The Web Beyond the Browser

Collabora is proud to offer expertise in WebKit and several related projects to its clients. Collabora have supported and enabled clients for a wide variety of webkit ports, such as the Clutter, GTK+ and Qt ones and have enabled new HTML5 technology usingGStreamer with WebKit for our clients. Collabora is also working with relevant groups and standard organizations to extend HTML5 to cover new use cases and tasks, likevideo editing and real-time communications.

Why WebKit?

WebKit is an open source web browser engine. To quote Adele Peterson of the WebKit project, "WebKit begins where the chrome ends." That is to say, WebKit powers browsers, email clients, RSS and media readers, chat applications, weblog and text editors, and more applications on all platforms, including desktop and mobile. Most famously, the backend rendering engine for the Google Chrome and Apple Safari web browsers is WebKit and the same goes for their mobile browsers on Android and iPhone.

How can Collabora help you with WebKit?

Today Collabora engineers are major contributors to the WebKit ecosystem. We have been involved in porting to new toolkits, extending rendering functionality, debugging and testing WebKit for our clients. We have also added new functionality to WebKit, enabling features such as video editing and real-time video conferencing through the browser.

We offer a wide range of services and software around WebKit including:

• Consulting assistance: if you have a major project based around WebKit we will be able to offer you experienced WebKit engineers to help staff your project. We have worked successfully with many global top 500 companies using this model, helping them ensure WebKit integrates perfectly with their devices and platforms. Our engineers can provide strong WebKit skills for your development team, as well as providing the team with code and design review.
• Custom development: specific piece of functionality you need from WebKit? We are happy to give you a fixed price quote for implementing it for you. This can include fixing a specific bug in the WebKit rendering engine or adding new custom functionality for use on your device.
• Architecture: when developing your application or system around WebKit a critical success factor is choosing the right approach. Our WebKit architects can help with design review and creation, ensuring that you take full advantage of the WebKit architecture. Getting the architecture right from the start can cut down months of your total development time and investing in expert advice early in the project can sometimes make the difference between success and failure.

Some background on Collabora and WebKit

Developers at Collabora have contributed enhancements and fixes to the core of WebKit. They've also taken the lead in porting WebKit to make it more useful in GTK+ and Qt embedded environments.

For example, Gustavo Noronha is a maintainer for WebKitGTK+, and Marco Barisione has also substantially contributed to the project. WebKitGTK+ enables GNOME-based projects, such as the Midori and Epiphany browsers and the Empathy chat client. For example, WebKitGTK+ provides a regular GtkWidget and JavaScriptCore for use in application windows. Also, QtWebKit, also known as WebKitQt, includes several contributions from Collaborans.

In addition, Collabora is actively contributing to the Clutter Webkit port. WebKit's versatility and suitability for embedded devices appeals to Collabora and our clients. We often recommend WebKit-based solutions and can adapt a version of WebKit to a client's need.