Will We Ever See A Skyfire Browser for Nokia?
While it’s nice to hear that Skyfire hired Mike Rowehl to improve their system scalability, they need a Symbian developer. Explains why I haven’t seen a Nokia version of their mobile browser as of yet, even though I was orignally told it was supposed to show up in Q1 of 2008. Makes me doubt whether or not they’ll get it out this summer, either.
I went ga-ga over Skyfire when I had a look at it earlier this year, but I think solutions like Skyfire have a limited lifespan. Phones will start having more and more power to render web pages directly, as the iPhone has shown us. I hope Skyfire is already working on their next big innovation.
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[...] Symbian (o meglio, per i Nokia) di Skyfire, non la vedo affatto bene. Secondo quanto riportato su The Phoneboy Blog, quelli di Skyfire hanno sì ingaggiato Mike Rowehl per migliorare la scalabilità del loro browser [...]
Comment by Mike Rowehl
Hey Dameon, thanks for the post. We’re definitely looking for handset development folks, it’s a relatively rare skillset compared to others. Hopefully we’ll have that Symbian port out soon so you can try it. I’ve been using it on my N95 for a while, I think it’s coming along pretty well.
As for the lifespan of the solution, there’s a lot more than just the power of devices that figures into how I’m evaluating the layout. First off is that there are a lot of devices out there that have the browser baked into the firmware and no way to update it. Browsers are progressing and devices are gaining in capability, but having the browser tied to physical handset releases and synced to carrier/operator approvals testing really weighs down how quickly the system as a whole can evolve. Another factor is licensing of what the end user considers to be standard features of a browser. Flash content should work, windows media files should play, etc. Some of that stuff sits outside of the power/performance of the device and lies in the realm of licensing and business deals. That’s an area that’s much harder to predict.
Just throwing my perspective into the ring, not trying to contradict you. You’re right, we do have to keep innovating in order to keep ahead of the curve. I feel we’re pretty well lined-up in order to do so.
- Mike
Comment by PhoneBoy
Handset software is not as modular as desktop systems for sure. Imagine having to reload Windows every time Internet Explorer is updated. That’s exactly what you have to do in most cases with a phone firmware update.
I’m not saying Skyfire’s short term prospects aren’t good, it will depend on the development of high speed Internet and beefier handsets.