Samsung adds to software chops, works with Mozilla on browser engine
If you haven't gotten the memo from Samsung yet the predominately hardware company wants to also be seen as a software player. First, the Galaxy S4 launch touts Samsung applications and now the company is collaborating with Mozilla on a Web browser engine.
Add it up and Samsung is hitting the various checkboxes to grow its software cred.
In a blog post, Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich outlined his group's collaboration with Samsung. The aim is to create a new Web browser engine that will be optimized for multi-core computing.
The Web browser engine, dubbed Servo, aims to be more secure, boost performance and deliver better experiences. Servo is written in a programming language called Rust, which was developed by Mozilla.
Mozilla and Samsung plan to bring Servo and Rust to the ARM architecture and Android. That move allows Mozilla to conduct more research. Samsung contributed the ARM backend to Rust so it can be compiled in Android.
As for Rust, Eich said that Mozilla will revise the programming language extensively and improve performance. Mozilla will also add resources to Servo to build a better browser. Today, Rust is in v0.6.
More on Samsung's software ambitions:
- Samsung taps Absolute Software for mobile security on Knox, Galaxy S4
- Coming soon: The Samsung Phone platform
- Samsung's 'high-end' Tizen smartphone due in months
- Samsung Galaxy S 4: Moving further from Android
- Samsung's Galaxy S4 launch makes Google's Nexus smartphones more critical
- Galaxy S4: Samsung's so far ahead in the Android race, should it start worrying?
- Samsung and Android: The next Wintel or destined for divorce?