Skyfire Beta: Initial Review

UPDATE: Skyfire Beta 0.6 Available Today (5/1/08)

{Robert Kim, a Microsoft employee and certifiable gadget freak, is a contributing editor of The Mobile Experience blog}

The Mobile Experience is pleased to bring you a first look at the promising Skyfire Mobile Browser Beta that was released a few days ago. Please find an exclusive video review of this browser in action. This beta was part of the "beta 1" group. If you signed up for Skyfire beta testing after March 1st, you'll likely end up being "beta 2" group which will begin testing in summer 08.

After Andy sent his beta 1 email for download/account setup instructions from Skyfire, I was able to complete the registration process fairly easily. I was prompted to get a beta account login ID and Password which is required for installation at a later point. I downloaded the .CAB file version for WM Pocket PC Edition; other versions (for WM Smartphone Edition is also available). After downloading and installing Skyfire on my HTC Tilt (Windows Mobile 6), I quickly tested the browser's performance and key abilities.

Pros
* Full screen browsing
* Easy to zoom-in
* Navigate easily around webpages
* Ability to view flash sites and handle JAVA applications (ie. Google Maps)
* Play videos directly on sites (ie. YouTube and DailyMotion)

Cons (Still in Beta)
* Start page is fairly empty
* Lack of Multi-Tab feature
* Zooming-out can use improvement
* Could use additiona levels of zoom

Check out my video testing a couple sites below:


Overall, I am extremely pleased with this browser for Windows Mobile phones. It allows me to have similar functionality as the acclaimed iPhone's browser. I am looking forward to the updates in the future and additional functionalities.