The Russian site Mobile-Review reviews Nokia’s second version of their WebKit web browser (which was derived from WebCore/KHTML). This new unreleased-yet version offers WML support, opening links in new windows, display rotation, saving of any image, password manager, offline browsing, ATOM feed support, FlashLite 2.0 (no, this has no YouTube or other fancy Flash support) and much more. The first smartphones to offer WebKit’s 2.0 browser will be the Nokia 6290 and N95 (which they will be running the new Symbian S60 3.1 version) that are scheduled to be released around April ’07. If we were allowed for our own share of speculation, we would say that Apple’s and Google’s upcoming phones will be using a port of this open source browser too.
A Review of Nokia’s WebKit 2.0 Browser
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSAlert.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
As I’m potentially in the market right now for a new smart phone, and looking heavily at the E61 (S60v3) – can I expect an “upgrade” to 3.1? I’m new to Nokia, this will be my first phone from them.
Sure looks like a great browser, and a great upgrade with 3.1. The rotate display feature looks like a winner, been wanting to have that on my current phone with Opera Mini.
PS – I love Mobile Review, those guys put out awesome write-ups!
No, there will be no Symbian S60 3.0 phone that will be upgraded to S60 3.1, which is a major new version. This was made clear on the blogs.s60.com a few weeks ago by a Nokia employee. Only some phones get (minor) firmware upgrades to fix some bugs, and these upgrades are only available for some languages that the said phone was selling well. Other languages/countries are left in the cold.
The E61 might get one more firmware upgrade (the third minor update, v3.0633.09.04, was released just a week ago), but that’s it. The E61 does not require rotation btw, because it is already in landscape mode. I own the E61 and I love the fact that its latest firmware enables a higher compatibility with VoIP SIP providers (it now supports STUN). I am using my E61 to always be ON with GizmoProject, Ekiga, FWD and VoiceBuster!
Regarding rotating the screen with Opera Mini is almost impossible to work with all phones, because not all phones have Java implementation that support that well. Not only that, but you get a performance hit when you rotate apps, so if your app is not able to have real hooks to the underlying OS as a native app instead of a Java app, it’s not a wise idea to use rotation.
If you need the new WebKit browser and you also need Wifi, you must wait for more models to get announced and make your purchase at around Summer 2007 (the N95 does it all, but it will be ridiculously expensive at first). If you need something NOW, get either the E61 or the E50. Both quad-band (Cingular requires 850 Mhz in some places in USA, not sure about Hawaii where you are from) and pretty cheap for what they offer (the E50 can be found for $250 and the E61 for $360).
Email me if you need more info, I am a lot into mobility lately.
Edited 2006-12-29 00:40
Awesome, thanks!
Nokia really does seem to be on the ball lately, looking forward to see what the future holds. I’m curious for more info on 3.1 too, I’ll shoot off an email so I don’t get too off topic here.
+1 for you!
Err, I can’t +1 on you, I tried twice, lol. Bug?
Edited 2006-12-29 00:45
Regarding S60 3.1 read here:
http://www.mobile-review.com/review/nokia-s60-3dfp1-en.shtml
Eugenia is staff (even though her comment doesn’t says so, for some reason) so you cannot moderate her comments, neither up nor down.
Don’t know if she is using a regular account (non-staff), though.
>even though her comment doesn’t says so
The comment is clearly marked as “OSN Staff” on the right side.
Risking myself to quote Monty Python but…
No, it isn’t.
If it’s not, then it’s a bug. Tell Adam. It shows as such on the admin’s layout, the not-logged-in layout, and the subscriber’s no-ads layout. There might be a bug with the fourth layout, which is the logged-in/no-subscriber one, like most of you are on.
I’ll take a screenshot and send.
It’s not a bug. Only users with a certain trust level see moderation for admins. Everyone else sees “OSN Staff.”
Funny. In this subthread, Eugenia’s comment is marked ‘OSN Staff’. In the main thread though, it says “Score: 1” with the mod buttons enabled.
Administrator comments CAN be modded, but only by “trusted” users. I’m not going to get into who exactly, but a percentage of our users *can* moderate admin comments.