BlackBerry browser to get full Flash and Silverlight support?
By Nilay Patel 
posted Aug 19th 2009 1:36PM
posted Aug 19th 2009 1:36PM
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Oh, ok.
Meh, the BlackBerry browser in all the newest device can barely load Javascript already.... even after so many OS updates.
For all the BlackBerry fanboys, even with image compression (which means it's not even loading as much data compared to the competitors), its own in-house browser is still far slower than the WebOS browser, let alone being compared to the iPhone browser, neither of which needs to compress their images.
Get it running Web-Kit and then we'll think about talking....
Oh yeah, and to those RIM fanboys who want to say, "install BOLT browser or Opera" on my BlackBerry.....
The BlackBerry Browser sucks. PERIOD. We shouldn't have to look for 3rd party browsers to fix the problems with the browser rendering abilities and to improve its speed. It all should have been there already, especially in the first place of the newest devices, Bold, Onyx, Tour, Storm 2. All of those newest devices still got the same crappy browser that can't even be compared to the Android browser.
rocket-
bro, your second comment's first line doesn't even make sense.
we don't need to, but we have the option for that speed if we want it. i love opera, thanks for asking. its the app i use the most. better than your ifart.
@andrewwildman,
come on, he's just comparing it with Android. why u have to come up with that stuff?
irrelevant.
btw, admit it already, Blackberry browser sucks.
A majority of people use non-native browsers on their computers, why shouldn't it be the same for smartphones? So what we download Opera on our Blackberry's? At least we have a mobile network to take advantage of it.
@Rocket
I completely agree. Blackberry OS doesn't even have native graphics acceleration for the user interface, which is a requirement for smooth webpage rendering/zooming/panning, not to mention the CPUs are too slow as well. They should work on making the browser engine better, or better yet just adopt Webkit and stick some decent Cortex-A8 processors in their new models.
All right, i hope it can be release soon...
I don't get the fuss about the BB browser. It does just what it needs todo and I cant say its that slow either unless you try to load a large page with a shitload of scripts in it (wiki tends todo this). For example here is a comparison between the Storm and Jezusphone V1.1 and there the Storm tends to be most of the time the fastest. I've seen other comparisons about different mobile browsers and most of the time Opera is indeed the fastest... So what atleast if I want to install Opera I can do it, is it possible on your non-hacked iPhone?
The downside is though... I love RIM but their development can be so slow. Like a proper Skype client was promised months ago sofar nothing same for Flash/Silverlight it should have been done ages ago. But then.. atleast we get it without some nonsense reaction that it's a bag of hurt.
@thisisit
you're right, the bb browser is not the best, but the point is we have options of installing other browsers instead of just having to settle. i mean, isn't that the point of todays' smartphones? to have options? to be able to install/customize to get the most out of it? this whole time that's what i thought, silly me.
This is good.
very good
Pages render just fine on my Storm. Don't know what all the hullabaloo is about
Might be a tad late, Android phones and the iphone will dominate Blackberry's. They had a good year but it's over unless they come out with something that no one else has
tell me how did you come up with that not everyone likes the iphone and most people have any to no clue what android is.
Eh tbh the iPhone is not that great and coming from a teenager point of view were getting bored of it.
Android well lets just say the adoption rate is nothing to write home about.
Maybe it wouldn't be quite as boring if you used it to learn the difference between "were" and "we're".
Just because of the possibilities and promise of those types of phones. Android has so much potential it's ridiculous. This is coming from a Blackberry user who loves his phone but the G1 I had before it was probably the greatest phone I had ever owned. A Blackberry just isn't built to be that type of device, Rim is adding things to try to keep up with the times. Blackberry's can only add what others already have at this point, nothing they're putting out is original anymore. They're biggest achievement this year was adding 3G and a touch screen and while it was a hit the excitement is already over. Blackberry's have a ceiling when it comes to development unlike Android/Iphone
@Professor Dex
Perhaps you wouldn't be such a prick if...
...
Nah, you're always going to be a complete prick I'm afraid.
Anyway, I agree with Adam. Smartphone fashions change and putting all your eggs in one form factor basket is a risky move.
RIM phones are nice. I had a shot of a friend's 8900 Curve and it's a lovely phone. Unfortunately she wouldn't let me keep it.
@ Mark Anderson
I believe your sentence should have been completed as follows, and I would have to completely agree with it.
"Perhaps you wouldn't be such a prick if...there weren't as many douches like me in the world!"
@ProfessorDex,
+1
Nope. You'll always be a prick.
I on the other hand will merely be a douche some of the time.
At least a prick is useful. A douche you use once and throw away.
Touche!
i don't get it majority of people that have blackberry's don't care for such things now add that to the god phone aka iphone then were talking
I agree, I had my G1 stolen and I picked up a Blackberry for cheap. It's a great phone and it's superior for business professionals but I really wouldn't use flash if I had it on the Blackberry, it just doesn't seem right. With the G1 it beckoned you to do the extra curricular. The Blackberry just says, "Hey you, meeting at 1 and don't forget to send that email"
no habla
Well I don't know about " leap way out in front" seeing as Windows mobile has had full flash and Silverlight 2.0 for a while now via the Skyfire browser.
I've used Skyfire on several generations of WinMo devices since it was in beta. It's a good browser, but strictly for Flash, it's a joke. The refresh rate is pathetic, even on more powerful handsets.
I have it on my HTZ Fuze (aka Touch Pro) and never noticed any issues on it in terms of refresh rate.
The text rendering is really bad in SkyFire, maybe it happens only on WVGA devices?
but it's the only way to view flash or silverlight on my Windows Phone,
So, It's the greatest mobile browsing experience so far!
Skyfire's text rendering is right on 320x240 and 320x320 devices, but it's scaled up from 320x240 on a 640x480 device, and 400x240 on an 800x480 device.
Honestly I don't want either plug-in. I'd rather a standard like HTML 5. Then the consumers aren't left stranded when Flash and Silverlight aren't upgraded for all. Adobe is notoriously slow at getting their flash plug-in upgraded for all devices. So then it comes down to playing favorites. I am not for that.
A standard would ensure all devices stay on the same page for the most part.
You mention HTML5, but you forget that Flash and Silverlight are used for far more than just video embedding. Yes, HTML5 will have native embedded video, but it still can't deliver as rich an experience as either of the plugins.
Now, I'm all for reducing the amount of Flash out there. Too many people turn to it as the easy answer. But there are some projects that just need a browser plugin, and HTML5 isn't going to fix that.
Yeah, I don't care about Flash or Silverlight. I just want a decent HTML 5 browser. Now that HTML 5 can do many of the things Flash was used for, I expect the need for it to go away anyway.
I want this - I have a Blackberry because that is what work gives me. I do not have the option for an iphone
You always have the option to buy your own iPhone for personal use.
because we all have boatloads of money to throw at at&t.
right.
Whether or not you have "boatloads of money", there still is the option, and the money doesn't necessarily get thrown just to AT&T either.
Who wants to carry 2 devices around, that's ridiculous.
More people do it than you'd think
@dex - I have an ipod touch to use but both the touch and the iphone do not support full flash so I would be no further ahead.
Is this 2 years away?
Unless I'm mistaken, "next summer" is one year away.
I'd very much like to see Silverlight incorporated. It certainly would be much better maintained than Adobe Flash would... and Microsoft would certainly lend support for including it on BlackBerry's.
BlackBerry to iPhone:
"Ownage bitch"
Apple must be shaking in their boots right now!
When RIM can put out a decent web browser, THEN having Flash/Silverlight available might actually be useful. Until then, it's like putting lipstick on a pig and calling it Sarah Palin.
I'd do Sarah, she's a MILF.
That explains your poor taste.
your mom was also hot.
Holy Original Batman!!
@andrewwildman You are a moron, period. The iPhone browser (Safari) is hands down the best browser available on any mobile device. People who hate the iPhone don't even argue this point - well haters with common sense that is, the rest simply don't deserve to be considered.
Yes, this is AT LEAST 2 years away. In that time, Flash will already be implemented into Safari by Adobe. Having faith in RIM engineers is the true definition of faith =)
Says the guy who missed the reply button.
try to visit bestbuy on your iPhone, then come back and say it is the best browser.
it shit
After using iPhone & G1 browers I really don't feel rite using other phone browsers even my darling opera mini. Blackberry browers sucks big time...anytime I see a blackberry user, all I wonder is how they cope with such shitty crap. I m posting dis from my G1, it is almost painless
Becasue we use our phones for productivity not sitting around a coffee shop all day surfing the web.
Riiiight. Like checking ESPN.com mobile, and checking your email. That's productivity all right. Oh, don't forget Bejeweled.
This is good news if it pushes Apple to do the same for the iPhone...
londonconsultant,
Thanks. 8th grade was the hardest two years of my life.
Has anyone ever used the Blackberry Browser? It sucks, so if their HTML/Javascript support are any indication this will suck too. How can we expect a company to implement something that is even more complicated? Even if they did support Flash/Silverlight odds are you couldn't even get to the page containing the content because you would get an HTTP error.
I use Opera Mini on my BB, it makes web browsing barely usable on my BB.
My mom and 13 year old sister have iphones. Iphones are about as cool as the Ed Hardy tshirts their owners are wearing. I use my BB for work and couldn't imagine trying to use an iphone to do the same job. Iphone has a better brower, bigger app store, and gimmicky marketing, thats about it. Why do people with iphones feel the need to troll every article about cell phones? What sort of inferiority complex do you people posses? scary
Well, we can spell possess...so NYAH!
Clearly you've become blind to the complex that BB owners have!
In order to understand a troll you must think like a stubborn 13 year old, as that is usually the case. I am an iPhone user, I have things I enjoy about the phone, and things I hate. In the end it is the best phone for my needs, and unfortunately AT&T is the only cellular provider in my area so I don't have a ton of options. I agree with you though that the extent at which people bash/support their product is ridiculous. Apple, Google, RIM, HTC, Windows, Etc wouldn't look twice if you were dying in the corner unless it somehow helped boost sales, why do people go through such trouble defending them?
@RLBurkes
[+] for you, brother!
lol bb browsers can't load pages with simple script in under a minute.
pop up windows? oh nooo
plz just work on catching up with iPhone safari first...
*throws iPhone against wall*
Nyah, well I can spell no if thats what you were trying to stutter. Were you more mad about the iphone thing or the fact that you wear ed hardy? u from new york or jersey broski?
Um....huh? Welcome to the world of the witty comment! Now try one that makes sense!
"even then things may be delayed since they'll need HSPA or LTE data speeds to pull it off."
...uh, Flash does not require more bandwidth. In fact, most times, with a mildly competent developer, the same app can be produced in less raw data than an equivalent HTML app. The persistent bandwidth hog myth came about because Flash was originally targeted at designers who took no effort to keep their apps trim.
I'd get a BlackBerry if the Browser didn't suck. WebOS for now...
Best Buy USA and Canada full site and mobile site both works fine on the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre. The loading craps out on my BlackBerry Storm and Bold though.
Blackberry browser does indeed suck, but if you disable the javascript it works much better. Either that or stick to mobile pages that are made for the iPhone, since mobiles pages are like internet pages they seem to only cater to one device/browser.
isn't silverlight a fancy MS way of saying flash.... see silver light
Didn't anyone else see RIM was just named the fastest growing company IN THE WORLD? Check it, it's very interesting. Google was 68. Everyone I know has a BlackBerry device because their jobs require it - that's a strong endorsement.
how about making it not suck first!!!
Hmmm. Why do we need anything better than 3G? I can view flash websites on my laptop - tethered to my BlackBerry Bold - just fine.
Sure, you can't just click a HD Youtube video and have it stream, but I find the general experience very usable - I get about 100 KB/sec (800 kbit/s)
Thanks y'all, I finally figured out what is so wrong with my BB.
The browser sucks.