Mobile browser

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Opera Mini 3 Basic is an example of a mobile browser.

A mobile browser, also called a microbrowser, minibrowser or wireless internet browser (WIB), is a web browser designed for use on a mobile device such as a mobile phone or PDA. Mobile browsers are optimized so as to display Web content most effectively for small screens on portable devices. Mobile browser software must be small and efficient to accommodate the low memory capacity and low-bandwidth of wireless handheld devices. Typically they were stripped-down web browsers, but as of 2006 some mobile browsers can handle latest technologies like CSS 2.1, JavaScript and Ajax. Websites designed for access from these browsers are referred to as wireless portals.[1]

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[edit] Underlying technology

The mobile browser usually connects via a cellular network, or increasingly via Wireless LAN, using standard HTTP over TCP/IP and displays web pages written in HTML, XHTML Mobile Profile (WAP 2.0), or WML (which evolved from HDML). WML and HDML are stripped-down formats suitable for transmission across limited bandwidth, and wireless data connection called WAP. In Japan, DoCoMo defined the i-mode service based on i-mode HTML, which is an extension of Compact HTML (C-HTML), a simple subset of HTML.

WAP 2.0 specifies XHTML Mobile Profile plus WAP CSS, subsets of the W3C's standard XHTML and CSS with minor mobile extensions.

Newer microbrowsers are full-featured Web browsers capable of HTML, CSS, ECMAScript, as well as mobile technologies such as WML, i-mode HTML, or cHTML.

[edit] Pioneers

The so-called microbrowser technologies such as WAP, NTTDocomo's i-mode platform and Openwave's HDML platform have fueled the first wave of interest in wireless data services.

The first deployment of a microbrowser was probably in 1997 when Unwired Planet (later to become Openwave) put their "UP.Browser" on AT&T handsets to give users access to HDML content.[2][3]

A British company, STNC Ltd., developed a microbrowser (HitchHiker) intended to present the entire device UI in 1997. The demonstration platform for this microbrowser (Webwalker) had 1 MIPS total processing power. This was a single core platform, running the GSM stack on the same processor as the application stack. In 1999 STNC was acquired by Microsoft and HitchHiker became Microsoft Mobile Explorer 2.0, not related to the primitive Microsoft Mobile Explorer 1.0. HitchHiker is believed to be the first microbrowser with a unified rendering model, handling HTML and WAP along with EcmaScript, WMLScript, POP3 and IMAP mail in a single client. Although it was not used, it was possible to combine HTML and WAP in the same pages although this would render the pages invalid for any other device. In addition, Amstrad's ill-fated e-m@iler and e-m@iler+ products used HitchHiker as their operating systems. Mobile Explorer 2.0 was available on the Benefon Q, Sony CMD-Z5, CMD-J5, CMD-MZ5, CMD-J6, CMD-Z7, CMD-J7 and CMD-J70.

A freeware (although later shareware) browser for the PalmOS was Palmscape, written in 1998 by Kazuho Oku in Japan, who went on to found Ilinx. Still in limited use as late as 2003.

Released in 2001, Mobile Explorer 3.0 added iMode compatibility (cHTML) plus numerous proprietary schemes. By imaginatively combining these proprietary schemes with WAP protocols, MME3.0 implemented OTA database synchronisation, push email, push information clients (not unlike a 'Today Screen') and PIM functionality. The cancelled Sony Ericsson CMD-Z700 was to feature heavy integration with MME3.0. Mobile Explorer development had ceased by mid-2002.

Opera Software pioneered with its Small Screen Rendering (SSR) and Medium Screen Rendering (MSR) technology. The Opera web browser is able to relayout regular web pages for optimal fit on small screens and medium-sized (PDA) screens. It was also the first widely available mobile browser to support Ajax and the first mobile browser to pass ACID2 test.[1]

[edit] Popular mobile browsers

Distinct from a mobile browser is a web-based emulator, which uses a "Virtual Handset" to display WAP pages on a computer screen, implemented either in Java or as an HTML trancoder. These browsers include Wapjag, TT, Waptiger and Superwap.

The following are some of the more popular mobile browsers. Some mobile browsers are really miniaturized Web browsers, so some mobile browser companies also provide browsers for desktop and laptop computers.

[edit] Default browsers used by major mobile phone and PDA vendors

Browser Creator FOSS Current layout engine Software license Notes
Kindle Basic Web Amazon.com No NetFront proprietary -
Android browser Google Yes WebKit Apache 2.0 and GPLv2 -
BlackBerry Browser Research in Motion No Mango proprietary -
Blazer Palm No NetFront proprietary installed on all newer Palm Treos and PDAs
Danger browser Danger No - proprietary installed on all Danger-designed devices including the T-Mobile Sidekick
Embider Infraware No - proprietary [2]
Fennec Mozilla Yes Gecko ? Currently in Beta
Internet Explorer Mobile Microsoft No - proprietary -
Iris Browser Torch Mobile Inc. ? WebKit ? Linux/ Qt and Windows Mobile
jB5 Mobile Browser Jataayu Software ? ? ? available on Symbian Series 60, Windows Mobile and Linux
Myriad Browser (Previously Openwave Mobile Browser) Myriad Group No Fugu (Next version to use WebKit)[4] proprietary Acquired from Openwave in 2008
NetFront ACCESS Co., Ltd. No NetFront proprietary -
Nokia Series 40 Browser Nokia No - proprietary -
Novarra nWeb Novarra No - proprietary -
Obigo Browser Obigo AB No - proprietary 100% owned by Teleca AB
Opera Mobile Opera Software No Presto proprietary Capable of reading HTML and reformat for small screens, installed on many Phones
Picsel Browser Picsel Techologies No - proprietary -
PlayStation Portable web browser Sony No NetFront proprietary -
Safari Apple Inc No WebKit proprietary on iPhone and iPod Touch
Symphony Motorola ? WebKit ? on MOTOMAGX
Wapaka Browser Digital Airways ? ? ? Java micro-browser
Web Browser for S60 Nokia ? WebKit ? -
Browser Creator FOSS Current layout engine Software license Notes

[edit] User-installable microbrowsers

[edit] Mobile HTML transcoders

Mobile transcoders reformat and compress web content for mobile devices and must be used in conjunction with built-in or user-installed microbrowsers. The following are several leading mobile transcoding services.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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