MicroB
Encyclopedia
MicroB is a mobile web browser developed by Nokia
for use in smartphones and mobile devices that run the Maemo
operating system
. The browser is Mozilla
-based and uses the Gecko
layout engine
.
It is shipped with Nokia's N800
, N810
and N900
Internet Tablets, and is also available for the 770 via the 'Hacker Editions' of the operating system. In place of Mozilla's XUL
-based user interface
, MicroB uses the Maemo-native (GTK-based) Hildon API
and widgets.
as Internet Tablet OS's default browser with the release of Internet Tablet OS 2008 on November 18, 2007 with the N810
.
-based and uses the Gecko engine
, but a number of features are omitted due to platform-specific limitations. In particular, SVG
support is disabled due to unacceptable performance, and XUL is not included to reduce size and decrease memory consumption. As XUL is not included, most Firefox plugins require porting and repackaging before they can be used with MicroB. In place of XUL, MicroB uses GTK and the Hildon UI
toolkit to provide a native interface.
ed. The Maemo Browser Extras project is responsible for a large number of the available add-ons.
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
for use in smartphones and mobile devices that run the Maemo
Maemo
Maemo is a software platform developed by the Maemo community for smartphones and Internet tablets. It is based on the Debian Linux distribution, but has no relation to it...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. The browser is Mozilla
Mozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
-based and uses the Gecko
Gecko (layout engine)
Gecko is a free and open source layout engine used in many applications developed by Mozilla Foundation and the Mozilla Corporation , as well as in many other open source software projects....
layout engine
Layout engine
A web browser engine, , is a software component that takes marked up content and formatting information and displays the formatted content on the screen. It "paints" on the content area of a window, which is displayed on a monitor or a printer...
.
It is shipped with Nokia's N800
Nokia N800
The Nokia N800 Internet tablet is a wireless Internet appliance from Nokia, originally announced at the Las Vegas CES 2007 Summit in January 2007. N800 allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using Wi-Fi networks or with mobile phone via Bluetooth. The N800 was developed as the...
, N810
Nokia N810
The Nokia N810 Internet tablet is an Internet appliance from Nokia, announced on 17 October, 2007 at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Despite Nokia's strong association with cellular products, the N810 is not a phone, but instead allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using...
and N900
Nokia N900
The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Texas Instruments OMAP3 microprocessor with the ARM Cortex-A8...
Internet Tablets, and is also available for the 770 via the 'Hacker Editions' of the operating system. In place of Mozilla's XUL
XUL
In computer programming, XUL , the XML User Interface Language, is an XML user interface markup language developed by the Mozilla project. XUL operates in Mozilla cross-platform applications such as Firefox...
-based user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
, MicroB uses the Maemo-native (GTK-based) Hildon API
Hildon
Hildon is an application framework originally developed for mobile devices running the Linux operating system. It was developed by Nokia for the Maemo operating system and is now a part of GNOME. It focuses on providing a finger-friendly interface...
and widgets.
History
MicroB was initially released as a public beta for Internet Tablet OS 2007 on July 17, 2007 to allow 3rd party developers and community members to develop and port plugins, and help shape the development of the browser. It was updated several times before it replaced OperaOpera (web browser)
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
as Internet Tablet OS's default browser with the release of Internet Tablet OS 2008 on November 18, 2007 with the N810
Nokia N810
The Nokia N810 Internet tablet is an Internet appliance from Nokia, announced on 17 October, 2007 at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Despite Nokia's strong association with cellular products, the N810 is not a phone, but instead allows the user to browse the Internet and communicate using...
.
Architecture
MicroB is MozillaMozilla
Mozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the Mozilla.org project and the Mozilla Foundation, their defunct commercial predecessor Netscape Communications Corporation, and their related application software....
-based and uses the Gecko engine
Gecko (layout engine)
Gecko is a free and open source layout engine used in many applications developed by Mozilla Foundation and the Mozilla Corporation , as well as in many other open source software projects....
, but a number of features are omitted due to platform-specific limitations. In particular, SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics
Scalable Vector Graphics is a family of specifications of an XML-based file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic . The SVG specification is an open standard that has been under development by the World Wide Web Consortium since 1999.SVG images and their...
support is disabled due to unacceptable performance, and XUL is not included to reduce size and decrease memory consumption. As XUL is not included, most Firefox plugins require porting and repackaging before they can be used with MicroB. In place of XUL, MicroB uses GTK and the Hildon UI
Hildon
Hildon is an application framework originally developed for mobile devices running the Linux operating system. It was developed by Nokia for the Maemo operating system and is now a part of GNOME. It focuses on providing a finger-friendly interface...
toolkit to provide a native interface.
Add-ons
Add-ons usually need to be portPort
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
ed. The Maemo Browser Extras project is responsible for a large number of the available add-ons.
Some MicroB Plugins
- Adblock Plus
- Adobe Flash 9Adobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
(bundled with Maemo) - FlashblockFlashblockFlashblock is a content-filtering extension for the Mozilla Firefox- and Mozilla Application Suite-based web browsers. Flashblock allows users to prevent page elements, such as HTML object tag Browser plug-ins and advertisements, from being displayed...
- GearsGears (software)Gears, formerly Google Gears, is software offered by Google that "enables more powerful web applications, by adding new features to your web browser. It allows some online files to be used offline"...
(partial functionality) - GreasemonkeyGreasemonkeyGreasemonkey is a Mozilla Firefox extension that allows users to install scripts that make on-the-fly changes to HTML web page content on the DOMContentLoaded event, which happens immediately after it is loaded in the browser .As Greasemonkey scripts are persistent, the changes made to the web...
- All scripts that work on the desktop version of Firefox work fine in MicroB, extending the capabilities of the browser and even replacing the need for some extensions which are not available for MicroB. - MPlayerMPlayerMPlayer is a free and open source media player. The program is available for all major operating systems, including Linux and other Unix-like systems, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Versions for OS/2, Syllable, AmigaOS and MorphOS are also available. The Windows version works, with some minor...
plugin - Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
Stream and Real Player stream supports via the built-in Media player - WMLWMLWML may stand for:* What's My Line?, a game show* White matter lesion, a lesion of the white matter* Wireless Markup Language, markup used for mobile phones with Wireless Application Protocol* Website Meta Language, Unix software for HTML generation...
browser