A little cloud computing, very good Mobile Experience

I've decided to get back to the gym this season. This time around I've been taking my routines a bit more seriously than before by tracking my progress and switching them up in between days. Thanks to Google Docs and it's mobile browser support, it has been helping me keep track of my routines over my smartphones in the gym. Whether I am using my iPhone or G1, I can access Google Docs via mobile browsers and pull up a spreadsheet I am using to remind me what exercises to perform.

Not that this is anything groundbreaking, but it beats carrying a notebook and a pen around the gym; plus I am already using my phone as an iPod at the gym anyways. PS - another Mobile Experience related to working out: Just before heading out to the gym tonight, my G1's WeatherBug App sent me a Poor Air Quality alert; knowing that, I decided to stay indoors and ran on the thread mill instead of outdoors. Nice!

Skyfire Beta 0.85 Released, I lost some interest

Skyfire, a mobile browser that I had given high hopes, finally got to its senses and released a new beta 0.85 that doesn't require registration. This release allows any user to download with a simple click from a mobile browser at (http://get.skyfire.com/). They've also expanded their service to UK for both WinMo and Symbian OS. Whats most exciting is the support for phones with VGA resolution; not sure how it will play with phones with higher than VGA resolution like the SonyEricsson Xperia X1.

Most of you will know that I was once a big fan of Skyfire. That is until their previous release, I ran into some issues installing the said release onto my Nokia N95-3. Skyfire registration kept telling me I do not have the correct login. I sent in a support request and NO ONE got back to me. As stated in my previous article, if a user like myself had issues, how will they expect mass public to over come it? I suppose with the latest beta, no more registration mess. Nevertheless, I feel like its too little too late. With Mobile Safari and iPhone taking the lead in the smartphone market, I feel very little need to look else where for another mobile solution. Not to mention, I've got the default Nokia Browser and Opera Mini for my Symbian needs.

Opera Mini 4.2 Beta Released Today

Opera Mini 4.2 Beta version released today which promises more functions and features than you can handle. With customizable skin, video support (SonyEriccson and Nokia phones should work on with m.youtube.com now) and faster performance.

Long before iPhone and its mobile Safari browser, Opera Mini and Opera Mobile reigned supreme. I am curious to test this new browser myself, will dust off the N95-3 and give it a whirl tonight. Stay tuned.

Designing Content for iPhone Safari Browser

iPhone, for the first time in history, escliped RAZR as the number 1 consumer phone sold in the U.S. A pretty significant feat considering this phone is a more complicated device with excess baggage of expensive data plan associated. To me, this means that we can expect a mass market hysteria and expect every vendor, retailer, ecommerce giant to step up their web game with an iPhone-friendly website.

Apple has a nice little "Designing Content" packet available here for you to get some basic knowledge on how to build a site for iPhone users (handling application launch, GMAP links and Phone App launch. In their, they explained the "viewport" concept on how pages should be handled for scaling and etc... Its a short read for any marketers or IT personel to get their mindset into an iPhone friendly site. I ran a quick test on Omniture version 14 and saw over 4000+ visitors came to one of our sites via iPhone+iPod touch... thats over 60% of mobile visitors used a mobile Safari device.

Skyfire Beta, now officially open to WM and Symbian

Just got an email directly from the Skyfire folks that their beta mobile browser is officially available for download on Windows Mobile and Symbian OS device. All you have to do is go here and sign up to receive an SMS alert to begin download directly from your phone. Unfortunately, you'll have to register with them in order to get a password and use the application. While i am a big fan of the application, I am not too thrilled about that. Also somewhat concerned about the security aspect of this application considering that everything is powered by server-side according this article.

I have my N95-3 this week and I just downloaded and installed the beta application. However, I am having some trouble with launching since it said I've registered my account to another device previously (Robert's WM6 ATT Tilt), I will post an update once I sort out the mess.

Update: I tried resetting my password twice, no luck of account access to get my phone working, this process is too complicated and secretive for my taste, sorry Skyfire, if you keep this up, you'll likely run into user-support issues which may not help with gaining market share. Please fix this hurdle ASAP! Remove the password requirement.

Statistics Finally Justified i.engadget.com

The folks over at Engadget.com finally caved in and produced a iPhone-Safari optimized website (i.engadget.com) in addition to an already existed wap site (m.engadget.com). What is more interesting is the fact that nearly 96% of all mobile browsers visiting Engadget.com came from iPhone/iPod Touch. According to their full stat, even the Nintendo Wii browser hit their site more than the next runner ups HTC Touch Cruise 0.5% and Nokia N95 8GB 0.4%. I grabbed their stats below but take a look for yourself here.

What is interesting is I've been noticing from our company's Omniture data showing resolution 320x280 on the rise for our ecommerce sites. When compared to 1024 or 1280 resolution, its less than half of a percent. I wouldn't be surprised if its the same for Engadget but within mobile browsers, I'd love to take a look what dominates. (won't be surprised if its the mobile Safari either).
1. Apple iPhone - 79.8%
2. Apple iPod Touch - 16.0%
3. Nintendo Wii - 1.1%
4. HTC P3650 (aka Touch Cruise) - 0.5%
5. Nokia N95 8GB - 0.4%
6. Nokia N95 - 0.3%
7. HTC X7500 - 0.2%
8. LG VX10000 Voyager - 0.2%
9. Nokia E90 - 0.2%
10. Nokia N82 - 0.1%
11. Nokia E51 - 0.1%
12. Nokia N95-3 NAM - 0.1%
13. Palm Treo 755p - 0.1%
14. Nokia E61 - 0.1%
15. Sony PlayStation Portable - 0.1%
16. Nokia N73 - 0.1%
17. Nokia N81 - 0.1%
18. Nokia N78 - 0.0%
19. Nokia 6120 classic - 0.0%
20. Nokia E65 - 0.0%
21. Danger Sidekick III - 0.0%
22. Motorola RAZR2 V8 - 0.0%
23. Samsung SCH-U940 - 0.0%
24. Motorola Q9 - 0.0%
25. Sony Ericsson P1i - 0.0%

Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta by July 15th

Yup, Opera Mobile, the leader in 3rd party mobile browser is finally going to give us a glimpse of the latest release they are working on. With my favorite contender Skyfire in the works, the battle for a superior aftermarket mobile browser is on. Opera Mobile 9.5 is said to support Flash Lite 3 and produce faster page load speed. We'll see about that! (source: downloadsquad)

Nokia N95-3 Browser Flash Support Test via 20.2.011 Firmware

One of the most exciting features with the recent firmware update for the Nokia N95-3 (RM-160) phones has to be it Flash Lite 3 support. This can potentially unlock so much more mobile experience for its users. Flash support has been one of those highly desirable features challenging almost all smartphones. Currently, to find a smartphone that is fully capable of supporting Flash in a mobile browser is almost non-existent; not even with the high acclaimed iPhone (mobile Safari). One can only hope Skyfire can bring this to reality soon.

As you can see, this feature is quite important for the Nokia symbian S60 3rd edition handsets. Yours truly decided to test out a few websites featuring Flash-rich animations and see how the Nokia browser would handle the flash rendering. The end result is not great; only 1 out of 4 websites I tested worked with some of navigational bugs (won't scroll all the way to the top of page). Take a look at the comparisons for yourself between a desktop browser vs. Nokia browser handling Flash animations.

Review of Nokia N95-3 RM-160 Firmware Update 20.2.011

With the much anticipated release of the N95-3 firmware V20.2.011 (aka. RM-160, NAM, North American 3G edition), I must say I am pleased with this new firmware. Overall, Nokia has polished its operating system and made it more efficient as well as more organized. Please find some of my upgrade feedback and screen shots below:

*Faster startup time. Unlike other's posted speed of 19 seconds, it took about 30 seconds for me
*Faster camera load time. It took about 2 seconds to launch but another 2 sec to be ready for shooting (much improved compared to it used to take 10 seconds)
*Flash Lite 3 is now supported in the browser (flash capable... see my screenshot of LouisVuitton Site)!!!
* Integrated Search feature now available right on the homepage screen
* N-Gage Demo is now available
* The Menu icons are more organized, clicked on settings now shows a neatly organized 9 icons. (compared to 15 or so in the past)
* When connected via USB, the "mass storage" mode is now sensibly named "data transfer" mode
* Bug/Conflict: When running Screenshot program, the default "camera" button now triggers the Nokia camera to launch after a screenshot is taken (quick fix is to reassign the button to something else within Screenshot application setting)

Skyfire Secures $13M in Funding

Our favorite Windows Mobile browser, Skyfire, just secured $13M in Series B funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Trinity Ventures.

As you can see from our video review in the past, this browser unlocks a Windows Mobile smartphone's true potential and brings it up to the same leveled playing field with mobile Safari. It wasn't until recently, my Nokia N95-3's 20.2.011 firmware upgrade could I have accessed flash in the Nokia browser. I am still anxiously awaiting Skyfire to come out of private beta and release a version for Symbian S60 3rd edition phones.

This is exciting news, with funding and backed by venture partners, I can't wait to see some breakthroughs in their upcoming updates.

Skyfire Browser 0.6 Upgrade Available Today

Skyfire, (original review), the most promising Windows Mobile (and soon Symbian S60) browser just released an upgrade to its beta test. Upgrade your existing 0.5 or 0.55 license to 0.6 today (Your old browser will expire by May 7th, 2008). To upgrade, launch Skyfire on your phone and you'll notice an upgrade now link, click on it to receive an SMS link that takes up to the download link. Stay tuned for an updated review.

In the 0.6 version upgrade, they've addressed the following issues/update:

* Multi-line text entry (2,000 character limit)
* Auto-complete text entry
* Paste into URL or search
* Ability to delete bookmarks
* Multiple zoom modes for touch screen phones
* Double tap to Zoom In and Zoom Out
* Support for custom virtual keyboards (SIP)
* Web search shortcut in softkey menu
* Access to the Windows Mobile Taskbar in softkey menu
* Persistent settings for SmartFit, Mute and Zoom size
* Support for 12-key and 1/2 QWERTY devices
* Password masking
* Backlight usage based on system settings
* OK button sends Skyfire to the background

Click on the image from this entry to read the communication I just received 10 minutes ago. Cheers!

Update: Contributing editor Robert just finished upgrading his AT&T Tilt while on his way to Hawaii for vacation (what dedication!). He is very impressed with the multiple level zoom; the granularity of the zoom apparently is very good. We'll wait for Robert to provide an in depth review once he's spent more time with it.

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.

Skyfire Beta Update: Beta Availability Timeframe

Since my last reporting, I have gotten a couple more of emails from the fine folks at Skyfire. First email was to tell me that the phone number I provided during Beta 1 signup did not work for them, hence an email instruction to signup. At this point, I regret to inform you that I do not have a WM5 or 6 phone so I will attempt to sign up anyways just to see what happens. However, I know this beta is purely for Windows Mobile Devices.

Carrying on with the second email (click picture to enlarge) I've received from them is a more thorough update addressing why they've been slow in reaching out to the people who's signed up to Beta 1. In short, there are two batch of people who signed up for beta testing. Anyone who signed up before March 1st is considered beta 1 and will likely to get notifications soon. After March 1st, is considered Beta 2. They estimate Summer 2008 as available time frame to allow Beta 2 people to test. Skyfire is trying to regulate beta users and feedback so they can manage the process. Thoughtful!

There is a Symbian update from the second email:
In addition to adding features and building a robust Windows Mobile Skyfire, we also have development underway for a Symbian version of Skyfire. Stay tuned as we extend our beta to the Nokia N-series and E-series phones in the U.S. this summer. Beta 1 and 2 users who have signed up indicating that they have Nokia phones do not need to do anything. We’ll contact you as soon as it’s ready.

TeaShark Mobile Browser Review

Engadget Mobile found a new mobile browser called TeaShark, which is available to phones capable of support JAVA MIDP 2.0. Evidently, its based on the same technology platform as the default Nokia browser with enhanced features. I downloaded a copy from their website and have found this browser to be quite good. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:
* Clean Interface and startup page (Nokia Default Browser does not have a startup page, while Opera Mini's always felt a bit more cramped)
* Cool Multi-Tab feature. I managed to get up to 3 tabs opened at once.
* True, full screen browsing. Not top or bottom menu bars to limit your on screen display
* Full text select, like desktop browsers
* Find text function, like desktop browsers
* Smart URL suggestion functionality, this comes in very handy over a S60 handset
* Bookmark organization with color tags

Cons:
* The UI is not as intuitive. The on screen "#" shortcut menu makes it easier to use
* Menu and Functionality can sometimes be confusing (not sure exactly how to open a new tab or close old tab)
* When you press the "END" key, it shuts the application down (ie. other programs just takes you to home screen, kept app running in background)
* Like all other 3rd party software, the application must choose a network to sign on each time of use (no default access point setup)

Overall, I am pleased with another good mobile browser option that I can use. I feel like each new browser one ups the default Nokia Browser which is already very good. However, the level of improvement is so marginal that I am not sure if I would make the permanent switch; largely due to the fact that the default browser's inherent and seamless integration with the OS itself.

Related Entry: Nokia S60 Browser vs Opera Mini 4

Some real screen shots for your reference (click to enlarge)

Nokia S60 Browser vs. Opera Mini 4

Ever since I got my Nokia N95-3, I have been relying pretty heavily on the default Nokia browser for most of my internet usage. Largely because for mobile applications, I tend to rely on default applications thinking its probably better in the sense that it being more reliable, and “the way” manufacturer intended. In addition, I also knew that Nokia’s broswer was based on the popular Opera Mini technology, therefore, I didn’t think it was necessary for me to make any switch.

A while ago, I blogged about OperaMini 4 being available and I installed it back then. I haven’t actually played with it in full extent until recently. I was fine with what the Nokia Browser can do (although I admit the shortcuts on keypad is still abit confusing and hard to remember), what drove me to OperaMini was the inability of displaying higher-resolution graphics within the default Nokia Browser. (See 1st sample below)

The more I tried to use web services like the PicasaWeb or just browsing blogs like Engadget on my handset, the more I noticed Nokia Brwoser’s inability to render the images. So I decided to test out Opera Mini in full which had no problem what-so-ever. I also found the following advantages over default Nokia Browser:

• Opera Mini makes Zoom in and out easier by using the right button beneath the LCD (whereas in Nokia Browser, you have to press keypad 8, should you remember)
• Opera Mini’s transition to go “BACK” is much faster. It just goes back to the last page without having to reload. (whereas in Nokia Browser, while it gives you a preview window for the previous screens, it takes more time to reload them)
• Opera Mini’s basic layout and usage for the numeric keypad makes more sense: 2 is up, 8 is down, 4 is left, 6 is right.
• Opera Mini gives you the short-key command on the bottom of the screen when you go through the default menu.
• Opera Mini has a smoother, web2.0 like transition going forward or backwards in between screens

Overall, I like Opera Mini compared to the Nokia Browser. Chances are, I will still rely on the Nokia Browser most of the times just because it’s the default program and will launch more frequently by default (from email or SMS links). However, to truly enjoy my mobile internet experience, I will choose Opera Mini any day.

PS – I do have one little problem with Opera Mini. For whatever reason, when I try to go to Google.com, it defaults to Google Norway (Google.no). I can’t figure out how to change the default back to the US. So it kind of renders a big portion of my user experience useless…

Recently Reviewed: TeaShark Mobile Browser on Nokia N95-3