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Nokia Opens the S60 Browser Source Code
segphault writes "Nokia has released the source code of it's S60 WebKit browser for mobile devices. Based on the HTML rendering components used in Konqueror and Safari, the S60 WebKit has a multitude of advanced features designed specifically for web navigation on devices with small screens. Nokia decided to release the source code under the permissive BSD license in order to promote adoption by other mobile device companies. From the article: 'the power and scalability of WebKit-based browsers and the highly permissive license under which the S60 WebKit source code is available make it a good choice for companies that want to add mobile web browsing to their devices. I think it will be particularly interesting to see how this affects Opera, whose revenue primarily comes from distribution of its own virtually ubiquitous embedded browser.'"
Hmm. I could be wrong about this, but are they not leagally bound to relase the source to their browser? It looks like it is based on Konqueror, which I believe has a GNU license. Why are they even allowed to release it under a freebsd license?
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If they wanted to hedge their bets, they could begin developing a S60 based web browser.
Opera got its start as a phone company spin off. It's still a reasonably small company, and might be nimble enough to navigate the changes from open source software and adapt their business model accordingly.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
The built in browser on my Nokia seems rather poor. It's way better than what samsung build in, but it falls a long way short of Opera IMHO.
The quality of the built in browser isn't exactly a deal-breaker for most phone consumers, so it's probably not worth the money that Nokia invests in it. By opening it, they will get more development for their money and possibly a browser to rival opera.
I was working in S60 when Symbian 9 was in the development stream. I had the exact same concerns you just expressed: how is the little guy going to write apps for this? As a day-dreaming software developer I've always wanted a shot at that "killer app", so it was kind of depressing. But it is a depressing marketplace where Operators run the show and define what users can and can't do with their computing device. For operators, Symbian 9 seems like a dream - lock out whole sets of APIs to apps signed by only THEM. You want to write a browser that runs on phones in OUR network? What do WE get out of it?
BTW, there is a HUGE boost to security with that model.
In the end it doesn't matter so much to me. Symbian is dead in the U.S. and not likely resurrected. I'm more interested in Nokia's Linux/Wifi + VoIP style products.
So I can't run Python code on Symbian 9.1 through Nokia Python ?
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
So wait. I am not a geek because I want just a phone? How about CD quality audio for my calls instead of a web browser?
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
bah, they only recently added access to those APIs to the Python stuff, I hadn't even got round to looking at it yet. At least I have a heads up now to try and find my next phone model sans Restricted APIs
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter