11/02/2005, 7:00pm, EST
Wednesday, November 2nd
Nokia offers Apple Webkit-based browser
"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."
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.
The browser allows users to browse content on the web while preserving the original page layout; easy navigation of Web pages through page miniatures (reducing the amount of scrolling); pop-up blocking, enhanced start page, and simplified menus; a visual history, including an easy-to-use back function, showing miniature views of previous pages; text Search (works as you type); access to Web feeds such as RSS; supports dynamic HTML (dynamic menus, rollovers, and scripted behavior such as AJAX applications, etc.) and more.
Nokia says the Apple-based offering delivers 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.
Nokia promises to give back
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, according to Nokia. The company says that S60 application developers can use open APIs to build on top of the browser--to render rich content within their application. Nokia says it 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.
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Further, it's interesting that they chose Apple's Safari branch rather than the KHTML base; looks like Apple's decision to open source their tree rather than just feed back to the original project was a wise one.
KHTML doesn't pass Acid2 yet, does it?
Be patient...............
as for the palm... this has been out for the better part for over a year. i use the Palm TREO 650, its the cats ass. well worth the 40 clams. also works well with iSync.
the missing sync. http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_palmos.php
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Sync Services savvy • Synchronizes with Address Book & iCal data • Support for expanded Palm OS contact info and contact photos • Synchronizes iCal calendars to Palm OS calendar categories • Included MemoPad application supports Spotlight searching • Supports existing Palm conduits such as FileMaker and Entourage • Folder Sync conduit keeps files in sync • Synchronizes iTunes playlists, including those that randomize • Synchronizes iPhoto albums; copies device photos into iPhoto • Connects via USB cable/dock, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi • Mounts memory expansion cards on the Mac Desktop • Shares your Mac's Internet connection for email and web access • SyncMinder™ reminds you to sync • Backs up and restores your device and memory expansion cards • Includes Mark/Space Conduit for AvantGo • Includes SplashPhoto Viewer • Includes TimeCopy conduit to sync your device's clock
I just performed the test on my fully updated Mac (10.4.3, Safari 2.0.2 (416.12)) and it clearly fails to render the smiley-face like the reference rendering. You sure you're not viewing the reference PNG instead of performing the test? Run it again.....
When I first ran the Acid2 Test, I had disabled Plugins in my Safari Prefs and was wondering why it kept failing the Acid2 test after updating to 10.4.3. By chance I decided to enable Plugins in Safari, and now it passes the test. Why is this? what part of the smiley-face requires a plug-in? If you disable plugins in safri, you'll notice it will fail the test.
This *obvious* design feature sure took a long time to arrive. Or maybe I missed it. Does anyone know of a Palm browser that does this? Preferably Treo 650 compatible. :-D