Nokia Browser for Symbian explained

Web Browser for S60
Developer:	Nokia
Latest Release Version:	8.3.2
Operating System:	Symbian OS
Platform:	S60 platform
License:	BSD
Website:	browser.nokia.com (offline)

Nokia Browser for Symbian (formerly known as Web Browser for S60) was the default web browser for the S60 and Symbian mobile phone platform.^[1] The browser is based on a port of Apple Inc.'s open-source WebCore and JavaScriptCore frameworks which form the WebKit rendering engine that Apple uses in its Safari Web browser.^{[2] [3]}

History

The first version in 2002 was lacking support for the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and Wireless Markup Language (WML) and Adobe Flash Lite. s60 version 2 introduced support for WAP and WML.^[4] Hence the Nokia Services (WAP) browser was the default browser on initial device shipments of this platform.

Nokia announced porting WebKit to the S60 Browser in June 2005,^[5] and made it available in November. At the 2006 World Wide Web Conference, Nokia announced that it was releasing the source code for its port of WebKit back to the community.^[6]

Browser

It supports:

• HTML
• WAP 2.0 (XHTML)
• Cookies and JavaScript
• Wide web pages can be formatted for mobile viewing
• Multi-file download
• Super web browsing

Drawbacks:

• Multi-window browsing is not supported.
• It does not compress pages, which puts a greater strain on the phone's processor and bandwidth usage.

S60v3 Browser (1 April 2006)

It supports:

• HTML
• WAP 2.0 (XHTML)
• Cookies and Adobe Flash Lite
• Multi-window browsing
• Many files (up to 10) can be downloaded at once. This s60 v3 was the first version to support Adobe Flash Lite.

Nokia Browser 7.0

Nokia Browser 7.0 is supported on S60 5th Edition devices.

This version supports all of the features of prior to the Nokia Browser 7 releases, as well as the following additional features:

• Support for touch devices
• On-screen zoom controls

Nokia Browser 7.1

Nokia Browser 7.1 is supported on S60 3rd and 5th Edition devices.

New features:

• Based on WebKit 525
• Full support for Flash Lite 3.0^[7]
• Supports kinetic scrolling^[8]
• User-configurable shortcut keys and visual keymap
• Full-screen view^[9]

Drawbacks:

• Copy paste support is poor. If you have a device with no Control-key or Pen-key, you can not copy paste in most web forms. With older Nokia models, like N95 or E90, this was not a problem, as N95 had a Pen-key and E90 had a Control-key. New N86 and N97 do not have such keys. However, E72, which was released in 11/2009, has a Control-key.
• Some jQuery effects are not supported (fadeIn and slideDown)

Nokia Browser 7.2 (Symbian^3)

The Nokia Browser 7.2 is supported on Symbian^3 and S60 (3rd and 5th Edition) platform devices.

New features:^[10]

• Support for Capacitive touch display
• Two finger touch support (pinch open and pinch close) - on capacitive touch devices only
• Support for Optical Finger Navigation
• Flash Lite 4.0 - On Symbian 3 devices only
• Flash Lite 3.1 - On Symbian 3, S60 5th Edition, and S60 3rd Edition (Feature Pack 2) devices
• Search Client Integration

Nokia Browser 7.3 (Symbian Anna)

Nokia Browser 7.3 is pre-installed on Symbian Anna devices (like the Nokia E6 and Nokia X7). Browser 7.3 is also available to Symbian^3 devices (Nokia C6-01, Nokia C7, Nokia E7, Nokia N8) as part of the upgrade from Symbian^3 to Symbian Anna. Some S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition devices received the updated browser in the form of firmware updates.^[11] This version brings a touch-optimized user interface in addition to better web standards support and improved performance.

New features include:

• Basic HTML5 support
• CSS 3 support
• JavaScript 1.8 support
• Viewport meta tag support
• Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) support
• Flash Lite 4.0.3 support
• VGA screen support
• Multi-window browsing
• touch-optimized user interface:^[12]
  • Split-screen virtual keyboard support for live update of input fields
  • Easy to access address bar at the top of the page with improved auto-complete
  • Back button is always accessible
  • Full screen and quick menu access button

Nokia Browser 7.4 (Nokia Belle)

Nokia Browser 7.4 is pre-installed on Nokia Belle devices (Nokia 600, Nokia 603, Nokia 700, Nokia 701). Browser 7.4 is also available to Symbian^3/Anna devices as part of the upgrade from Symbian Anna to Nokia Belle.^[13]

Browser 7.4 added support for the following features:^[14]

• HTML5 Audio/Video APIs and UI
• HTML5 Geolocation APIs and UI
• URL hash tag navigation (back/forward) within a web page without page reloads

Additionally, the user interface is changed in comparison to v7.3 as follows:

• Previous/next page, Bookmarks, Multi-window navigation, menu buttons at the bottom
• Direct access to RSS web feeds from the menu
• Links can be shared via SMS, e-mail, or Bluetooth

Nokia Browser 8.3 (Nokia Belle)

Come with Nokia Belle FP2 (Nokia 603, Nokia 700, Nokia 701, Nokia 808)

• Better HTML5 and JavaScript support
• Contains a bug (v8.3.2.21) where selecting "clear privacy data -> all" doesn't actually clear cookies; they must be cleared specifically.

See also

• Mobile browser
• Information appliance
• User agent
• Nokia Xpress

External links

• Nokia Browsers
  • Nokia Browser
  • Nokia Developer - Symbian Browsers
• S60WebKit (Rendering engine)
  • Nokia Developer - S60WebKit
  • Webkit - Trac - S60WebKit Project

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nokia Browser for Smartphones . 16 February 2012 . 28 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120228161804/http://browser.nokia.com/smartphones.html . dead .
2. Web site: Nokia introduces a new Web browser for S60 3rd Edition . Nokia PR . 2 November 2005 . press.nokia.com . 21 March 2007 . 25 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120325025928/http://press.nokia.com/2005/11/02/nokia-introduces-a-new-web-browser-for-s60-3rd-edition/ . dead .
3. Web site: Nokia Developer - S60WebKit . 16 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120301093551/http://www.developer.nokia.com/Community/Wiki/S60WebKit . 1 March 2012 . dead .
4. Web site: Description Nokia Web Browser S60 (OSS Browser) . Eldar Murtazin . 28 December 2006 . mobile-review.com . 21 March 2007 .
5. Web site: Nokia develops a new browser for Series 60 by using open source software . Nokia PR . 13 June 2005 . press.nokia.com . 21 March 2007 . 25 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120325025944/http://press.nokia.com/2005/06/13/nokia-develops-a-new-browser-for-series-60-by-using-open-source-software/ . dead .
6. Web site: Nokia releases 'Web Browser for S60' engine code to open source community . Nokia PR . 24 May 2006 . press.nokia.com . 21 March 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070228232036/http://www.nokia.com/A4136002?newsid=1052589 . 28 February 2007 .
7. http://www.developer.nokia.com/Community/Discussion/showthread.php?174726-S60-Browser-7.1 S60 Browser 7.1 - Nokia Developer Community - Discussions
8. http://techie-buzz.com/mobile-news/nokia-n97-mini-exclusive-review.html Nokia N97 Mini Exclusive Hands-On Review
9. http://www.developer.nokia.com/Resources/Library/Web/nokia-browsers/symbian-browsers/browser-version-specific-information.html Browser version-specific information
10. Web site: Nokia Browser 7.2 . Browser version-specific information . Nokia Developer . 2 November 2011 . 28 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120213212857/http://www.developer.nokia.com/Resources/Library/Web/nokia-browsers/symbian-browsers/browser-version-specific-information.html#GUID-033417BD-B6AD-40DD-9586-CA0ECA4936B9__GUID-C7FA4369-4FA8-41FB-A4C4-502CBC70384F . 13 February 2012 . dead .
11. http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/13056_Many_S60_3rd_Edition_and_S60_5.php Browser and Maps updates for many S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition phones
12. http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/12782_Symbian_Anna-usability_focused.php All About Symbian - Symbian Anna roll out has started
13. Home - Nokia - Nederland. Europe.nokia.com. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
14. https://archive.today/20130104060820/http://www.developer.nokia.com/Resources/Library/Web/nokia-browsers/symbian-browsers/browser-74x.html Browser 7.4.x