Nokia And Apple Collaborate On Open Source Browser 177
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."
How about... (Score:4, Insightful)
Keep the peace(es).
Oh for the love of (Score:3, Insightful)
Most definitely works for me, at least.
and that's surprising because... (Score:4, Insightful)
Phone with a mouse? (Score:2, Insightful)
An RSS enabled phone would be cool though.
Actually just a basic phone number sync would be a pleasant surprise.
Nokia killing open source in EU (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:How about... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:How about... (Score:3, Insightful)
Why should new/better be 'anti-microsoft'? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:How about... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Nokia works with MS too... (Score:2, Insightful)
These are corporations, not blood enemies. Tech holy wars like Apple/MS, Sun/MS and Intel/Apple are so last-century.
Re:Smart Move (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Smart Move (Score:2, Insightful)
As the blurb says, it does raise questions about Nokia's connections to linux.
Is Linux an end in itself? (Score:2, Insightful)
If they start using OSX instead of Linux, would it really matter? Should users care about what OS they are using?
Re:Why should new/better be 'anti-microsoft'? (Score:3, Insightful)
How?
Exactly my point! The original article talks about Apple/Nokia participating in an "anti-microsoft ecosystem" as they work on this new phone project. That makes no more sense than my toast stupid-on-purpose-analogy.
Ah, the sweet comfort of familiarity... (Score:4, Insightful)
Bad news for Opera? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Nokia is probably not planning to use KDE (Score:2, Insightful)
True.
>
Not true, unfortunately.
Apple took KHTML, and restructured the code into layers, in order to remove the Qt-interface code, and replace it an OS/X Aqua interface layer.
Nokia then took Apple's version of KHTML, now called Webcore, and added a GTK interface layer [gnomedesktop.org].
So, while Nokia apparently has no problem with KDE itself, in that they are using KHTML-based code, it looks like Nokia will probably not be using the rest of KDE, due to KDE's dependence on Qt.
As most readers already know, Qt uses a GPL+proprietary licensing strategy, which forces commercial Qt developers to use the proprietary license, thus locking themselves in to a single vendor for Qt, namely, Trolltech. It has been speculated that this is the reason why some other companies, such as Sun, have chosen to go with Gnome instead of KDE.
This is an unfortunate situation, because KDE has a lot of potential, which is being held back by the license of its underlying Qt platform.
I would love to see the KDE developers restructure the rest of the KDE code in a manner similar to what Apple did to KHTML, such that KDE could be easily ported to multiple platforms (GTK, XUL, Windows, etc.), rather than just Qt.
That is unlikely to happen, however, since so many of the KDE developers are funded by Trolltech.
But, I guess there's no reason to worry, because the right things are probably going to happen anyway...
KDE will continue to succeed, supported by KDE-centered distributions, such as Mandriva.
And Trolltech's plan to make Qt the de facto standard for commercial Linux development, is probably going to meet with limited success. They'll make some money, but they won't achieve lock-in, as they and their financial backers are hoping.
"Just a phone, please" response (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Light-weight browsers - standards (Score:2, Insightful)
Now check http://www.nokia.com/ [nokia.com]
That's never going to display on one of their phones!
Re:"Just a phone, please" response (Score:3, Insightful)
The buttons and menu options for all these features clutter the interface, and make for more scrolling when trying to perform essential functions.
I personally paid US$150 to get an older model phone (V60i) as opposed to the color-screened cameraphones they were giving away for US$9.99. As a bonus, my phone is slightly smaller and lighter, but with larger, clearer buttons than the giveaways.
And on a side note cameraphones seem to be much less durable than older phones. Newer phones feel so much lighter and more plasticky than older ones. This is an inevitable result of wireless providers wanting their customers to trade up to phones that take advantage of more pay-per-use technologies like ringtown downloading, picture messaging, and the like.
I don't want to carry all that (Score:4, 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.
Exploiting, not supporting, open source software (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Re:Exploiting, not supporting, open source softwar (Score:2, Insightful)
What if the techniques I prefer involve using an algorithm or approach that is covered by an overly broad and not exactly innovative patent held by either Nokia/Apple/somebody else?