It's been almost a year since
RIM picked up Torch Mobile and locked its newly acquired division in a closet, telling those coders to not come out until BlackBerry had a world-class browser. Early tests from Salomondrin, the self-described "007 of the Phone World," indicates that those tired engineers can now finally go home and get some sleep. The new WebKit-based browser, a part of
BlackBerry OS 6.0, managed a score of 208 on the
Acid HTML5 tests, measuring browser compliance and performance. Meanwhile the
iPhone 4 scored 185 and
HTC's Incredible pulled down 151. Mind you, benchmark performance doesn't always equate to real-world browser responsiveness, but regardless this is good news for CrackBerry addicts. The only question now is: when will they get their fix?
Update: The browsers were run through a suite of tests, and the above scores were actually from
The HTML5 Test!
posted July 20th 2010 12:44PM
That's not an ACID test, that's the HTML5 test. There's a huge difference, Engadget.
Will it support in browser flash or HTML5 video?
Isn't RIM a part of the open screen project?
I haven't heard anything about flash on bb...
The Slider is definitely going to be my next phone.
Guess it's always good to patch a sinking ship.
BB fans don't care about web browsing on their devices, because if they did, they'd own something else. If RIM wants to keep its core customers, I would think it would focus on business-centric features, not giving IT departments headaches. Of course, I'd also think they would've canned that DOS-looking OS years ago, but they seem to be sticking with it. I guess this makes sense for a company that can't even decide on a single CEO0.
@Perspective
Their core features are BBM and IM. Blackberrys have changed a lot since you last used one in 2005.
@Perspective The majority of BB users are now mainstream and not corporate.
@Perspective not to mention that BB is known for being rugged (at least in my opinion, where my iPhone 3G broke at first drop, and my current BB has withstand more than 10x that).
As a messaging platform and e-mail client RIM has done an excellent job, and I am glad to see them pushing a better browser.
Pff. Big whoop. My iPhone 4's getting a free case. Thank you overlord Jobs!
/sarcasm
@techee44
You probably should thank him, as other mobile manufacturers are going to be throwing in free cases to appease their users, now that the cat is out of the bag, and Nokia, RIM et al are having to admit they had the same problems all along
http://theurbangeek.com/2010/07/20/rim-pulls-death-grip-videos-from-youtube/
@pukerocket
The case RIM has included all along is a holster which attaches to a belt...like one being worn with a business suit, and switches the phone to vibrate or silent automatically when holstered. It's what's called a "thank you," as in thank you for buying our product and here is our token of appreciation. They are not needed to keep the phone from dropping calls as I never used mine and my phone can make calls reliably however you hold it. The bumpers you are growing to love and know are saying "sorry," like a guy giving his wife he cheated on a bouquet of roses as a cheap way to win her back or keep her from leaving. See the difference?
@VAVA Mk 2
Uhh. You do know $10 was tacked on to the price of your phone to cover the cost of that, right?
And you know those 3-for-2 offers you get in Walmart? They do it cos they love you.
@pukerocket
So how is a bumper that Apple has never made before in response to an external antenna design flaw better than a holster always included at little or no extra cost? The bumper is free only until September 30 and once again the holster isn't included because you need it to prevent touching the antenna. You fail to miss the point. Those bumpers will have quite a mark up come October 1 by the way.
Heh, At first I read this:
"Your browser scored 208 points (and 1 bonus point) for a total of 300."
And was very doubtful about the browser. XD
Why are they putting iPhone 4 against the Droid Incredible? Why not against a Froyo Nexus One?
Oh right, because Froyo dances circles around BB6 on acid.
@TareG
I scratched my head on this one too.
This just in... "RIM's New Hope vs. iPhone4 vs. a Dated Android in a Browser-Battle-Royale"!!! ....sigh!
@TareG I'd like to see it compared to the Motorola Razor
Bet its not faster than my nexus one with froyo!
I don't care.......
@GadgetFunkie But it can fuggin create a wormhole turn into a spaceship and fly you through it into the future to iPhone 6 launch day and fuggin put you at the front of the line with a get two free coupon......
My Chrome on win7 scored 196 +3 points on the HTML5 test and stopped at 98 on acid 3.
With Froyo 2.2 on Droid (CyanogenMod 6) , I got 176 points on HTML5 and 93/100 on acid 3. Acid 2 did not render properly
I wonder if someone can test this on a froyo android device and see if its the same..
Nicely done, RIM *applause*
I second that. Honest competition is a good and welcome thing.
Oh what about the nexus one with 2.2 thats that would be a fair test.
I love my Blackberry 9700 :)
A unicorn might be a shoe-in for the triple crown, but it's also about as real as Blackberry 6 is right now.
My phone only scores around 70... Google Chrome (ubuntu) scores 217 for me.
There is finally a somewhat credible release date for the 9800! Aug 15!
http://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/07/20/rims-new-touchscreen-blackberry-9800-possibly-landing-in-august/
How about we bench Froyo's browser please, not eclair's.
It beats NO ONE if they don't release it already... and please, not just for 6.0, which is most likely.
RIM needs to stop talking and prove they are worth something. Pronto!
It cracks me up how Engadget and other iFool sites try to downplay any browser metric that's not load time or smoothness if scrolling. These benchmarks are the way desktop browsers are judged and phones should be no different. And its especially important for Apple folk that want HTML 5 to supplant Flash. Loading and scrolling have little importance in that area because the apps will be built so that they don't need to be scrolled. And downloading the app fast means nothing if it runs slow. So yes these statistics do.translate to real world use unless you're saying iPhone users only read websites and don't interact with them. Sorry but trying to create your own standard here is gonna come back to.haunt you.
And I wonder how a Froyo phone would score in these tests. Hard to say you're the fastest and not test the latest OS that has just received a new Javascript engine.
This was on gizmodo a while back
"The new WebKit-based browser, a part of BlackBerry OS 6.0, managed a score of 208"
It's called BlackBerry 6, not BlackBerry OS 6.0.
In other news RIM releases more products just like the old products with specs only slightly changed, making new products that are the same as the old products. News at 11
This is good. Android didn't get a high score because it sucks. Period. But 208 is impressive. Go BlackBerry.
Please OH PLEASE let this be a free download to people who own say... A BlackBerry Bold 9000. God damn I hate the OS 5 browser. I don't dare turn on javascript.