Skyfire Labs is set to introduce a new Windows Mobile Internet browser that promises to deliver the same browsing experience you have on your PC to your mobile device. Unveiled at the DEMO 08 conference, the browser supports technologies like AJAX and dynamic Flash that give other mobile browsers indigestion.
For the first time ever, you can watch any web video, listen to any web music, stay connected on any social network and browse whatever you want. Anything you can browse from your PC, you can now browse from your mobile phone.
We’re talking about full-featured PC versions of your favorite web sites. Skyfire gives you speedy page loads, full audio, video, images, dynamic Flash content, advanced Ajax, Java and more – just like your PC.
Skyfire works by having servers between its browser and the site that you want to visit. It’s those servers that handle most of the heavy lifting by processing the web pages viewed and streaming the content to the mobile phone browser. Its SmartFit feature reformats pages so that the text is only as wide as the screen of your device when you zoom into a section of the site.
What is not so clear is how Skyfire Labs will make money. In an interview with C-NET, Skyfire indicated that it would look to "monetize user activity". This could mean an ad-supported browser or having Skyfire sell its product either to carriers to bundle on their phones or directly to consumers.
A private beta is currently available to Windows Mobile 5 and 6 phones in the U.S. A public beta should follow shortly. A Symbian phone version, other phone platforms and other countries are also planned but there are no details as to when we can expect to see them.