The Competition: BlackBerry Browser Going WebKit via Torch Mobile?!
CrackBerry.com is reporting that RIM has acquired Torch Mobile, makers of the WebKit-powered Iris mobile browser.
Apple-backed WebKit is the open-source rendering engine behind Mac Safari and Google Chrome, which isn’t a very large segment, all told. Mobile WebKit, however, powers the portable world with the iPhone (and iPod touch) Safari, Google Android Chrome Lite, the Palm Pre/webOS browser, and some Nokia devices. Add BlackBerry to the mix and it pretty much looks like the mobile world vs. IE6 on Windows Phone — strangely inverse the desktop landscape where IE dominates and Firefox brings up the rear. (FireFox’s mobile Fennec browser is still in development).
It was just a couple weeks ago that RIM promised an iPhone-class browser from BlackBerry by next summer, and it looks like this might just give them one heckuva jumpstart in getting there.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:29 am
RIM is trying hard, but still will always be one step behind Apple.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:51 am
This may help them alittle.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Speaking of browsers…
There is a great little browser in the App store called Perfect Browser. It maximizes screen real estate.
It has tabs for tabbed browsing.
I suspect its Webkit under the skin, but don’t know for sure.
Anyway, its worth the download, and it (yet again) puts the lie to Apple’s assertion that you are not allowed to duplicate iPhone functionality in any App.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Iris browser was actually pretty good on my WM phone, so I[m sure with RIMs development money the BB version will be damn near perfect.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:58 am
@icebike, all the browsers in the app store are webkit. Or just safari with a different skin.
August 24th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I miss skyfire on wm it opened any webpage
August 24th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
@Sting7k:
Or, more likely, just Webkit without the Safari skin.
In any event, they beat Safari with safari’s own stick.
Its a stunning little browser. First edition had some major failings, but the current version is very usable.
August 24th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
All my friends with bb bolds are so envious of safari on the iPhone.
Finally there is hope for them .
August 24th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Iris was a good was a good browser on my wm
August 24th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Iris was a good browser on my wm
August 24th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
“There is a great little browser in the App store called Perfect Browser. It maximizes screen real estate.”
Speaking of iPhone browsers, there are quite a few nice titles. My personal pick is iCab Mobile, which, IMHO, is by far the best. See my all-on-one roundup of all iPhone browsers at http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/one-and-only-real-iphone-web-browser-roundup (also cross-posted to major iPhone forums) if interested.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Speaking of Iris – well, the latest WinMo version of their browser still can’t really be compared to Safari (iPhone) or Opera Mobile (or even Mini) – it still has text reflowing problems. I’ve elaborated on all this in my two-part article series (the second is at http://www.smartphonemag.com/cms/blog/9/quick-web-browser-test-comparison-latest-iris-and-opera-mobile-versions ).
That is, unless this major bug is fixed, I don’t think Safari will be matched.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
“All my friends with bb bolds are so envious of safari on the iPhone.
Finally there is hope for them .”
Iris, in its current WinMo incarnation, isn’t really a match for Safari. (Of course, it’s still way better than the current “Browser” coming with the BB OS).
August 24th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
@Werner:
Its a good page, but its hard to find specific browsers. Needs and Index, and probably needs to be broken into multiple pages because updates change things so much.
Thanks for the write up on iCab. It is indeed a sweet browser. It appears to gain most of its speed by the Filters (ban lists) which prevent it from downloading many (but not nearly enough) advertising. (You can add to the ban list).
However it will frequently refuse to zoom (pinch).
Also there are many situations where you are have to know a bunch of things that appear only in the manual. There are no visible controls on the screen for some functions. Too much reliance on magic swipe and tap combos (4 finger taps?!!?) that are explained only in the help.
The ability to download things and store them on the phone and then transfer to your computer via wifi is really nice.
August 24th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
IE is in the lead? Check this out: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
Notably, check out the July 2009 statistics. Add up the IE market share and then glance at the Firefox percentage.
August 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
@icebike: “Its a good page, but its hard to find specific browsers. Needs and Index, and probably needs to be broken into multiple pages because updates change things so much.”
Yup, the subjects of my articles / roundups evolving over time has always been a problem. For example, under 2.2.1, I still haven’t recommended iCab for people that like opening more than a handful of sites – as opposed to some other browsers. With 3.0, stability has been dramatically improved – and, with 3G S, the number of pages to keep concurrently in memory further increased. That is, while in the first version of my article didn’t recommend iCab, in subsequent (post-3.0 OS) versions I did.
Unfortunately, it’s very hard to keep a roundup always up-to-date, particularly if you also need to keep in mind that the readers of the original article may want to prefer reading simple (short) updates instead of reading a long article with updates incorporated entirely.
“However it will frequently refuse to zoom (pinch). “
You mean the lack of zooming in an one-column Webpage like this very blog when read on the iPhone? Or, do you have some specific (non-one column) Web pages it refused to zoom in?
“Also there are many situations where you are have to know a bunch of things that appear only in the manual. There are no visible controls on the screen for some functions. Too much reliance on magic swipe and tap combos (4 finger taps?!!?) that are explained only in the help.”
Yup, the learning curve of the gestures is pretty steep. Nevertheless, you aren’t forced to use them at all – even the three-finger tap (to return from full screen mode) can easily be circumvented by shaking the phone. Other gestures like previous / next [tabs] can also be accessed from the GUI (with [considerably] more taps, though).
August 24th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
@Ali: “IE is in the lead? Check this out: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
Notably, check out the July 2009 statistics. Add up the IE market share and then glance at the Firefox percentage.”
You might also want to check out the mobile-specific stats at, say, http://msmobiles.com/news.php/8524.html
August 24th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I hate carrying around two phones!!! Iphone for browsing and Blackberry for email and instant messaging. Maybe Blackberry will finally have something decent now!!!
August 24th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
The browser and the capacitive touch screen are about all that sets the iPhone apart. If it loses those two advantages the only people who will buy iPhones are folks that really want a psp with a phone attached to it. LOL!