Samsung L870 S60 slider features Webkit-based browser
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 28th 2008 5:29AM
posted May 28th 2008 5:29AM
Update: As per the full press release (posted after the break), Samsung claimed that they'd brought mobile Safari to this device. Technically feasible, we suppose, but far more unlikely than some clueless PR flack screwing up the release. We'll let you know if Samsung HQ has anything differently to say about the matter, but until then we're calling this Webkit, not Safari.
Update 2: Yup, it's Webkit all right.
Samsung Introduces L870, a Stylish S60 Device
With a stunning design and open OS, styling and managing life is easier
With a stunning design and open OS, styling and managing life is easier
SEOUL, KOREA – May 28, 2008 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a leading mobile phone provider, introduced L870, a S60 embedded Smartphone designed for a life-enhancing experience. With an exquisite stainless steel body fully packed with the most-up-to-date OS applications, L870 will upgrade both style and productivity in everyday life.
Like a tailored pair of suit, every millimeter of L870 is carefully custom-designed to match the user's lifestyle. A magnificent stainless steel body softly brushed with elegant hairline pattern, and a 13.5mm slim and sleek outline, will perfectly complement every outfit and style. A minimalistic key pad that appearing when slides up, is deliberately designed to provide enough spaces between each keys to provide convenience.
Leveraging the capabilities of S60 platform, L870 brings full connectivity and application that surpass expectations for a handset device. The applications and features of the S60 software are not only easy to learn and use, but also enable maximum productivity. With Full-speed internet browser and more than 6,000 open applications are also compatible with L870 to customize the device for each individual's needs.
L870 features many useful Samsung pre-installed applications such as an advanced task manager Checkit, PIMs (Personal information manager) homescreen, Team manager and business card recognition function. With these applications, users will experience better time and life managing experience than ever.
L870 boasts many other latest applications and interfaces. Creative user interface (UI) featuring three different themes, 2.4-inch QVGA TFT display, a 3-megapixel camera, FM radio with RDS, music player and Bluetooth v.2.0 supports are all embedded within L870 for satisfying visual and audio entertainment needs.
"We are happy to compliment our product portfolio with yet another appealing S60 mobile, Samsung L870 that is fully customized with style, performance and user interface," says, Jongin Kim, the Vice President of Mobile Communication Division of Samsung Electronics. "With S60, we can successfully deliver the latest mobile technology with fully customizable applications and the intuitive user interfaces."
Samsung L870 will first be launched in Europe around August, then will continue to be available in all regions where GSM is available.
umm...s60v3's default browser has been based on webkit for around 2 years... this is nothing new nor exciting...
.....that is why the iphone had "the most web traffic" in apple's keynot.. because most site statistic apps didn't differentiate between the 10s of millions of symbian devices to the 4 million iphones.....when they updated those stats... the iphone had around 1.6% of mobile web traffic, and symbian jumped to 24... (it was still beat by the psp around 27%)
features are average on this phone.......definitely nothing to write home about...especially the browser....4gb max? gah.....phones for 3 years have been doing that....
altho i suspect this is going to a be a value s60 phone....so it will have it's weight..
the only feature i see pushing new tech... is os 9.3.... but thats because phones are just startin to trickle out with that...
jus my 2 cents
Methinks you are right. Here is the User-Agent string from my N95-4:
Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/92.; U; Series60/3.1 NokiaN5_8GB-3/20.2.005 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 ) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413
It just looks too much like a N95 (which isn't bad) and I would take Safari off and go with Opera mini
WOW!, indeed. Hopefully this phone doesn't share the same fate that my perfectly tailored pair of suit did after the operation that detached my brother from my hip...he was buried in it(them(the pair of, that is)). Life enhancing.
There's so much nonsense written here is is hilarious.
“Webkit is an open-source Konqueror browser kernel”
Kernel? This isn't an operating system!
Although Webkit steams from KHTML, huge investment (mainly by Apple, but also by Google as well) has resulted in big improvements.
Although Webkit is open source and has some great input from the community, it is important to remember Webkit is Apple's baby. Apple employs people full time to work on this project. Apple created the initial branch and Apple is pushing it the hardest:
http://developers.slashdot.org/developers/06/02/10/0750211.shtml
S60 is benefiting from the communities work on an Apple funded project. To try and credit Nokia with using Webkit “before” Apple when Apple was using Webkit internally before anyone knew Webkit existed had me in stitches.
iPhone browser market share is worked out from the user agent string, which is specfic to the iPhone, it is perfectly possible to tell it from S60 devices. I highly doubt the S60 browser renders pages better than iPhone, cause they both use Webkit. Maybe the same. Except S60 doesn't have Quartz.
I'm not sure if you were saying the webkit timeline in regards to my statement...I was pointing more in relation to the iPhone, as it is a less mature mobile device....but Steve Jobs' claimed that the iPhone, only 8 months on the market (or w/e it was at the time), had the most web traffic, out of any device, period.
and yes, most a relatively high percentage of stats, just read webkit, saw it was a mobile, and assumed iphone.. in fact.. a website one of my friends ran, i had a test run.. and both my iphone (obviously) and n95 showed up as an iphone on the records. iirc, it was seeing webkit, and just labeling it. had one of my buddies update the stats "engine", and voila, it read properly.
sure, safari on iphone can't do flash, but it is definitely better for browsing, mainly due to form factor. otherwise it's very similar.. for obvious reasons...
but to market the s60 browser as safari browser? i call marketing shenanigans to boost sales.