Thread: New N800 firmware proof (coming along slowly)
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Milhouse is offline Milhouse
2007-06-19 , 00:36
Posts: 3,401 | Thanked: 1,255 times | Joined on Nov 2005 @ London, UK
#30
Originally Posted by phi View Post
Isn't Nokia part of the webkit development now? The same webkit that Apple uses to power safari? Would that imply that if Safari really takes off because of the iPhone then Nokia will pour their resources into something they're already have at their fingertips rather than paying someone like Opera to develop for them?
Yes, their S60/Symbian browser is based on WebKit.

From what I understand when Nokia were developing the 770 in 2005 they simply didn't have the time/resources to develop a Linux version of their own browser - and Minimo was much further away from reality than it is today - so they had to take the closed source third party route or delay the entire product. Two years later and open source alternatives to Opera are in much better shape, as is the Maemo platform itself so perhaps in the not too distant future Nokia can and will break the dependence on Opera.

For a company to develop a product called the Internet Tablet while not being in full control of the internet experience is akin to Apple developing the iPhone and not having any responsibility for how the user initiates a phone call.

iPhone User: "The iPhone crashes 30 seconds after I answer a call"

Apple: "We'll forward the details to the upstream maintainer and maybe they'll fix the problem, it's really outside of our control"
It would be unthinkable for Apple to allow themselves to get into that kind of a mess. Nokia need to take ownership of the browser on Internet Tablets, it's the only sensible option for the long term.
Last edited by Milhouse; 2007-06-19 at 00:38.