Original Post 02.28.2009
foxfire!
I’ve been researching and testing mobile browsers a lot these days. The mobile browser and web surfing through your cell phone is becoming more popular, however it has not taken off as fast as we thought. I believe that we will finally have to address and fix the problem in general with bookmarking and surfing before mobile browsers will take off the way home browsers have. It is just simply to hard to type in long url in a mobile browser for specific site access, especially if you don’t have a full keyboard and smartphone. In order to make mobile browser the first thing a cell user launches we will need to completely re-think the bookmarking/ favorites way of enabling oneclick access to the best web sites and personalized to an individual level. Sure there are tools out there like delicious etc but it is time for a complete overhaul for the browser interface for saving and managing bookmarks.
Competition among mobile browsers gets stronger and stronger. In addition to the preloaded ones, such as Internet Explorer, Symbian, Safari and the already established Opera Mobile, we also have Bolt, Skyfire and Fennec. The last one, as you may know, is Mozilla’s attempt to enter the market. According to Jay Sullivan, Fennec is just a codename and the final product will be called Firefox. No, it’s not Firefox Mobile just Firefox.
This is not the only thing that will be borrowed from the PC version. As we have already informed you, tabs and add-ons will also be at your disposal on the phone. These can be synchronized with the ones from your computer, along with the stored bookmarks and passwords. What’s new here is that you have the opportunity to use the tabs that you have opened on your computer. This is a pleasant feature, especially if you have to leave your comfy chair, while you’re examining an important web site, the address of which you do not remember.
Skyfire Windows Mobile Browser
Firefox Mobile Browser Fennec – not quite ready for prime time
Fennec Beta 1 walkthrough from Madhava Enros on Vimeo.