Skyfire mobile browser launches

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Skyfire’s mobile browser has launched today as a free download.

Skyfire 1.0 is a browser which allows users to view web pages like they would when using a PC.

It uses a proxy server to compress the pages before sending them to a handset, saving on the phone’s CPU usage and giving users an experience similar to a browser on a desktop.

It is currently available for both Windows Mobile and Symbian platforms but the company is still working on a Blackberry version.

Nitin Bhandari, chief executive of Skyfire, said: “We were absolutely floored by the initial response to the Skyfire Beta. We knew people wanted the PC web on their phones and this was clearly confirmed in the significant user growth and engagement during our beta period.”

“However, bringing it to over one million consumers exceeded our expectations of a beta, especially since they were all acquired organically by buzz and word of mouth.”

The browser’s beta has gone through various stages of upgrades before this full version was released but now it has improved browsing qualities, better zoom and start up features, and can support technologies such as JavaScript, Flash and Silverlight.

Bhandari said: “As web content continues to include more Ajax applications, Javascript, video, Flash 10, and web pages double in complexity every 12 months, there will always be a gap between phone and PC capabilities. PC web progress will not slow down for the mobile industry to catch up.”

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