According to kitchenutensils, ZDNet reported that Nokia has been quietly funding Mozilla"s development of mobile device web browser project called Minimo.
The Minimo (Mini Mozilla) project is focused on developing an elegant web browser that is small enough to be used comfortably on mobile devices or systems with limited resource. Minimo, a product based on Mozilla 1.7a, has been the source of speculations that Nokia may be adopting future versions of this open-source software.
"We have an active dialogue with a variety of players, including Mozilla and Linux," Nokia spokeswoman Laurie Armstrong said. "It would be natural for us to consider a variety of options in the browser area for suitability for handhelds. Involvement with Mozilla would be a natural step for us."
Both Nokia and Mozilla Foundation declined to comment on the funding agreement.
With the lack of dominating players in the field, the Minimo project, although has a late start, does not face up-hill battle like its cousin Firefox does. Chris Hofmann, the director of Mozilla"s engineers, believe that Minimo do look fairly competitive compared to its competitors such as Opera, or Internet Explorer.
According to the research done by IDC in 2003, 500 millions mobile phones were shipped as opposed to the 155 millions PC sold. If Minimo was done right, the Dinosaur could claim the crown with wealth, glory, and acceptance.
Minimo has made the 0.1 release in February and the early project milestones can be seen by following the links below.