Nokia today announced the release to the global open source software community of the source code for S60 WebKit, the engine for its Web Browser for S60, increasing the momentum of the drive toward an open code base for web browsers used on mobile devices.
Nokia says that its contribution of the S60 WebKit source code, with mobility enhancements that are intended to make WebKit easier to port to different mobile platforms, will enable reduced fragmentation in the next generation of mobile browsers, simplifying content development for the mobile web and accelerating adoption of mobile browsing by millions of smartphone users worldwide.
Nokia’s open sourcing of the engine to its S60 mobile browser, which replicates on handheld devices the web-page rendering of complete desktop browsers, marks the start of a collaborative open source effort to push beyond the millions of mobile-friendly pages currently on the web and begin to experience full web browsing.
“Nokia’s open source based Web Browser for S60 leads the way for Internet browsing on mobile devices,” said Przemek Czarnecki, executive vice president of Terminal Technology, T-Mobile International. “Its innovative handling of website navigation, which is similar to using a web browser on the desktop, is of particular interest to T-Mobile as we are closely working on Internet browsing with our product ‘web’n’walk’. The use of open source to achieve greater website compatibility is an important strategy for the mobile industry.”
“This initiative will attract a critical mass of open source software developers to build a consistent, web browser engine as the clearest path to minimize fragmentation in the mobile browser market,” said Lee Epting, vice president of Nokia’s global software developer support program, Forum Nokia. “With nearly 100 million smartphones deployed worldwide, a common open source solution driving mobile web browser consistency will deliver on the long-awaited promise of full-web browsing and a true web experience for smartphone users around the globe.”
“Nokia is pleased to deliver its mobility enhancements to the S60 browser engine and excited that developers will be collaborating through Webkit with the open source community on real-time evolution of the browser core code, paving the way toward broad adoption of an open source solution for next-generation browsing throughout the mobile industry,” said Heikki Heinaro, vice president for S60 applications, Nokia.