Webkit

RIM buys TorchMobile, gains modern mobile browser

by alec on August 24, 2009

So there you have it. RIM acquires TorchMobile, putting to bed the endless complaints about their browser, and fulfilling the promise made just days ago that they would provide an iPhone class browser on BlackBerry by next summer. TorchMobile are none other than the creators of the WebKit-based Iris browser. The good burghers of Waterloo have at least realized that the browsing experience defines iPhone, and chosen to ditch the sad-sack BlackBerry browser. BlackBerry users everywhere are no doubt rejoicing!

And how many mobile devices now sport WebKit browsers? Let’s see… Nokia, Apple, Google, Palm, and now RIM. The odd-man out is, you guessed it, Microsoft. Yes, the same Microsoft that invented the idea of embedding the rendering engine with IE, and who now clings stubbornly to the “competitive advantage” of owning said same rendering engine. Too bad, unfortunately, that they’re doing so little to update the Windows Mobile browser, stuck as it is with equivalent capabilities to IE 6. Blech!

And you know what’s even more embarrassing? TorchMobile’s Iris was built for the Windows Mobile platform, not the BlackBerry.

So how about it Microsoft? Are you going to let Windows Mobile continue to stumble along toward ignominious oblivion, or do something to recapture a little of the competitive mojo that you used to have?

Developers, including us, would like to know.

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The cloud in your hand

by alec on April 14, 2009

Stacey Higginbotham’s piece on Cloud Computing emphasizes how Google is blurring the boundaries between the Cloud and local computing. The example given is GMail running on iPhone or Android, and how Google is using Webkit browsers to make the app behave as if it were running on the web.

Last night, as I left my office, a young guy from a neighboring business flagged me down and asked if he could use my phone. He had locked himself out of his office, and his keys, phone, and wallet were all inside. I handed him my N95, but he couldn’t reach anyone who’s phone number he could remember. “If only I had access to the internet”, he said. “Oh… try this”, and I handed him my iPhone.

What happened next was pretty interesting. He had never used an iPhone, and I had never used GMail on iPhone. He logged into GMail, selected the Google Docs tab, and browsed his company directory (stored in a spreadsheet), clicking on various phone numbers until he found one that answered.

It was a remarkable demonstration of Stacey’s point – that the Webkit technologies that Google is exploiting in their apps really are delivering you the internet in the palm of your hand, and blurring the difference between cloud and local computing very convincingly.

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Squawk Box September 2, Chrome

September 2, 2008

Image via CrunchBase, source unknown This morning’s conference call was about Chrome… Google Chrome – the browser that’s due to be launched in a little over an hour. The hyperbole is already flying thick. The bottom line for our panel: If it’s really a better browsing experience they’ll use it, of course! Process segregation and [...]