(Click here for a larger view of Skyfire)Announced at January's DEMO conference,
Skyfire was touted as the first mobile browser on any platform to be fully compatible with technologies such as asynchronous Javascript and XML (AJAX), Java, and embedded Flash. It renders pages exactly as they would appear on a desktop computer, with all the expected content, including embedded Flash movies and other multimedia, the company claims.
Unlike typical Windows Mobile web browsers such as
Internet Explorer or
Opera Mobile 9.5, Skyfire's browser relies on pre-rendering proxy servers hosted by Skyfire Labs. These servers do the "heavy lifting" of error correction, document object modeling, and page rendering -- then send the results to a phone as clickable images.
While the proxy servers make it easy for Skyfire to support "desktop" technologies, the company's need to scale its infrastructure has apparently resulted in a lengthy gestation period for its browser. The product was first available only via an invitation-only private beta, which
reportedly impressed testers. In September, it
went public with version 0.8, which added better zooming and text entry, among other improvements, but was only open to U.S. testers who were willing to register with the company.
As of the new 0.85 version -- still termed a beta -- users anywhere in the world can download the application, and no longer need to register e-mail addresses and passwords with the company. In addition, says Skyfire, it has added proxy servers based in the U.K. to the existing ones in the U.S.
Apart from this, a significant new feature in Skyfire 0.85 is the browser's support for VGA resolution. Newly supported devices are said to include the AT&T/HTC
Fuze, the HTC
Touch Pro, HTC
Touch Diamond, Palm
800W, and Palm
Treo Pro.
Skkyfire version 0.85 displaying the WindowsForDevices.com (left) and YouTube (right) home pages
(Click either to enlarge)WindowsForDevices.com tested Skyfire 0.85 in VGA resolution with Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 emulator, as pictured above. While pages displayed as promised, we felt the application often "cheated" by greeking text more often than a conventional web browser would have. We're not sure whether this is a quirk of our emulator setup, or a bandwidth-saving gambit on the part of Skyfire.
In any case, other improvements claimed for Skyfire 0.85 include:
- An updated user portal (visible in the image at the top of our story), with integrated Google search
- Improved robustness, with better streaming robustness, and enhanced recovery from lost connections
- Improved detection and rendering of mobile-specific pages
In addition, says Skyfire, it has revised the also-available Symbian version of its browser so that it now has the same features as the Windows Mobile version. The Symbian version targets devices running on the S60 (3rd edition) platform, says Skyfire.
While product registration is no longer mandatory, Skyfire says users who create accounts with the company will get bookmarks and cookies that can travel with them from device to device. No doubt, down the line Skyfire would also like to figure out how to make money from its web browser. In May, the company reported
receiving a total of $17.8 million in venture capital, but no source of revenue has yet been announced.
Further informationSkyfire version 0.85 is available from the Skyfire Labs website,
here.
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