MobileBrowser
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Nokia Xpress Now brings content discovery to Asha phones, in beta now
Nokia took to its blog today to introduce Xpress Now, an enhancement for its Xpress browser. Made for Asha devices, the web app delivers personalized content suggestions based both on your personal preferences and those of the browser's "more than 80 million monthly users." These new recommendations come courtesy of three separate browsers views: What's Hot, You May Also like and Most Liked. The categories are largely self-explanatory, and we imagine suggested content will be more spot-on after the app has been around for a few months. For the time being, though, Nokia Xpress Now is in beta in India, and it should make its away to other countries later in 2013.
Opera buys Skyfire, wants its video and smartphone optimization expertise
In a sudden joining of former leaders in the mobile browser arena that have seen their fortunes turn, Opera announced tonight that it has acquired Skyfire for about $155 million in cash and stock. According to the press release, Opera believes one of the things the two can help each other with is its WebPass program that provides short-term mobile data, by further optimizing user's data requirements. Skyfire CEO Jeffrey Glueck will become an executive vice president at Opera and oversee joint offerings for the two, as well as remain CEO of Skyfire as an independent but wholly-owned subsidiary of Opera. If you're still using Skyfire don't expect it to go away anytime soon, as the two indicate its browser will continue to be developed and supported. The company says three large US mobile operators are already customers for its Rocket Optimizer tech, meant to speed up all manner of data even as mobile connections have gone from dial-up to broadband speeds. Opera claims its advertising chops can help the Skyfire Horizon mobile browser and toolbar applications as well. The deal is expected to close before mid-March, and the two will be taking meetings at MWC 2013 later this month to show mobile operators how much better they are together.
Baidu and Orange launch mobile browser for Africa, Middle East
Not content to dominate internet search in China alone, Baidu and France Telecom's Orange are partnering to capitalize on African and Middle Eastern markets as well. Today they launched a co-branded version of Baidu's browser on France Telecom's Egyptian operator MobiNil -- it's essentially the same as the one released last year for the Chinese market but in English / Arabic instead (a French version is also coming). The browser is a pre-installed app on carrier-sold smartphones and features bookmarks for Orange and Baidu services. According to Orange, smartphone adoption in the region has become widespread due to the increased availability of 3G networks -- demand apparently doubled in Egypt in the second half of 2012 alone. With nearly 80 million potential customers at hand, Baidu could certainly give Google a run for its money yet again. You can peek at the full PR after the break.
Firefox for Android adds support for select smartphones with ARMv6 processors
Firefox on Android has been a luxury that devices running Google's mobile OS with ARMv7 processors have had, but now Mozilla is broadening its browser's horizons. Now, the latest version of Firefox's mobile incarnation adds support for phones sporting ARMv6 processors with minimum speeds of 800mhz alongside at least 512MB of RAM. With those specs, that brings the HTC ChaCha and Status, LG Optimus Q, Motorola Fire XT, Samsung Galaxy Ace and others into the fold. In addition, the browser's latest version brings Explore by Touch support on Jelly Bean and hardware and software decoding of H.264, AAC and MP3 formats on Android 4.0 and 4.1 devices. Fixes that address instability on Android 4.2 and text deletion issues also tag along in the release. To get your mitts on the download, simply tap the second source link below.
Opera Mini 7.5 update for Android adds Smart Page for social and news updates
Opera Mini for Android has been upgraded to version 7.5, bringing with it a new "Smart Page'" feature that aggregates social media updates and news from your most frequently visited websites. Smart Page works by creating feeds for your favorite web destinations and suggesting other sources based on your surfing habits. So far, Opera Mini 7.5 with the Smart Page is only available on Android -- you can download it via the browser's site or through Google Play. Check out a demo of the new feature in action below.
Baidu launches mobile web browser, wants a bigger slice of China's mobile Internet
Being the biggest search engine in China just isn't enough for Baidu, which has revealed its new mobile internet browser. The Internet company already dominates desktop-based internet search but has to spar with the likes of UCWeb and Tencent for attention on smartphone platforms. Baidu says its new browser will improve browsing speeds and offer access to its other web-based apps. The program will also augment Baidu's own mobile OS, which launched back in May, with the company aiming to get its browser pre-installed on 80 percent of smartphones sold in China by the end of the year.
Opera Mini 7 comes to feature phones and BlackBerry, upgrade notifications in tow
Opera Mini 7 has been available via the Google Play market since the end of March, but if you're still milking a feature phone for all it's worth, you haven't been able to enjoy the latest version of the mobile browser. Opera Mini 7 is now available for basic phones and BlackBerry, allowing these devices to store an unlimited number of speed dials and access the new Smart Page feature for shortcuts to favorite sites. In addition to those new features, Opera Mini 7 includes several improvements and tweaks, including upgrade notifications and the ability to close tabs with one click on touchscreen phones. Of course, the browser still promises to cut down on your device's bandwidth usage, so your flip phone can keep on chugging.
The BBC's coverage promises to make you sick of the Olympics by the time it's done
How much Olympics is too much Olympics? The BBC aims to find out at this year's London 2012 games, by offering up "the most comprehensive coverage ever," a list that includes 2,500 hours of coverage via the broadcaster's site and up to 24 live HD streams. Live coverage will be offered up for every sport and each sport, athlete, venue and country will have its own page on the site. The BBC will also be providing a free mobile app, a mobile browser site and apps for connected TVs -- 3D and Super Hi-Vision coverage is a bonus. Check out an explanatory video about the new video player after the break, as well as some scheduling information in the source link below. And maybe think about a training regimen to get ready to watch this summer's games.
Twitter makes its mobile site more feature phone friendly
When you look at the latest, greatest devices from Apple, Samsung, Motorola and the like all day, it can be easy to forget that not everyone out there is sporting a smartphone. But feature phone users have thoughts and feelings that need to be tweeted at all times, too. It's a good thing then, that Twitter's seen fit to update its mobile site to help offer a more uniform experience to users with old browsers, low bandwidth and handsets that don't quite fit under the "smart-" moniker. The new mobile site, available at mobile.twitter.com, rolls out today.
Dolphin iOS browser adds voice control
Dolphin has updated its popular iPhone web browser and the latest version now includes voice control. The feature, called Dolphin Sonar, lets you use your voice to search the internet, share content with your favorite social networks, add bookmarks and do simple navigation tasks like opening new tabs or moving to the top of a page. To launch voice control, all you need to do is shake your phone or press the on-screen microphone button. Dolphin also brought back the URL keyboard and now lets you download images directly to your photo library. There's also a few customizations, like four different search engine options, three font sizes and night mode, that'll make browsing on your phone or tablet an enjoyable experience. You can download Dolphin Browser for the iPhone from the iOS App Store for free. Dolphin Sonar can be activated with a 99-cent in-app purchase.
iOS ends 2011 with 52% of mobile Web browsing
iOS began 2011 by grabbing more than half of the mobile browser market share and ended 2011 equally strong. According to mobile web browsing data from Net Applications, which counts unique visitors to its network of websites, iOS accounted for 54.07% of the mobile browser market in January 2011 and dropped slightly to 52.10% by the end of the year. The mobile platform stayed mostly steady in the intervening months, but there were a few fluctuations. Market share climbed to 61.50% in October 2011, presumably fueled by the launch of the iPhone 4S, and fell as low as 46.57% in February 2011. This dip might be the result of the iPad 2. Some original iPad owners may have sold their tablet in anticipation of the iPad 2, which was unveiled in early March. Among its competitors, Android climbed from 12.75% to 16.29%, while Symbian fell from 7.40% to 5.76%. Other platforms remained about the same with only minor changes in market share. These figures are interesting because they don't fit in with other metrics that show Android is the leading mobile OS. When you look at activations and handset sales, there are more Android handsets being sold than Apple iPhones. Consequently, you would expect Android to have a larger market share than it does. So why the discrepancy? This difference is likely the result of mobile Safari which, in my opinion, offers a better browsing experience than Android. Mobile Safari is an excellent browser, which was made even better now that it supports tabs on the iPad. Safari for iOS also loads pages quickly and is very responsive to multitouch gestures like pinch to zoom. Though Android's mobile browser is decent, it just isnt as smooth or polished as iOS. Scrolling can be choppy, copying text from pages is clunky and Adobe Flash seems to slow things down. It's a capable browser that'll serve up information, but it doesn't have the same enjoyable experience as iOS. [Via AppleInsider]
Opera Mini 6.5 and Mobile 11.5 embark on data awareness mission, now available for download
Nearly three weeks after Opera Mini 6.5 graced the Android Market, it's now ready for iOS, BlackBerry, J2ME and S60 (the latter's in the form of Opera Mobile 11.5). The download, which is no different than what we saw on Google's mobile OS, brings with it an option to keep track of the amount of data you've used. This type of feature seems to be catching on all over the mobile world as more and more companies continue to switch to capped internet plans. If you're looking for this option, it appears as a dedicated page within the browser's help menu. Now is the time, Opera fans, to go forth and save data.
Android Browser leapfrogs Opera Mini, but Safari increases its lead
Web browser warriors have some more statistical firepower to play with, now that Net Applications has released the latest usage figures for mobile browsers. Google's vaguely titled Browser has inched up from a 16.3 percent share last month to 18.7 percent, counterbalanced by Opera Mini, which declined from just under 19 percent to 13.1 percent. Similarly, both Symbian and BlackBerry's mobile browsers dropped a few percentage points, down to 2.6 and 2.4 percent respectively. While rumors of a mobile-friendly version of Chrome continue to bounce around, there remains a substantial gap between second-place Android and the current mobile browser boss, Apple's Safari, which has now extended its dominance from 55.6 percent to 62.2 percent. The battle of the browsers wages on.
Qualcomm launches Vellamo browser benchmark for Android devices
Qualcomm's not exactly a novice when it comes to sizing up phones -- it's already responsible for the graphics benchmark Neocore. Now, it also wants to show you just how much your mobile browser is lagging. The company just introduced Vellamo, a suite of 11 tests designed to gauge browser performance on Android phones and tablets. In case you're curious, it takes its name from the Finnish goddess of the sea who lures away sailors web surfers (Qualcomm's joke, not ours). And yes, it'll work with any device running Android 2.0 or above, even if it doesn't pack a Qualcomm-made processor. These tests span four broad categories -- rendering, JavaScript, user experience, and networking -- with only two requiring an internet connection (even then, you can cherry pick specific tests to run). We took it for a spin on our aging, Froyo-packing, Motorola Droid, whose score of 237 landed at the very bottom of the list of results, far behind tablets and newer handsets. (As of this writing, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 took the cake.) Curious to see how your device ranks? Hit the source link to download the free APK file. %Gallery-128414%.
Google Sites simplifies iOS and Android viewing with automatic mobile rendering
Do you use Google Sites to publish to the web? The search giant just added automatic mobile rendering to make your website more mobile-friendly when viewed on an iOS 3.0 or Android 2.2+ device. A new setting to "Automatically adjust site for mobile phones" can be activated in the site management page, at which point pages designed for desktop viewing will be displayed in a much simpler web format, so readers won't need to pinch-to-zoom just to see a page's content. Google also added mobile versions of the site list, sites search, and browse sites categories, for easy access from your smartphone. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but if you happen to run a Google Site or have a friend that does, it wouldn't hurt to flip the switch on mobile viewing -- your visitors will appreciate it.
Bing Mobile updated, news and maps get minor facelifts
How can you "be what's next" without having what's next on your phone? Bing is here to help you fulfill its tagline by updating its mobile site for any device that runs HTML5. If the update had a highlight reel to show off the newest features, here's what would be on it: a carousel-like interface in the news section that lets you swipe your finger left or right to switch to other categories; maps that show directions together in split-screen format; a search history complete with trending topics; and the ability to share images and links on Facebook. The new enhancements are now available to iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, so it's an easy jaunt over to your browser to check it out. Or, if you're reading this on your phone, give the ol' More Coverage link a quick tap.
Firefox 5 for Android adds CSS animation, support for Do Not Track browsing
The Firefox team is moving as quick as a...well, you get the idea. Nearly two months after releasing its latest browser to the masses, the folks at Mozilla have unleashed Firefox 5 for Android as a beta for willing souls who happen upon it in the Market. The latest rendition will hook you up with support for CSS animations, improved canvas and JavaScript performance, and lower memory usage. You're also going to find Do Not Track included for the first time, which is a privacy setting that prevents other sites from following you around. Otherwise, for a major release, there isn't a ton of meat -- then again, Mozilla's switched things up a bit by popping out updates on a more frequent basis, making few changes to each one, so anyone feeling a bit underwhelmed should know that the team's already hard at work on Firefox 6. Head down to the source links to download the beta and learn what's new.
Firefox 4 for Android launched, ready to Sync and speed up your browsing
It was a release candidate just about a week ago and today it's all ready to go. Firefox 4 for Android has just been released from the Mozilla labs and is now prowling the mobile internet. You can get yours at the Android Market, in no less than 10 languages, though there'll be no Flash playback. Still, tabbed browsing, extreme customizability, and bookmark / tab / history coordination between desktop and mobile (via Firefox Sync) are all nice to have, as is the promised threefold improvement in speed over the stock Android browser. Pretty nice list of improvements for some freebie software, wouldn't you say?
Bing for Mobile portal gets updated, brings HTML5-based fanciness
Whatever Google (and Yahoo!) can do, Bing can do better? It doesn't exactly have that so-called ring to it, but Bing has proven to be a legitimate contender in the search wars -- particularly on the mobile side. This week, Microsoft launched a number of updates to the Bing for Mobile browse portal, giving users access to better and faster image search, real-time transit and directions, app search for the iPhone, and more. The new version relies on HTML5, and the company assures us that Windows Phone 7 support for the updates (and HTML5) will be available later in the year. On-the-go users will also see transit directions (real-time in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and Los Angeles), a reorganized shopping experience, automated weather suggestions and app / movie searches. Head on down to the source link (on your phone, of course) to see if any of the new features have you sold.
Mozilla Firefox 4 RC for Android and Maemo now up for grabs
If you're liking what Firefox 4 for mobile already offers in its previous beta builds, then you'll certainly want to check out its release candidate that went live on Monday -- just less than six months after the browser when beta. According to Mozilla, this new build provides a better overall user experience with faster scrolling and improved Firefox Sync, along with other goodies like Awesome Screen smart shortcuts, tabbed browsing, Firefox Add-ons, and Persona themes. Sounds a lot like its desktop sibling (which has a healthy 4.9 million downloads already), doesn't it? Head over to the source page for the Android and Maemo download links, or you can have a look at Mozilla's latest video after the break if you need some convincing.
