Skyfire Takes Mobile Browsing to the PC Level

Skyfire unveiled both the company and its mobile browser at the DEMO 08 conference on Monday.

For starters, the Skyfire browser is only available through a private beta — and only for Windows Mobile smartphones. A Symbian version will be the next to debut, followed by versions for additional platforms in the future.

What’s causing Skyfire to draw a lot of media hype is that the browser is supposed to bring the “real Web” experience to cell phones. The start-up claims that users can access and interact with any Web site, including those that use dynamic Flash, advanced Ajax, Java and more, at the same speed they can on a PC. This will let smartphone users watch Web videos and listen to a streaming Web music service on their phone without the long waits and dropped connections they’re used to when trying to load a complex Web site with a typical mobile browser.

Since actions often speak louder than words, the company has a demo video posted on YouTube so people can get a better feel for what the browser has to offer.

Skyfire will work both on traditional phones and those with touch screens. Claiming to be the fastest-loading mobile browser on the market (even though it hasn’t actually launched yet), Skyfire faces competition from Opera Software, Apple’s iPhone browser technology, fellow start-up Zumobi and the upcoming mobile version of Mozilla’s Firefox.

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