browsers

4Browsers comes from iOS and Android to Windows Phone 7

February 21, 2012 | By kalana

Marketplace has many app that are web browsers. 4Browsers is an app that is designed to multitask 4 different web browsers in a single screen.

4Browsers is an app that is designed to emulate windows style multitasking on a Windows Phone device. It runs 4 independent web browsers on single screen. This app was designed and developed by Askpi Systems. The app can multi-task 2 different browsers at once. Each browser has its own storage to the homepage. If the user desires, he can maximize a single web browser to use only that and scroll the screen to access the rest of the browsers. In addition, this app features single browser view.

4Browsers app was available Android and IOS devices. The app was first released to Apple iPad in June, 2011. After 2 months releasing the iPad version, iPhone version was released. A month after that, version 2 of the app was released with many improvements. In January, 2012, the app was ported to Android tablets with Android 3.0 and above.

4Browsers for Windows Phone was released on February 17^th, 2012. The app was developed during span two months. In the release for the Windows Phone, there is an extra feature that is not available in the previous release. It is the feature to multitask only 2 web browsers.

4Browsers is $0.99 without a free trial unfortunately and can be found in Marketplace here.

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No Opera 11 for Windows Mobile, possibly for Windows Phone “when and where there is a business case for doing so”

March 22, 2011 | By Surur

A sad farewell to a Windows Mobile stalwart

Opera has announced in a forum post that they will no longer be releasing new versions of their browser for Windows Mobile.

Noting that there have not been new devices released with the mobile OS for some time (not really true) and that its market share is rapidly shrinking (certainly true) , they claim “the platform can no longer provide the revenue potential that Opera Software would need to keep investing in it.”

They did not however close the door on all Microsoft mobile operating systems, saying about Windows Phone.

Regarding Microsoft’s new platform, Windows Phone 7, Opera is continuously evaluating that and other platforms and we will make products available when and where there is a business case for doing so.

Opera Mobile 10 and Opera Mini 5.1 for Windows Mobile will continue to be available for download.

The Opera Mobile browser was instrumental in keeping Windows Mobile competitive in its last 3 years, so it is sad to see a pillar of the operating system and user experience on these devices go away. However on Windows Phone 7, I believe rather unexpectedly, the IE browser has been more than adequate, and of course we are expecting even more from an updated IE9 browser some months time.

Via Favbrowser.com

Thanks Andy for the tip.

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Another HTML5 demo on Windows Phone 7

February 18, 2011 | By Surur

WPcentral recorded these videos of Microsoft’s developer day at MWC 2011, showing the latest HTML5 features of the updated IE Mobile browser.

They note that the WP7 team still have the ability to push out out of cycle updates just for the browser, but we suspect that is rather unlikely.

See a longer 7 minute video with more detail for developers after the break.

Continue reading →

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Metro Browser 2.5 video review

December 10, 2010 | By Surur

WPCentral have published this video review of Metro Browser by Adam Nathan. The browser, who’s selling point is full screen browsing, now also offers private browsing, saving pictures, and sharing links by email and twitter.

The browser is available from $1.99 from Marketplace here.

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Metro Web Browser updated–no, this is not a repeat

December 9, 2010 | By Surur

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Adam Nathan, who is writing the book on developing for Windows phone 7 (literally), has written to let us know that his Metro web browser has been updated for the second time today, literally sailing through certification in a few hours.

The update brings the software up to version 2.5, and ads picture saving, favourite reordering and performance improvements.

The app can be found in Marketplace here.

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Browser competition heats up–Metro Browser enters the arena

December 4, 2010 | By Surur

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We have written about Adam Nathan before. He is a Microsoft developer writing a book about developing for the Windows Phone 7 marketplace, and aims to teach by doing, aiming to get 101 applications in the market.

He has now entered the IE Browser Shell area with his own entrant, Metro web browser, who’s main claim to fame is full screen web browsing in both portrait and landscape mode.

That does not mean the software does not have many other features.

These include:

Unlimited number of tabs that are easy to manage
Full-screen browsing experience in both orientations, and full functionality in both orientations
Orientation lock enables you to force portrait or landscape browsing
Google-powered “lightweight mode” that optimizes desktop-designed pages for your phone
Privacy mode
Powerful auto-completion, powered by Google or Bing
Search, powered by Google or Bing, integrated into the same box where you type URLs
Integrated searching for apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace
Supports running under the lock screen for a fast return from interruptions
Choose from built-in themes or design your own! For example, you can force the app to a light theme while your phone has the dark theme applied, or you can skin the app with your school colors
Manage favorites, recent pages, and frequently-visited sites easily
Customize the interaction between full-screen browsing and the “actions screen.” Change the position and appearance of the actions button (a standard arrow vs. a page curl), or even shake your phone to swap modes!

The app costs £1.99, but comes with a free trial with which is ad-supported, with some features disabled.

The app can be found in Marketplace here.

Thanks Nathan for the tip.

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Is Microsoft planning an Opera Mini-type proxy browser solution for Windows Phone 7?

December 3, 2010 | By Surur

operaminisystem In a recent job post Microsoft is looking for an engineer to help optimise and shape traffic between Windows Phone 7 devices and the internet, with the aim of having “end users see Windows Phone as the fastest on the network.”

This aim, which would be achieved in cooperation with partners like “the Browser team on WP7 and our Mobile Operator partners” would use “a highly scalable, reliable and performing service” that required “expertise in Caching techniques on Wireless data networks”.

The post strongly suggests a proxy-type service such as used by Opera for its Opera Mini product, a solution that works very well, but raises serious issues about privacy and data security.

It would however also provide Microsoft with the ability to optimise data traffic on increasingly information-hungry Windows phones, which is attractive to operators and handset battery life alike.

See the full job post after the break.

Continue reading →

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Opera Link for Windows Phone 7 coming

December 1, 2010 | By Surur

Opera_Link Now we know its not easy to bring alternate browser engines to Windows Phone 7, but like the iPhone alternate browser shells using the IE Mobile engine are more than welcome, as we have already seen with a number of clients.

It now appears a Windows phone 7 client of Opera Link is in the offing. The client, by Opera intern and Windows phone 7 developer Martin Rauscher promises to provide access to data on Opera Link, including bookmarks, speed dial and notes.

It is not clear if its an official or unofficial client, but much of the source code can be found on Github here.

Now we only need a similar Weave client for Firefox (as they have done for the iPhone) and we would have moved as far as we can go without actually having an alternate rendering engine.

Thanks dropqube for the tip.

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2nd third party browser shell for Windows Phone 7 offer better landscape support

November 29, 2010 | By Surur

WPCentral has published this review of Browse On, a new IE Shell for Windows Phone 7.

The main differentiating feature is again the use of tabs, but the browser also offers better landscape support.

The software, which costs $0.99, does not offer the incognito browsing of Browser Plus, suggesting current owners of that software are better of waiting for an update from that company.

On the other hand, its only $0.99…

The software can be found in Marketplace here.

Windows Phone 7 browser virtually as fast as the iPhone 4’s

November 22, 2010 | By Surur

Jeff Gregory from Wirefly.com has passed us this video of their simple browser speed test of Windows Phone 7’s IE Mobile vs Safari on the iPhone 4.

While he felt the Samsung Focus finished loading faster, a frame by frame examination does show the iPhone had 1 second on the Focus.

It is however very clear there is not much between the two handsets, making browser performance another non-factor in choosing between the two devices.

Thanks Jeff for the tip.

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Browser Plus gets landscape support

November 19, 2010 | By Surur

Talking about Windows Phone 7 browsers, Browser Plus has received an update which fixes the main issue with the app, the lack of landscape support.

Besides now also working in landscape, the software appears to have sped up a bit.

The browser can be downloaded from the Zune marketplace for only $0.99.

Via WPCentral.com

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Tabbed browsing comes to Windows Phone 7 with Browser Plus

November 16, 2010 | By Surur

With 3rd party apps lacking native access on Windows Phone 7 one might have thought there would not be alternative browsers available on the platform.

Browser Plus is therefore a welcome surprise, bringing a few welcome features to Windows phone 7 browsing.

The software features:

Unlimited tabs that load in the background
Private browsing
Reader mode which blocks ads and non-essential content.
Built-in Google search.
Auto-complete search results using Google.

The software, which uses the IE rendering engine, is only $0.99 in the Windows phone app store, and is by Sriram Krishnan, who works on the Windows Azure program management team at Microsoft, and has previously been a program manager for Visual Studio for devices.

Now we just need a Firefox browser for Windows Phone 7, just like on the iPhone

via WPCentral.com

Thanks BBGT for the tip.

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Good news– HTML5 coming to Windows Phone IE Mobile after all

October 8, 2010 | By Surur

html5wp7 A few months ago we reported Microsoft Technology Evangelist Frank Prengel telling the world Microsoft had no concrete plans for HTML5 in Windows Phone 7.

We can now thankfully report that things have changed at the software giant.

Microsoft has posted a job description asking for a Senior software Development Engineer for the Windows Phone Browser, Search & Maps team responsible for the IE browser in Windows Phone 7.

The division is looking for “a strong senior engineer that is excited about the product and technical opportunities with the mobile web experience” to work on “building the next generation IE platform for the next Windows Phone release” which would include “a major overhaul of standard support and new approaches to make significant advances in performance, power consumption and bandwidth utilization", with the candidate needing “ a strong interest in JavaScript, CSS3, HTML5 and Windows programming”.

Now the only question is if this software will come as an update to Windows Phone 7, or will wait till Windows Phone 8.

Read the full job post after the break.

Continue reading →

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