If Symbian can do it, Android certainly can -- and sure enough, there's a web server available for Android devices well before a single handset's even on the market. The entirely Java-based Jetty server made a particularly well-suited target for the port seeing how Android apps are based in Java, and the i-Jetty team called the whole process "really fast" compared to some of the other Java hosts it's dealt with. The chief engineer of the project is quick to note that handhelds don't really have enough horsepower to support more than a very small handful of users at a time, but if Android ends up finding its way well beyond its original targets and onto more boring devices like routers, it could be a viable product. The complete initial release of i-Jetty is now available for download, so, you know, enjoy doing whatever it is one might do with a web server on a phone emulator.

[Via PHONE Magazine and Linux Devices]

Mobile security firm Gemalto has hooked up with LG to offer phones supporting its Smart Card Web Server technology, which essentially drops a web server and content right onto a phone's SIM. There are a number of value propositions here, but Gemalto appears to be primarily pushing two of them: one, this allows portions of a carrier's portal to be accessible from anywhere regardless of whether the phone is within network coverage, and two, it'll give carriers customization capability (albeit in a very limited capacity) even to unsubsidized, unlocked phones that are brought onto their network. LG handsets capable of using the goods should be available by mid-year, though there's no telling when or if carriers will get on board.

Nokia's "Raccoon" project to bring Apache down to size and shoehorn it into an S60 footprint is starting to come into its own, spawning the company's "Mobile Web Server" beta that's open to the public. If you still think serving web pages from a data- and power-sensitive device in your pocket sounds just as crazy now as it did last year, have a peek at All About Symbian's quick take -- you might be surprised. Though MWS' current functionality is rudimentary at best, it is kinda cool; you can remotely send SMS and instant messages, view the device's calendar, photo gallery, and current image from the camera, and publish an ultra-simple blog. As the reviewer points out, though, MWS is really just a proof of concept -- its real power lies in what wild things developers craft out of it down the road. You know, like a massively distributed host for Engadget Mobile, for example.

[Thanks, Ruth]

Read - Nokia Mobile Web Server
Read - All About Symbian's preview

It's been no secret that Nokia has been working on a mobile web server, lovingly codenamed project "Raccoon," but now they've taken things one step further, recently releasing the server source code under an open source license on the SourceForge website. The server is a version of Apache originally designed for the Nokia 6630 phone, although Nokia says it should work on any S60 2nd Edition Feature Pack 2 phone. It's certainly a big deal, and could well change the shape of the Internet, although we think Nokia may be getting a little ahead of themselves saying things like: "If every mobile phone or even every smartphone initially is equipped with a webserver, then very quickly most websites will reside on mobile phones." Better work on increasing that 100 to 1,000 concurrent user limit on the gateway first, or it'll be a while before we serve up a truly mobile Engadget Mobile.