ZDNet's news editor Mary Jo Foley has written an interesting and informative piece about the impact of a growing number of “embedded web browsers”. While these browsers have appeared primarily to serve the needs of a few very specific applications, such as cell phones and PDAs, the trend is a good one and bodes well for the emerging market of embedded Linux applicances and devices of all types.

Mary Joe Foley writes . . .

“While the two browser kingpins continue to trade proclamations of Windows desktop domination, a number of lesser-known players targeting the embedded market are the ones pushing the most interesting technological and market developments.”

“In the embedded world, the rules are different. The prettiest HTML screen display doesn't necessarily win; the most compact technology that best displays plain old text does. On cell phones or Internet appliances, customers want quick access to stock quotes, sports scores and global positioning data. A one-size-fits-all approach is superceded by embedded browsers' more customized interfaces, tailor-made to handle niche chores, such as monitoring a soda machine's stock.”

“With these kind of diverse requirements, it's not surprising that the browser contest is more than just a two-horse race.”

Read full story

Related stories . . .

Espial Releases Browser for Smart Embedded Devices (news)
New Internet Browser for Embedded Linux Market (news)
Royalty-free embedded web server, with source (news)
Lineo Embrowser (product)

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.