced phones was:

    "Now you can get to work before you get to work."

    Bollocks to that.

  9. Ah, the sweet comfort of familiarity... by njfuzzy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When I saw this horribly outdated dupe article, I knew it had to be from either "Zonk" or "samzenpus". It feels so nice to be right.

    --
    My Photography - http://ian-x.com
    The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
  10. Re:Nokia works with MS too... by njfuzzy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah. Everyone knows all the cool Holy Wars are between Free/commercial software and secular/muslim nations. Get with the 2000s.

    --
    My Photography - http://ian-x.com
    The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
  11. Bad news for Opera? by rduke15 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This sounds like very bad news for Opera. As I understand it, Opera's business was mainly to sell a browser to manufacturers of Internet enabled devices, of which the most important one seems phones, of which the most important manufacturer is probably Nokia.

    Sure, they also sell the browser to regular users (and I have happily paid for it 2 or 3 times), and they also have an advertisement-supported version, but I guess the main revenue was expected to come from companies like Nokia.

    Even though I now mostly use Firefox, I would be very sad if Opera eventually disappeared.

  12. "Just a phone, please" response by tedhiltonhead · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People in these threads always complain about wanting "just a phone that works, please". I challenge anyone to prove that phones' modern bells and whistles detract in any way from their
    ability to provide phone service.

    Your phone's inclusion of Tetris, a camera, and polyphonic ringtones is NOT a trade-off against reception, battery life, or purchase price. I promise your $30 basic phone would not be any cheaper if it were "just a phone". Your reception and battery life, likewise, would not increase if it were "just a phone".

    In short, if you don't want the features, IGNORE THEM. It's really easy.

    Are you also going to complain about your Ford Escort's included radio?

    There's always the one-button "911 only" phones, which operate without a service plan at all, if you really don't want *any* features. :)

  13. Series60/Symbian and 770/maemo by cies · · Score: 3, Informative

    Nokia is currently doing 2 WebKit (based on KHTML/KJS by the KDE project) related webbrowsers:

    1) for 770/maemo
    this will be shipped with an opera-browser, but WebKit was ported to GTK+ (the toolkit used by maemo) as part of the feasability study. This port can be found under the name gtk-webkit and is used for the atlantis browser.

    2) for the Series60 (Symbian based)
    For this series Nokia is porting WebKit to the Symbian OS and Symbian toolkit, and will thus create a new browser.

    links:
    http://khtml.info/
    http://kde.org/
    http://gtk-webcore.sourceforge.net/
    http://www.akcaagac.com/index_atlantis.html
    http://www.series60.com/
    http://www.symbian.com/
    http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,1522,,00.html?orig=/7 70
    http://www.maemo.org/

    g'luck...
    Cies Breijs

  14. I don't want to carry all that by bluGill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't want to carry all that every day. I just want it all with me.

    Sometimes I want to take a picture, but most days I don't, so I never have a camera nearby. It would be nice if my phone had a useful camera. (It doesn't. I'd be happy with a single focus lens like the old 110 I had as a kid, but the resolution is too poor to take useful snapshots)

    I don't want a separate game machine, I just want something I can waste 5 minutes on when I'm unexpectedly told to wait.

    I don't want a separate PDA, I just want something that will remind me of my appointments, and allows me to easily enter more. (My current phone does the former, but not the latter)

    I don't want an ebook, I just want a few (changeable) books around that I can read when I have a few minutes to kill. (see games above)

    I never remember everything, and my pockets don't have room for it all either. Find a convergence that works I'd I'll use it. Sadly the implementation of convergence as it exists today is lacking. However it isn't the fault of convergence, it is the implementers' fault. I wish Apple would get into the cell phone market, and show everyone how to do it.

  15. Exploiting, not supporting, open source software by xiaomonkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It seems that both apple and nokia are strongly in favor of having software patents in the EU. I think one the given reasons for why this is necessary is that without software patents, they'll get eaten alive by open source developers.

    However, neither company seems to have a problem using open source software to futher their business objectives. So, it seems like they're simulanteously using and try to hobble open source so it can't compete with their proprioritary offerings. So wouldn't the best characterization of their behavior be selfish exploitation rather than 'support' of OSS.