Skyfire brings full web to smartphones

Mobile browser can access sites with Flash, Java and other multimedia content

Skyfire runs on Nokia and Windows Mobile handsets

Skyfire has unveiled its much-anticipated mobile browser that lets smartphone users view full web pages, including those with active content such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and YouTube.

Available as a free download, Skyfire is officially still a pre-release version, but the company said that anyone can install the open beta. The browser currently supports handsets running Windows Mobile 5 or 6 and Symbian phones using Nokia's S60 user interface, such as the Nokia Nseries and Nokia Eseries.

Mike Fletcher, the firm's UK business development manager, said that Skyfire is designed to bring "the real web" to these devices. It uses a proxy server to render pages and deliver them to the handset, he explained.

"All processing is done server-side. We're not using up the memory or processor resources of the phone, so it's twice as fast as any other mobile browser at rendering pages," he said, adding that Skyfire now has a UK-based proxy to speed handling of web requests from users in this country.

Fletcher demonstrated how Skyfire loads pages quickly and supports sites that have Flash, Java, Ajax or Silverlight content. Using a Nokia N96 handset, he was able to play video from YouTube and the BBC iPlayer.

"It's not a watered-down mobile version of the web. It can be the same as you see on the PC," he said.

Like other mobile browsers, such as Opera Mini or Safari on Apple's iPhone, Skyfire starts by showing an entire web page, and lets the user zoom in to see particular areas more clearly. However, few other handset browsers are able to fully support sites with Java or Flash content.

Skyfire claimed that users should also be able to access web-based applications that run within the browser, such as Google Docs or Outlook Web Access, which means that it may even be possible for workers to access some enterprise applications from their handset using Skyfire.

Users with a compatible handset can download Skyfire by entering their number to get a link sent to them by SMS, or by downloading via a PC. A list of supported handsets is available from Skyfire's web site.

The company said that it is "gearing up" to unveil the release version of the browser, but declined to specify an exact date.

Skyfire also plans to release versions of the browser for other handsets, but Fletcher declined to be specific. BlackBerry models are expected to get support, he indicated.