Yahoo news looks at the announcement Nokia has made saying “that it was working with Apple to develop an open source software-based mobile web browser for its Series 60 platform used in smartphones”. The browser will be available in the first half of 2006.The article says,”Other handset makers are also using open source software, and most of the rest are likely to follow, not least because it is royalty-free.Motorola started using Linux-based operating systems in 2003 in products such as the A780 smartphone. NEC uses Linux in the 900iL, the first commercial cellular handset to offer WLan connectivity and IP telephony support. Samsung has demonstrated a prototype 3G smartphone using a Linux kernel (or core) developed by MontaVista Software, the US company which is the main distributor of phone-specific Linux.Matt Lewis, director of ARC Chart, the London-based wireless industry analysts, notes that Linux has been given a significant boost this year by PalmSource’s acquisition of China MobileSoft (CMS), a leading Chinese mobile phone software company which has also developed a Linux kernel optimised for handhelds”.

Open source in a world without wire