Nokia working on mobile phone web servers

Bob Russell · 01-23-2006, 11:27 PM

A research center at Nokia is working on an open source project that would literally make cell phones into web servers. You might think it's a big crazy and that they are biting off more than a phone can chew, but listen to the background they provide. "For quite some time it has been possible to access the Internet using mobile phones, although the role of the phone has strictly been that of a client. Considering that the modern phones have processing power and memory on par with and even exceeding that of webservers when the web was young, there really is no reason anymore why webservers could not reside on mobile phones and why people could not create and maintain their own personal mobile websites." It makes a lot of sense.

Right now it's just an experiment. They specifically say "The software is currently used inside Nokia as an experimentation platform."

You can read more about the project at the Nokia research site.

(via Digg)

Brian · 01-24-2006, 07:35 AM

I've been waiting for this to be revived because it will allow for some pretty powerful data sharing capabilities. Apple Newtons have been web serving for years using Newton Personal Data Sharing which allows someone to serve up websites, share their addressbook, notes, and calendar. You can see Newtons serving up websites and sharing data at these sites:

Grant Hutchinson's Newton (Live Screenshot)
David Shultz Jr's Newton (Live Screenshot)

Wtih the right permissions and security protocols, you could serve up live access to your calender, documents, files, photos, etc, which allows for some truly innovative capabilities on our handhelds. You could share your entire calendar, giving different permissions for how much you allow certain people to see. Friends and family members, for example, could see times and details. Co-workers could see only items marked "business". You could then grant permission to others to see only that you are "unavailable" at certain times. Combine this with iCal and vCards, and people could check your schedule then request a meeting or appointment, then if they have adequate permissions, tentatively schedule and appointment subject to your approval.

If you want to share your location with friends and family members for example but don't want your cell phone provider or a web service tracking you, then having your phone serving up this data to authorized people only solves a major privacy concern.

There are tons of other applications, and this example is only scratching the surface. Nokia is well known for their expertise and focus on mobile social software, and this news is a step in the right direction and is long overdue. This will help transform mobile computing and personal information sharing.

Brian

01-23-2006, 11:27 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Nokia working on mobile phone web servers A research center at Nokia is working on an open source project that would literally make cell phones into web servers. You might think it's a big crazy and that they are biting off more than a phone can chew, but listen to the background they provide. "For quite some time it has been possible to access the Internet using mobile phones, although the role of the phone has strictly been that of a client. Considering that the modern phones have processing power and memory on par with and even exceeding that of webservers when the web was young, there really is no reason anymore why webservers could not reside on mobile phones and why people could not create and maintain their own personal mobile websites." It makes a lot of sense. Right now it's just an experiment. They specifically say "The software is currently used inside Nokia as an experimentation platform." You can read more about the project at the Nokia research site. (via Digg)

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01-24-2006, 07:35 AM	#2
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	I've been waiting for this to be revived because it will allow for some pretty powerful data sharing capabilities. Apple Newtons have been web serving for years using Newton Personal Data Sharing which allows someone to serve up websites, share their addressbook, notes, and calendar. You can see Newtons serving up websites and sharing data at these sites: Grant Hutchinson's Newton (Live Screenshot) David Shultz Jr's Newton (Live Screenshot) Wtih the right permissions and security protocols, you could serve up live access to your calender, documents, files, photos, etc, which allows for some truly innovative capabilities on our handhelds. You could share your entire calendar, giving different permissions for how much you allow certain people to see. Friends and family members, for example, could see times and details. Co-workers could see only items marked "business". You could then grant permission to others to see only that you are "unavailable" at certain times. Combine this with iCal and vCards, and people could check your schedule then request a meeting or appointment, then if they have adequate permissions, tentatively schedule and appointment subject to your approval. If you want to share your location with friends and family members for example but don't want your cell phone provider or a web service tracking you, then having your phone serving up this data to authorized people only solves a major privacy concern. There are tons of other applications, and this example is only scratching the surface. Nokia is well known for their expertise and focus on mobile social software, and this news is a step in the right direction and is long overdue. This will help transform mobile computing and personal information sharing. Brian

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