Web content is converted into a compact format on the server, and then received by the browser client which displays it on the handheld device. This makes fast and full-featured wireless web browsing on mobile handsets possible even with the wireless industry's current slow data speeds, Bitstream says.
According to Bitstream, ThunderHawk maintains the layout already familiar to the viewer without re-flowing pages into one-dimensional structures. Besides its full-screen mode, ThunderHawk also offers a split-screen mode, with the entire page in the upper half to orient the viewer and a highlighted area at full reading size in the lower window.
ThunderHawk has previously been available for wireless PDAs running Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003, Pocket PC 2002, PocketPC 2000, and Windows CE 3.0 operating systems, so the new "SmartPhone Edition" will presumably support Microsoft's Windows Mobile 2003 for smartphones.
Here is an example of how ThunderHawk renders web pages on Pocket PCs . . .
Typical Pocket PC web browser
ThunderHawk Pocket PC web browserBitstream says ThunderHawk SmartPhone Edition enables wireless carriers to provide complete web browsing to their customers because it fully supports key HTML standards like CSS and DHTML and security protocols like SSL and 128-bit encryption. Additionally, the ThunderHawk thin-client solution is economically appealing because of shared hardware resources, allowing for a low financial investment over time.
"We've now focused the time-tested Bitstream font rendering skills on the cell-phone screen, enabling clear and easy display of a Web page on a 176-by-220-pixel SmartPhone viewer," explained Anna Chagnon, President of Bitstream. "Wireless carriers can offer ThunderHawk to differentiate themselves from other carriers who deliver only text-based pages or WAP- or cHTML-based pages."
Related stories: 
