The Skyfire Mobile Browser aims to enable Windows Mobile users to surf rich media websites that require Javascript or even Flash. They do this using a server as a proxy to load the site and allows you to view it on your phone. This is important, because they do collect information on your surfing habits. Honestly, I’d prefer they aggregate my data to support their costs than charge me a subscription. Skyfire is currently in private Beta, so there’s really no telling whether it will remain a free Windows Mobile web browser like Opera Mobile.
After taking a little extra time to load and set up a connection with the server, Skyfire stands up to the test of both Javascript-laden mail interfaces from Yahoo, AOL and Google. It also plays Youtube videos in the full desktop view with smooth audio and only slightly laggy video. This is something that no mobile web browser can do yet, including iPhone’s Safari browser which still lacks Flash support.
The rest and a video, after the jump
Skyfire offers Zoom capability via double screen tap and uses the back button to Zoom back out. The interface for filling out forms takes just a little getting used to. When you click on a field, a dialog pops up at the bottom of the screen or over the virtual keyboard. It’s not until you finish typing and click off of the field that your typing appears.
One thing that I’m still not sure how I feel about is the insistence on serving the full desktop version of websites. There are some sites that do a great job of providing a fairly rich and easily readable WAP interface. Many sites have developed feature rich and more appropriately sized iPhone/ Safari interfaces that could also be easier to navigate.
Overall, Skyfire does a fantastic job of making the more of the web available via a clean and easy to use mobile browser.
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[...] does a relatively good job of supporting Javascript, then I would say Opera Mobile, then Pocket IE. Skyfire supports AJAX by actually routing your web pages on their servers, but as mobile phone and data [...]