The maemo team has just released a development version of a new browser engine, built on open source and Mozilla technologies. Testers and contributors are welcome. This version is functional, safe and available for download. It works on the Nokia N800 with the latest Internet Tablet OS 2007. Try it out!
Sharing the same key components than Firefox, this new browser engine has the capability to deliver advanced web technologies inside a pocketable form factor. The newest internet services will function on the Nokia N800, thanks to best-of-breed open standards support including full-AJAX, and integrated Adobe Flash 9. This also allows the creation of add-on's to personalize the browsing experience.
Feedback is very helpful for the ongoing development and testing work. The application is ready for end users: just install the browser engine in one-click and start using it!
After installation the Mozilla based browser engine will be set as default. The user interface of the open browser engine and the official Opera browser is the same, you will notice the difference in the functionality and behavior. Users can switch back to the official Opera browser through the Advanced option in the browser application menu. You can also deinstall the open browser from Application Manager at any time, without loosing bookmarks or other settings made for Opera.
You can submit bug reports (not suggestions) to bugs.maemo.org. Advanced users, developers and potential contributors can find more details at maemo.org/browser.
Thanks to the open standards support and a code base shared with Firefox, developers are able to easily port add-ons and extensions available from addons.mozilla.org. Firefox extensions can not be installed directly. More detailed information on add-on development can be found on maemo.org/browser and mozilla.org.
Extending the use of web technologies outside the basic browser environment, e.g. by enabling widgets and even application development.
We encourage other parties to join the development of this browser engine or use it in their products. Testers and developers are welcome to bring this beta to a final release and improve this browser engine through add-on's, extensions and new functionality. You can either directly get involved upstream at the mozilla.org projects or join the browser development project at maemo.org/browser.
The browser development is being done with active synchronization with the Mozilla browser engine code-base. Nokia is also contributing the modifications and improvements back to the Mozilla Foundation to evolve Mozilla in a totally new frontier, pocketable browsing. In the future, we will continue to work on our browser solutions in active co-operation with the Mozilla browser work.
To avoid any confusion, note that this browser engine does not come from the Minimo project. The Minimo project targets mobile devices with a reduced set of features, but is built on the same Mozilla components as the new browser for tablets.