| "Fastest" Windows Mobile browser finally downloadable |
Sep. 24, 2008
 Skyfire Labs announced a public beta of its Windows Mobile web browser, claimed to make browsing on a smartphone "just like browsing on a PC." Touted features in Skyfire version 0.8 include fast operation, contextual zoom, improved text entry, A/V playback, and Today screen integration.
(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 says. Rather than being redirected to stripped-down mobile versions of popular websites, users can interact with the full-featured versions of sites such as YouTube, Myspace, and Facebook, Skyfire adds.
  
Skyfire rendering Google Maps, ESPN, and YouTube websites (left to right, respectively)
Until today, Skyfire has been available through an invitation-only private beta. The program has reportedly wowed those who have tested it, including Laptop Magazine's Todd Haselton, who related his findings in a July blog entry. Comparing Skyfire to Opera Mobile 9.5, both running on the AT&T Tilt, and against Apple's Safari running on an iPhone, Haselton said "Skyfire loads pages faster than anything we've come across, and its support for robust Web pages makes us feel like we took our computer's browser and put it on a three-inch screen."
Unlike Safari and Opera Mobile 9.5, Skyfire's browser leans on pre-rendering proxy servers hosted by Skyfire Labs. These do the "heavy lifting" of error correction, document object modeling, and page rendering -- then send the results to a phone as images. As Haselton noted, the process makes entering text into forms more complicated on Skyfire than with other browsers. And, increasing the number of users -- for example via a public beta -- could obviously affect performance.
Improvements
Enhanced text entry, at least, is one of the key improvements cited by Skyfire Labs for the new 0.8 beta version of its browser, said to have been in development for more than four months. Users can now fill out web forms by entering text right on a page, as with other web browsers, the company says.
 Another touted improvement is improved contextual zooming, which "lets you simply and quickly get to exactly where you want to be on the page." The browser also sports a new "SuperBar" that allows entering a URL or doing a search from a single field, plus optional integration (pictured at right) with Windows Mobile's Today screen, says Skyfire Labs.
Other improvements cited for version 0.8 include the following:- Sharing of web content with friends via SMS
- Faster launching of the application
- Better audio and video, with smoother playback
- Automatic reconnection after a wireless connection was dropped
- The ability to download images and other content "from most web pages"
- Bookmarks "significantly enhanced, with much better control"
- A toggle that allows switching between full websites and their mobile equivalents
- A start page showing top news items via a "headline widget"
Further information
Skyfire version 0.8 supports Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices, with or without touchscreens. However, it does not yet support devices with VGA-resolution screens, the company warns.
The program is available from the Skyfire Labs website, here.
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