There's nothing fun about being on a wait list, especially when you're told the wait just got longer.
Skyfire (video), a new cell phone browser demoed in February, hit such demand in its closed beta program, the company split participation into two rounds. According to a Skyfire statement, those lucky ducks who signed up before March 1 made the cut for Beta 1 and will receive the golden invitation to join the testing in phases from now until the end of April.
This first phalanx of users will also be invited to continue their testing as the second round of beta testers, who signed up March 2 or after, is welcomed aboard sometime this summer. If you've got a Windows Mobile phone, it's still not too late to add your name to Skyfire's growing list of second-session testers.
In the meantime, live vicariously through this video of the browser's current features.
Skyfire, in closed beta
(Credit: Skyfire)Opera should be bracing for impact.
Quite possibly for the first time, Opera Software will receive real pressure in the mobile-browser space from Firefox Mobile and Skyfire.
Like Opera's cell phone browser, Opera Mini (video), both newcomers are free. However, Opera Mobile, which serves Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 phones, is a commercial product that smartphone users may not want to pay for when handed alternatives gratis.
How does Opera plan to keep current customers and attract new ones when consumers face a choice between paying $24 and $0? I asked the Opera folks if they would consider making Opera Mobile free in anticipation of or in response to oncoming competition.
"The mobile Web is blossoming, and we are strongly positioned to take advantage of its growth," Tatsuki Tomita, Opera's senior vice president of consumer products, responded. "While we watch the industry closely, we have not yet determined the end-user model for Opera Mobile."
What a nicely toned, safely vague statement! It's one any company would be expected to make when challenged on two fronts by a competitive freeware surge. Yet with actual working, marketable products for a range of devices and a business plan that reaches into corporate pockets, Opera is well-positioned. For now.
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Prototype 1 is 'plain vanilla' for the conventional mobile screen.
Amid rookie mobile browser Skyfire's bold attempt to take on the market and Opera Software's defensive rebuttal (sent via press release) emerges news from Mozilla developer and project lead, Doug Turner.
A few months ago, Turner told us that the Minimo browser was on its way out (you can still download it here) and that newer projects would take its place.
According to Doug's blog, the replacement efforts have arrived. Well, not quite, but two prototypes have.
The first, called simply "Nontouch screen UI," is dedicated to the broad range of devices. While Turner describes it as "vanilla," it evokes much more strongly the cheery bubble gum gloss of an Apple interface.
The second prototype attends to touch-screen phones, many more of which we'll see in hands, purses, and pockets within the next six months.
It's an information playground on these development wikis, and there's matched eagerness on Mozilla's part for sound feedback. In fact, you can vocalize it yourself by calling in to Mozilla's mobile UI phone conferences every Monday morning at 10 a.m. PST.
The second prototype is optimized for touch-screen phones.
Verizon users with high-end phones may soon have another choice for surfing the Web--Opera Mini 4 (on CNET Download.com). Opera Software announced on Thursday compatibility with Qualcomm's BREW platform, on which Verizon and many other carriers worldwide run.
Although Opera Software has ported code for its mobile browser to the BREW platform, you won't be downloading the app tomorrow. It will remain unavailable until BREW carriers certify or license the browser, and decide if it will be made available through the Opera Mini Web site or through the carrier's interface. The only exception? Verizon BlackBerrys, which are compatible with Opera Mini now, though they lack a minor functionality.
Since Qualcomm approved developers and requires a digital signature for each product, the implementation process differs for the BREW and Java environments.
Visit the Opera Mini Web site for a list of compatible phones, and watch this First Look video to see how the Opera Mini 4 mobile browser works.
Today Opera announced the full release of Opera Mini 4, after three beta releases. I tested the second beta version of this powerful mobile browser on a BlackBerry Pearl back in August (read review) and was eager to reproduce my experience today on the same phone, particularly to see for myself that the landscape view that never worked for BlackBerry still isn't ready. It's not.
The first thing I should point out is that in the complex dance between manufacturer, carrier, and third-party software, some toes get smashed. Before you download Opera Mini 4 over the air, via SMS, or by PC-to-phone push, it's best to input your phone details and read up on any instructions to make Opera Mini 4 compatible with your particular phone. Here's an example: North American users of BREW phones (e.g., anything on Verizon) are out of luck with Opera, and T-Mobile and AT&T users may have extra steps before they can get Opera Mini 4 going.... Read more
So the rumors were true. Google is getting into mobile. At least, that's what the Wall Street Journal is reporting today.
Mobile makes sense for Google (lots of future money there), but I wish it felt it could get the same effect by investing in an open-source browser, rather than rolling its own:
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