Comments on: Skyfire beta updated; one step closer to the real, real web on mobiles

By: A__

A__ — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 01:55:52 +0000

Skyfire rally swallow battery energy! after few minutes of runninge.g. you tube, usually phone gets so hot and battery alarms beeps! Better stay with opera min and forget flash issue…

By: wormik

wormik — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:01:15 +0000

Well, I love it – fast & slick – tested on HTC TyTN II WM6, 400Mhz .. flash 9 content is awesome, zoom in/out is bit slower than opera mini, but render quality is far better than opera.

my 2 cents

By: christexaport

christexaport — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:28:40 +0000

… and by the way, meebo.com works on my N95 8gb, from which I’m posting this and all other comments on any site you’ve seen me on, including my own. The E71 has the same Flash enabled browser.

By: christexaport

christexaport — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:26:28 +0000

@ kozjegyzo,
if my memory serves me right, your E51 doesn’t have the Flash enabled version of the Nokia OSS Webkit browser. Once you upgrade, to the E71, you’ll get the latest browser that allows video to play IN THE BROWSER, with an option to play fullscreen. Your E51’s browser supports certain video streams to play via the external Realplayer in low resolution. The E71 browser looks exactly like desktop Internet Explorer on 85% of the web, animations, videos and all. Most web based apps like image uploaders, etc. work as designed. Its the benchmark for mobile browsing, despite rumors that the iPhone’s simplistic Opera Mini like Safari web browser is better. Its easier and loads pages a little faster only because it doesn’t load any Flash, show any videos, animations, or javascript. The latest Flash enabled Nokia browser is better than Skyfire except in terms of audio streaming. You switch tabs by hitting 5, zoom out to see the entire page view by hitting 8, and place the view box wherever you wish to zoom in and press 8 again, or the OK/Select button. It works via simple WAP services connections, doesn’t require a login, and will work even if Skyfire and Nokia go out of business. I use Skyfire to pick up the slack on Flash9 or later content, which isn’t so often.

If you like the E51, you’ll love the E71. I hate mini QWERTY devices, but hated to return my review device. My review on PhoneReport was long and thorough because I really liked it alot. Had it had T9 and a 5 megapixel CZ camera, I would buy two!

By: kozjegyzo

kozjegyzo — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:02:40 +0000

@ christexaport

Right now I’m using an e51, but will be getting an e71 hopefully this week. I’ll try the browser in that too.
I found that Skyfire is easier to navigate than the Nokia browser, but you are right about the link selection, and the character sharpness.
I’m very fond of meebo.com, I use it as my messaging center no my pc. It dose not work with the Nokia browser, however Skyfire displays it. I look forward to my e71, and it’s capabilities.

By: christexaport

christexaport — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:06:21 +0000

You’re spot on, kozjegyzo. Skyfire is a cloud computing browser. It depends upon Skyfire staying in business and staying profitable to keep up with their server hardware. I don’t like software that possibly would stop working if a company dies. I prefer my device to handle all the page rendering instead, keeping the web easily accessed without any additional help.

Skyfire’s model still has its advantages, such as instantaneous upgrading of technology. They added Silverlight in one day without anyone knowing it because it was all on the server side. Flash11 will be there almost as soon as its public, and they can add other types of rendering tech at will. It also frees device hardware resources for other tasks. That’s why Skyfire is so fast. Its run in the cloud!

I still prefer Flashlite 3, or Flash Mobile. It is only slightly behind the latest desktop Flash, and Flashlite 4 will surely attempt to become closer in performance to Flash 9/10. It keeps the power in my hands. I can open Flash objects without any data connection.

I’m surprised you prefer Skyfire to the E71’s Nokia OSS Webkit browser. Zooming and column width are better managed visually, requiring less panning. ALL links work and are selectable. The video playback in-browser is elegant in fullscreen. Text is clearer and easier to read. Full HTML with Flash and Javascripting is possible even on a proxied WAP services connection. Maybe you should give it another look, and be careful to choose desktop and not mobile sites.

Skyfire won’t work on any proxied connections, and requires a long login to use. I can open my browser and search for a video on YouTube or Google, AND WATCH IT, before Skyfire allows you to login and complete the search. So the only use for many avid S60 users will be watching the online content that requires Flash 9 or above the default browser is incapable of showing, and only via WiFi, 3G, or non-proxied EDGE. It was nice watching the Olympic coverage via Skyfire. But T-Mobile T-Zones and similar data plan users won’t be impressed. This is mainly for WinMo’s sad browsing experience. S60 was supported mainly for its large number of sold devices.

By: kozjegyzo

kozjegyzo — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:58:38 +0000

I’m using it on my e51 and it works great. Of course it’s still a bit buggy, but it’s still better in displaying multimedia content, than the rest of the competition.
The idea behind the browser is so simple yet logical. A server pre-fetches you query, processes all the data, and you get the image, it’s sort of a “Remote Desktop” type of thing.
If a lot of people start using it I fear it’s gonna get slower.
They will have to get a lot of computing power behind it.

By: maxPayne79

maxPayne79 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:04:54 +0000

Im not seeing that but what i am seeing is that upon installing it, it told me that im missing “OS PIPS”…which i have no idea just what the f*ck that is…lol Then during start up it aska me a hundred times what internet connection i want. I only use one. And it does this every time i start the program. Then upon exiting it would crash my OS and restarts my phone. Niccceeeee. I reinstalled it four times over the last six hours and finally it doesn’t crash my system upon exiting but it still asks me a hundred times what internet connection i want when it starts up.

Wow…Is this is the kind of progression we’re gonna have with this program i think i’ll just say goodbye while i’m ahead. It’s too bad cause its the only browser that i can comfortably surf the net with only the edge network and have impressive battery life on my e71

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:05:02 +0000

0.85 still chews up my battery. Anyone else seeing that?

By: Blinky

Blinky — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:19:25 +0000

RIM’s going to have to step up browser development. Their browsers suck big time.
One of the reasons I sold the Bold after having it a day was the teeny tiny script and right to left disapearing scroll with nothing to refer to while typing, in addition to the fact that anything on the web amounts to a stone age interface.

By: Sarig

Sarig — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:05:14 +0000

Just installed it on my n95-8gb

It looks like Opera Mini with a more draconian privacy statement :/

By: GoBrowns

GoBrowns — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:29:49 +0000

If skyfire takes anywhere near as long to make a BB version as slingplayer has, it could be awhile(years).

By: Who?

Who? — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:28:58 +0000

Ok, I take that back. You can’t sign into Rhapsody, but it does play music from rhapsody.com. So it kind of works.

By: Who?

Who? — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:24:36 +0000

1) You should say what version the upgrade is

2) Still not compatible with Rhapsody. Skyfire’s still a bunch of liars.

By: Burgundy

Burgundy — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:06:19 +0000

Just went to the Skyfire site….

Looks like BB is high on the priority list, just not supported yet.

So… maybe they’re working on it??? God I hope so. The BB Browser is freakin KILLIN’ ME…

By: Bbtrapped

Bbtrapped — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:54:04 +0000

Not for blackberry Conrad! For winmo or symbian.

By: conrad

conrad — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:37:09 +0000

Works on BlackBerry?

By: khosrow

khosrow — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:47:21 +0000

Still has bugs with multimedia application. Not compatible with high resolution handsets like HTC Pro, FUZE or HD.

By: jdslim

jdslim — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:21:08 +0000

Just wait for Adobe 10 for android will full not light version of flash