New version of Mozilla for mobile released

Nancy Gohring   Today’s Top Stories    or  Other Mobile and Wireless Stories  

Advance your BlackBerry(R) solution management know-how this July Enhancing Business Mobility with Convertible PCs Seven Steps to Secure and Seamless Field Mobility Managing Mobility: An IT Perspective Demonstrating the Business Value of Mobile Device Management in the Enterprise Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

February 20, 2006 (IDG News Service) -- The Minimo Project, the group developing a shrunk-down version of the Mozilla open-source browser for handheld devices, released a new version of Minimo on Saturday. The announcement is the latest indication that mobile phones will increasingly be used to access any content that is available on the Internet, analysts say.

Minimo 013 works on Windows Mobile devices, including handhelds and smart phones. It includes a new user interface and displays tabs that indicate multiple open pages. It also features a bar on the left side of the screen containing icons that directly link to common Web sites or applications such as Google, and a list of news Web sites with mobile-optimized pages. The application can be downloaded for free from the Minimo Web site, www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/.

While the overall trend in the development of mobile browsers is significant because they enable mobile access to almost all Web content, the latest Minimo release is aimed at a relatively small group of users, said Nick Jones, an analyst at Gartner Inc. That's because it is only available for Windows Mobile, which is only currently being used by a small group of mobile device users.

Minimo might gain more traction in the market if it were available on the more widely used Symbian Ltd. phones or as a Java application, which would make it usable on a very wide variety of phones, Jones said. "That's the problem with open-source, there's not much of a business model to fund ports onto other operating systems," he said.

Still, the fact that Opera Software ASA, Minimo and others are developing browsers for mobile devices points to a trend toward mobile users being able to access any online content, not just the limited sites operators have traditionally restricted them to, said Geoff Blaber, an analyst at Framingham, Mass.-based market research company IDC.

With higher-speed mobile data networks available, operators and vendors are beginning to pay more attention to enabling access to more content and to the overall user experience, he said. "In that sense, the browser can become important so vendors are really starting to place a significant emphasis on installing a decent browser," he said.

But in order for third-party browsers like Opera and Minimo to be successful, they will have to be available on mass-market phones and will need to come embedded on them, he said. "Users that get feature phones are not likely to go hunting for the latest version of Opera Mini and download it," Blaber said. Opera Mini is an application that can be downloaded onto Java-enabled phones and used through an Opera-hosted service to access any Web page.

In 2004, Nokia Corp. made a financial investment in Minimo, but the vendor has been largely silent about any continued involvement in the project. Nokia has shipped some phones with the Opera browser, but last year Nokia announced that it is developing its own open-source browser. At the time, it said it would ship its S60 smart phones with its own browser but that S60 licensees could choose the Opera browser as an add-on.

Reprinted with permission from

For more news from IDG visit IDG.net
Story copyright 2006 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"News around the web is that Apple is planning to reduce its iPhone shipments to Rogers, Canada's lone GSM/EDGE/HSDPA provider...." Read more... Read more Mobile & Wireless posts or See all Blogs

Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner HP eyes move of support facilities out of Colorado Springs Microsoft trumpets security additions in upcoming IE8 More top stories...

How much is too much? Upgrade your notebook without going over the line French ruling on counterfeit goods could have far-reaching effects for eBay Apple cuts price of high-end SSD MacBook Air by $500

This old laptop: Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap All it takes is a couple hours and about $125 to breathe new life into an old laptop. Here's how. Bill Gates moves on Is Microsoft's Golden Age over? What are Gates' most memorable quotes? Find out in Computerworld's complete coverage of the end of the Bill Gates era at Microsoft. Five things you should never tell your boss There are some things your CIO definitely doesn't want to hear. Also don't miss the flipside, Five things you should always tell your boss. Hands-On: Firefox 3 fixes what's broke and keeps what's right With its latest version, Mozilla's browser continues to raise the bar for what Web browsers should be. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland SecurityAsk a Premier 100 IT LeaderBlackBerry Legal BattleData Security BreachesElectronic VotingFirefoxH-1B VisasHP's Boardroom ScandalHandheld DevicesHurricane Katrina AftermathMicrosoft Legal IssuesMicrosoft's VistaOpen SourceRFID TechnologySCO's Linux FightSarbanes-Oxley ActSpamVoice Over IPWi-FiWindows Meta File VulnerabilityWindows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders2006 Salary Survey2007 Best Places to Work in IT2007 IT Forecast2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders40 Years of ComputerworldASPs, Take TwoBest Places to Work in IT 2003Best Places to Work in IT 2004Best Places to Work in IT 2005Best Places to Work in IT 2006Business Intelligence Home RunsBusiness Intelligence: Smarter BIBusiness Intelligence: The Future of BICRM Goes VerticalCRM: Sober CRMCareer Planning Guide 2005Careers: IT Profession 2010Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005Data Management: Mining for GemsData Management: Taming Data ChaosDevelopment: Hard-Workin' Web SitesDevelopment: New Tools New ChoicesDevelopment: The New World of Application DevelopmentDevelopment: The Web Services TsunamiDevelopment: Web Services HurdlesDisaster Recovery: Preparing for the WorstE-commerce Grows UpE-mail/Groupware: Big DecisionsFaces of Mobile ITForecast 2006Global MobileHardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple ChallengesHardware: On-Demand Un-HypedHardware: The Shape of Things to ComeHorizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge TechnologiesIT Management: Guide to Managing VendorsIT Management: Navigating Global ITIT Management: Recovery AheadIT Management: The Future of ITIT Management: The Resourceful Project ManagerInnovative Technology Awards 2004Management: Reinventing ITMicrosoft in TransitionMobile/Wireless Leaders and LaggardsMobile/Wireless: The Untethered WorkerMobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge CostsNetwork Management: Taking ControlNetworking: Turbulence Ahead!Networking: VoIP Goes MainstreamOperating Systems: In the Slow LaneOperating Systems: Linux Goes GlobalOperating Systems: Should You Nix Unix?Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's GuideOutsourcing: Outsourcing DangersPremier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in ClassPremier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in ClassROI: Do the Math!Salary Survey 2003Salary Survey 2004Salary Survey 2005Security Action PlanSecurity: Compliance HeadachesSecurity: Proactive SecuritySecurity: Risk and RewardSecurity: Tips From Security ProsSouped-up SecurityStorage: Battling ComplexityStorage: Cheap & Secure Data StoresStorage: Stretching Your Storage DollarsStorage: The Lean Storage MachineStorage: The New Rules of StorageStorage: The Ultimate Backup GuideSupply Chain: Missing LinksSupply Chain: RFID Reality CheckThe Business of SecurityWeb 2.0 SecurityWireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone See your link here

The Untethered Worker (Source: Computerworld) Today's roaming employees expect to be able to work in a conference room, airport, customer site or coffee shop. This report - covering wireless LANs, mobile applications and cellular networks - tells you how to get the job done, avoid chaos and maintain security! Download this executive briefing  Virtualization Everywhere Download this white paper, free, compliments of Citrix. (Source: Citrix) Adoption of virtualization is concentrated among large enterprises, while adoption by mid-sized companies has been much slower. For these companies, the cost and complexity of server virtualization solutions has been a barrier. In this paper, we'll discuss how Citrix XenServer" provides simple, economical server virtualization for any size company. Download now! Download this white paper  Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? Download this webcast, free, compliments of Sterling Commerce Go to the webcast  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Deploying Virtualized NetWare on Linux Whitepaper Toward More Flexible, Next-Generation Collaboration Solutions Driving Business Success Through Workgroup Choice and Flexibility View more whitepapers

• Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner
• HP eyes move of support facilities out of Colorado Springs
• Microsoft trumpets security additions in upcoming IE8
• More top stories 

Computerworld Executive Briefing: Automating Network Management IThis briefing looks at the basics of network management, which tend to get lost in the dizzying array of products and processes. It also examines new tools that are on the way to help IT executives deal with management in the new era of automation. Download this Executive Briefing now (a $195.00 value), compliments of ProCurve Networking by HP.