Gizmodo: skyfire browser

Skyfire Windows Mobile Browser 0.8 Beta Now Open

Sean Fallon — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:30:00 EDT

If you have been waiting patiently to try out the Skyfire browser for Windows Mobile, now is your chance. The developers have opened up the 0.8 beta to anyone with a Windows Mobile or Nokia N or E Series (3rd edition) phone in the US. Hit the following link to sign up. [Skyfire]

Skyfire Windows Mobile Browser 0.8 Improves Video Quality, Speed and Text Entry

Jason Chen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Skyfire, the third-party Windows Mobile browser that does much of the desktop-class page rendering server side to spit out to your phone, has just gotten an upgrade to version 0.8. Among the list of features that get bumped or added are video quality, launch speed and auto-reconnect, zooming, downloading of content and in-line text entry.

The browser still supports dynamic AJAX content, Flash, QuickTime, and Windows Media, but our hands-on attempt in watching a YouTube video started well but ended poorly. Skyfire is still (and will always) render stuff on the server side, which will lead to good compatibility but poor speeds, if your phone isn't pulling and rendering down the images fast enough. On the whole, we like 0.8 a lot and things are improved all around, but there's a reason why it's still in beta. [Skyfire]

Hands-on With Windows Mobile Skyfire Browser Beta 0.6

Jason Chen — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Skyfire just got its 0.6 update, bring with it a few more features (listed after the jump) and a bit of compatibility increase that makes it feel more like a real browser than it was even when we saw it at CTIA. The overall idea is the same: Skyfire servers render pages into image form, which then makes it onto your Windows Mobile phone over an internet connection. On our Sprint HTC Mogul, Gizmodo loaded pretty damn fast over EV-DO, and features like Flash actually seemed to work well.

Because the page is like an image, you can pan and scroll around fast and easily, but zooming in and out is a bit clunkier. Typing in a text field requires you to type something on Skyfire's text input, then sending that to Skyfire, then sending the resulting image back to your phone.

Although it touts Flash video, support, watching YouTube videos is still more like a fast slideshow than an actual video—though most of the video quality depends on your connection type and speed. It's no iPhone Safari browser—and probably will never be because of the fact that rendering is done off-phone—but it's a reasonably close approximation for now.

* Multi-line text entry (2,000 character limit)
* Auto-complete text entry
* Paste into URL or search
* Ability to delete bookmarks
* Multiple zoom modes for touch screen phones
* Double tap to Zoom In and Zoom Out
* Support for custom virtual keyboards (SIP)
* Web search shortcut in softkey menu
* Access to the Windows Mobile Taskbar in softkey menu
* Persistent settings for SmartFit, Mute and Zoom size
* Support for 12-key and ½ QWERTY devices
* Password masking
* Backlight usage based on system settings
* OK button sends Skyfire to the background

[Skyfire]