
RIM switching to open source WebKit - pmjordan
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/RIM-switching-to-open-source-WebKit-932717.html
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mdasen
It really looks like WebKit is going to become the standard for mobile
browsing. Google, Palm, Apple, and Nokia are all in the WebKit camp and now
RIM. Who does that leave now that RIM is going WebKit? Microsoft? Opera
clearly has its own engine, but they don't control a platform.

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lanstein
I don't know how Opera is on other mobile platforms, but on Android the UI is
absolutely rotten.

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nradov
Opera Mini (JME) works great on my Motorola stupid phone.

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CrazedGeek
The issue is that (IIRC) they use Mini on Android instead of Mobile. Better
for them (Mini's already written in Java), worse for others (Mobile is a much
more capable browser).

Hopefully Mini 5 will be more awesome and this will cease to be an issue. The
beta looks promising.

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pibefision
When?

They are very slow deploying new software. They are talking about a Twitter
client since last year and there is not a public beta yet

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lambda
"Full HTML5 support"? Er, no desktop browser has full HTML5 support. HTML5 is
not even done yet. How can they offer "full HTML5 support"?

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DougWebb
As another poster said, RIM is very slow at releasing software, so by the time
they release this HTML5 will probably be getting old.

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mrshoe
Boy I'd like to open HN some day and see the headline "IE switching to open
source WebKit"

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epall
Is it bad that the web (especially the mobile web) is shifting toward a
monoculture around WebKit?

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crux
Given that Webkit is an open-source project with contributors from many
different companies and areas of the industry, I don't see how monopoly could
divert too far in the direction of non-standardness.

Really, the concept of 'monoculture' doesn't really apply to browser
renderers, because a rendering engine isn't a cultural artifact. It's a
medium. It's designed to be totally neutral. The only reason that we're
discussing the competing browser engines right now, and discussing them in
terms of culture and creativity, is an artifact of their history, not their
nature.

~~~
fragmede
Well, yes and no. It isn't that big a deal with Webkit because it does a good
job at being standards compliant. But what if the mobile phone market was
converging on the IE6 rendering engine?

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drawkbox
It will be the Twilight Zone if the mobile market gets a more capable, better
browser market share breakdown than on desktop. Hrm, I wonder what Microsoft
will use for their new Windows Phone?

I had heard windows 7 might use OpenGL ES for graphics
(<http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=2752>) which would be amazing... But
latest news is that it won't. It would be very nice if Microsoft also went
with Webkit, but that will never happen. However the mobile gaming and browser
standards are starting to be established, will Microsoft become the IE6 of
mobile by not supporting OpenGL ES and WebKit or HTML5 capable browser?

It will be much harder to port games to Windows Mobile the way they are
setting it up. And web development for mobile would be nice with mobile market
supporting an html5 browser before desktop across the board.

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wheels
This has been coming down the pipe since RIM acquired Torch Mobile in August:

[http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/24/rim-buys-torch-mobile-
bla...](http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/24/rim-buys-torch-mobile-blackberrys-
might-finally-get-a-decent-br/)

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ori_b
I remember suggesting this idea way back when I was an intern with them a few
years ago. While I doubt this is a result of that (I was merely a lowly
intern-peon, and I doubt that the right people heard me).

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Sukotto
I wish... really really wish, they would make an email client that renders
html nicely.

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Fountain
Would this include the email client?

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Concours
this is a great news, it should be a good news for weapps coder, build once
and use on all plattform, good news.

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BasicObject
This is a win for developers everywhere.

