Browser Shootout
Rating: High Noon!
By Rob Knight - (Bena notes -another bloke blogger on GoMo..)
I expect none of you are quite as sad as me. Since 1998 I have always run 2 mobile phones, one for work and one for personal use. I know its 2 devices to carry around but that’s just excuse for 100% more kit!..I mean..Come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So my current devices are an XDA Exec on O2 and a Blackberry 8800 on Orange and I was intrigued to see a browser shootout on Informationweek using devices from the same stables. Their four tooled up challengers were the Palm Treo 755P V Blackberry Curve V HTC Wing V Apple iPhone, an intresting shoot out any day of the week.
Their 3 criteria are : "
To browse the Web you have to enter URLs into the browser, which can be
difficult enough on a normal keyboard. As a result, any phone that
requires you to hit the same key three times to type a single letter is
worthless for Web browsing. The keyboard can be real or virtual — that
is, implemented as hardware buttons or spots on a touchscreen ."
"
For browsing the Web on a phone, bigger screens and higher screen
resolutions are both better, but there’s a practical limit to both –
the phone has to be small enough to be a phone."
"
Certain features of the browser become more important as the screen
gets smaller — and, all too often, those features go missing. Multiple
browser windows
bookmarks, browser add-ins, Java and Flash support, even simple
onscreen controls for Stop, Back, and Reload, are all basic to the
experience of browsing the Web, yet they can be hard to find on
handhelds."
All intresting points. Personally call me an old git but I cannot do email, URL inputting and note taking on anything other than a qwerty device, I mean..do I look like a patient man? Screen size is always a matter of preference, do I carry a brick around and have a great screen or can I compromise and still have a decent surfing experience and then its the browser.
Well, I have used Opera 8.60, Deepfish, Nokia’s built in browser and was involved in developing one from scratch. The key for me is simplicity, to be able to surf with the minimal number of clicks. A lot of this comes down to the device design. The Blackberry 8800 has a trackball navigation scroll and click interface, and its excellent, they use their own browser. The XDA Exec has a stylus, simple point and click and comes with the Windows Mobile 5 IE browser as standard, I did download Opera for it but frankly I never took to it, it just seemed slow and clunky to me. I know Im the only person in the world who doesn’t love it but there you go, perhaps I need to try it again which I will do soon and write a proper review, with the ability to run Ajax and its client/server design it should be a killer browser.
Personally I love the integrated trackball on the 8800, it allows for one handed surfing allowing my other hand free for giving high fives to all the other crackberry users I see! :p
Of course like all things its a matter of taste. You cant just pick the best browser, it’s down to the device its running on, the speed your surfing at and even down to what content you are looking at - they all effect the surfing experience. Informationweek, well they plump for the iPhone. Bang Bang.
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