Up until now, if you wanted Mozilla's dearly anticipated mobile port, you had a couple options: you could
buy a Nokia N800 / N810, or you could
score a Touch Pro and deal with a build ominously described as pre-alpha. Now the software's finally matured enough to hit Alpha 1 status -- although the Touch Pro requirement's still in place, so you
fake Touch Viva owners are sadly still have to hold off a while longer. The major release improves memory behavior, moves the UI to a CSS-based solution that'll make resolution independence easier, and -- here's the biggie -- adds support for add-ons, so it seems like it's a worthwhile download if you're doing even a modicum of browsing from your phone. Next up, Mozilla plans to tackle overall Fennec performance on the WinMo platform head-on; maybe they'd care to have a go at Firefox 3 while they're at it?
posted May 15th 2009 5:35PM
Can't beat the iphone!
jeanjean.c.la
i can see your future. it looks...... faded.
i can also see youll remain a virgin well past fifty five.
Nicely put skyblaze.
Beats Opera and Mobile Safari.
I agree with you but it seems like anyone that has anything nice to say about the iPhone gets a forum beating.
@ash
thats because they act like a mindless troll when they say "something nice". have you been here long? what if someone comes up outta nowhere in your face and goes AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH IPHONE ROCKS ANDROID ZUNE WINMO AND SYMBIAN SUCKS BOW TO UR OVERLLORD AND ACCEPT YOUR GOLDEN SHOWER FTLULZ ROFL WAFFLE etc etc etc you get the point :\. yea, id be ready to slap the smurf crackers outta them too. im not biased by any means (even tho personally im not into apple at all). but when some jerk comes and starts talking like apples the offspring of jesus and the rest of the tech world is beaver genitals then ima put them in their place. a skyblaze's gotta do what a skyblaze's gotta do, ya digg
@skyblaze
Yeah, I know what you mean. The iPhone is the best phone I've used for web browsing but I'm not going to go and get all evangelical about it. Any extremist is annoying and that includes any form of fanboyism.
The devices will keep getting better and better. In 10 years, who knows? The iPhone of that generation could be a total turd.
@ash:
See what you did there? You used the phrase "I've used". Thats an important distinction.
These turds make blanket statements. You stated your personal judgement and your personal experience, which cannot be countered, because we cant tell you what you think.
@ash
well hells yea!!! have you seem some of the shizzle we got coming our way?? the n97's gonna be here this summer, palm pre's so close you can feel ur balls sweat from it... we got some android swag from samsung and (maybe) motorola... microsofts hot on this project pink thing and might be blowin our balls away with some tegra or snapdragon action... speakin of which we got that tg01 comin out... archos and android's makin love to conceive some balls to the wall handset...storm TWO's already been caught in the wild gettin caressed by some lucky ninja in a sports car so we know thats coming up the horizon... not to mention the touch pro 2 on its way to t-mobile faster than any of us imagined... its gonna be a freakin nut crackin, back breakin, smack-angelina-jolie-so-hard-her-lips'll-fall-off-n-land-in-smokie-robinson's-iced-tea'n year for in the handset industry
Come on BlackBerry version!
seriously already
2nd that
Heck yes!
Opera mobile isn't too bad (beat's OS 4.6's browser hands-down) but I'm still wanting something more.
I just hope it's a signed app so I don't have to tell my BB every damn time I start the browser that 'yes, you can connect to the internet' (Opera... I'm lookin' at you.)
I don't like Fennec, at all (judging from the videos)
So you need to pull all the way to the left, or all the way to the right to see on-screen options? Yes they maximized screen usage, but they also maximized the pain in the ass.
It is definetly Alpha, thats for sure. Its an absolute dog in terms of speed.
Makes the beta IE on 6.5 seem like a speed demon.
Quite frankly, I wouldnt release the Alpha. I would wait till right before official release to release anything. This thing takes a long time to load up, scrolls extremely slowly, takes forever to open up a page, has an extremely slow interface, and has graphical glitches all over.
Keep this thing in pictures only. This is a horrible start for the browser on WM.
Good move.
About time Winmo got something better than IE
well... there's always been opera... but thats just me i guess....
Opera mobile is fantastic, quite frankly. Particularly the versions taken from the new HTCs.
I like Iris for some sites to get the iPhone optimized version
it does amuse me how Apple constantly go on about the "Real internet" experience on the iPhone, and yet most sites have iPhone optimised versions...
Hmm...
WM has Iris, which gets 100 on Acid 3, and also handles flash content wonderfully.
WM has Skyfire, which streams up flash content and sends it to your phone very quickly.
WM has Mach5, another Skyfire clone.
WM has Opera Mobile, one of the best out there with flash support.
Hell, those are the only ones I can think of. Theres other WebKit based browsers too.
WM has more browsers than any of the competition. I still think Opera is the best one available, with Skyfire being number two when heavy flash content is a must. Options are great.
not to mention the glaring lack of flash... that makes their statement like pamela anderson going "im so blessed. these sweater puppets are sooo real and untampered with"
aka b.s.
i got that on my n810. that paw still freaks me the hell out.
@Phoenix
Its 100x better that way, much easier on the eyes. Sites like CNN are amazing on an iphone .
but If you don't like it you can always download an app like ufaker(via cydia) that remedies the problem.
Its not even an option to select mobile versions of websites or not? You have to jailbreak your phone to view full versions of sites that dont provide links to the full version?
Thats kind of sad.
Most people aren't complaining + I have yet to come across a site that does not give you the option to 'view full version'.
I use to have a mogul 6800 and surfing the internet was OK, but compared to my iphone you could say that was kind of sad.
See, that's all well and good. Mobile optimized versions are great. The problem is, you CANNOT applaud a device for having the full internet and then go "But wait, you should use the mobile optimized version instead, it's much better."
It's a new and innovative way to view the internet on a mobile device, and IMHO the best. If they ever changed it to default to the full version of the page i'd be very upset! and frankly it would be a step back for the iphone IMO.
NO. Optimized pages are NOT a new way to view the internet on a phone. Engadget had a mobile-optimized version LONG before the iPhone. and saying that not having mobile-optimized versions would be a huge step back is my point; you're saying through lack of explicit denial of my claims that you agree with Apple about the iPhone having "the full internet" in the same sentence as you're saying that it would be far worse without optimized websites. Hypocrisy at it's worst.
@*Just some girl
Umm...so was WAP new and innovative? The single biggest thing you hear about the iPhone is how it can browse The Full Internet* and not have to use WAP sites like all the other crap phones with a 1" screen. Even though many phones before it were able to browse the real internet.
This has been done for plenty of phones before, and there's nothing new about it. Let's not mention the fact that a lot of optimized sites still suck *cough*Gizmodo*cough* compared to the full screen version. Maybe I just find it ironic that is was such a huge thing on the news for months straight that *finally* you can brows the real internet on a phone. It was like the second coming of Christ...and then what's the first thing users complain about? We want the WAP like sites back.
*Does not actually provide a full internet browsing experience. Some parts may be non-existant, while others may only be partially working.
@phoenix
engadget does not have it optimized and perfectly fitted for the iphone. Its actually a pain in the butt to surf compared to tuaw. To me it is the full internet, I can surf pages as well as efficiently and as quickly as with a regular desktop computer. to me the "full internet" does not mean having to squint and having very little access to the sites features.
@insky
I've never heard an iphone user complaining about the browser, it's actually one of the iphones biggest selling points. My favorite websites show up absolutely beautifully + fully functional.
its a turd!! wait for beta
Interesting, the blog 'neath the linked article says someone got Fennec running on the Touch Diamond.
That I gotta see. Gonna give it a shot.
it just crashes on my diamond (winmo 6.5).
*sighs* Yeah, it didn't play nice with mine either.
Come back to us when Fennec reaches BETA. Until then, I'd like to maintain my mostly stable Windows Mobile experience. Grassy.
I shall do the same. Wake me up when it hit beta, unless beta isn't all that efficient either. If so, let me hibernate until 1.0 is out
Just installed this on my Fuze, and I actually like it. It's slow as heck so far but it works really well. Just like desktop Firefox, I guess. Let me spend some more time with it.
I'm trying this out right now and I've got to say it's pretty slow...but it's still in alpha so I'm not complaining yet. What I would like, though, is to use the zoom wheel on the Touch Pro...scratch that, I'd like to have ANY kind of zoom functionality. I'd also like the taskbar to disappear like it does with Opera or SkyFire.
So far I'm not too impressed, but I never really was expecting to be since it's only alpha.
i got it to zoom by triple or quad tapping on the screen...
posting from fennec on touch diamond right now. it is very slow indeed. first impressions are good though. I really like the windows7-esque dragging side to side function. if the software were only fast enough to make it useable.
right after i sent in the comment, my phone rebooted itself... i guess there is a reason this is still in alpha. i recommend that you install it to check it out, but past that, it will not replace opera on a diamond for any task.
i want a symbian version
I can only hope that it is better than the alpha for the N800, and progresses faster in it's development.
Would it have killed them to keep the Firefox name? Seriously?
You are missing the point man!
Firefox is a big fox
http://myanimalblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/fox-7594.jpg
&
Fennec is a small fox.
http://www.animalpicturesarchive.com/Arch04/1136974781.jpg
kindo cooool.
Let's see. I've had a HTC Touch since release. Dropped it many times and it still works as it did new, load ANYTHING I want, plays music, videos (flash even), comics, ebooks, etc. I've had the same unit the whole time.
My neighbor jumped on the iPhone release. Within 7 months he was on his FOURTH. Not because of damage either. He ept that till Apple released v.2. Gave his old phone to his wife. That phone has since been replaced twice. His 2G phone, well, he's heading to the Apple store as I type to get that one replaced for a second time.
iPhone. No thanks. I'll stick with phones that let me do what I want with it.
Firefox for PSP please^^