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Filed under: Cellphones

As good as it looks, we’re not going to get too carried away with this supposedly leaked Centro 2 image. While the mockup certainly looks professional, there’s no way of knowing at this point whether or not it’s from Palm official or just the dream of a downcast fanboy. If true, then we’re looking at a new, presumably QWERTY-less touchscreen device with what looks like an Opera (not Blazer) browser, dedicated media keys, and Bell Mobility Canada branding. A design which would certainly be “breakthrough” and “revolutionary” for Palm smartphones. Hit the read link for a bigger pic while we shake-down our sources for more input.

Update: Sigh, it was too good to last. Turns out that it’s just a Photoshop project. Palm, do the right thing and hire this guy.

[Thanks, Robert and Joe F.]

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Source: Thomas Ricker

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Throw out that WAP browser on your cell phone. We are quickly approaching a point where a full browser experience is available on our mobile devices. And it is not just the iPhone. A startup called Skyfire is in some respect even further along than Apple in bringing the entire Web to your phone. Its mobile browser lets you slide Web pages around and zoom in like with the mobile version of Safari. But it also supports Flash and Ajax sites. (It does this by offloading most of the heavy lifting to its servers rather than the mobile client). That means you can watch Youtube videos and go to Google Maps right in the mobile browser instead of having to download separate apps. In contrast, the iPhone’s Safari browser still does not support Flash and so to watch a a video you have to launch the separate Youtube app.

As it becomes possible to do more and more inside the mobile browser itself, it raises the question of whether that indeed is the killer app for mobile Web phones. For the most part, you still get a richer experience by downloading a separate single-purpose app to your phone. But efforts like Skyfire’s point to a future where that may no longer be necessary for all but the most sophisticated apps and games.

Skyfire launched on Windows Mobile, but as of today it is also available in a private beta for Nokia phones running Symbian’s S60 operating system. The first 200 TechCrunch readers to sign up for the beta here will get invites (enter invite code: Tcrunch).

I just tried it on a Nokia N95, and watching video in the browser looks great as long as you are connected via WiFi. As 3G networks become a reality, that should change (although I am supposedly on AT&T’s 3G network in New York City, and videos take so long to load that they are basically unwatchable at this point). And I still prefer the speed of the Safari browser overall in terms of responsiveness. But for other mobile platforms, Skyfire is going to give mobile browsers like Opera’s a run for their money. And if Apple ever actually allows another browser on the iPhone, it could add some much needed competition there as well.

The company recently raised $13 million in a series B round from Lightspeed, Matrix, and Trinity. Below is a video demo of Skyfire on Windows Mobile:

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Source: Erick Schonfeld

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Opera, the Norwegian-based web browser, has struck a deal with Haute Secure to include malware detection and blocking in the browser’s new 9.5 release. The new version is currently available as a beta, with a final release imminent.

Haute Secure makes software that aggressively monitors and alerts users to malware sites. Besides the version that is being integrated into Opera, Haute is also available as a free plugin for Internet Explorer and Firefox. It differentiates itself from other blocking software by analyzing sites on the link level instead of at the domain level. This means that on very large sites like MySpace that contain a combination of legitimate material along with more sinister profiles, pages will be blocked on a case by case basis instead of simply banning the entire MySpace site. For more details, check out our review of their latest version here.

Opera, while not nearly as popular as Internet Explorer or Firefox, has managed to gain something of a cult following since its original launch in 1996. The browser is widely available on mobile devices (and even on the Nintendo Wii). Because Haute has been integrated into Opera’s base code, the security will also be included in updates for these other platforms. The malware protection comes in addition to phishing protection, which the browser introduced in 2006.

This is a great move on Opera’s part, though it isn’t the first browser to integrate some degree of malware protection - FireFox 3 has integrated a similar feature as well (though it uses a different service). Hopefully we’ll see such protection creep across all browsers until it becomes a standard rather than a feature.

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Source: Jason Kincaid

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For web developers, and especially front-end coders, the Firefox extension Firebug by Facebook’s Joe Hewitt is a killer app and major time saver. It lets you deconstruct the webpage currently loaded into Firefox to get a better idea of how HTML, CSS, and JavaScript needs to be modified to work properly (and it can even make changes to CSS on the fly).

Opera has just released a competing set of developer tools called Dragonfly. They will be automatically included in Opera 9.5 beta 2 and newer versions of the browser, and you will be able to enable them by going to “Tools > Advanced > Developer Tools”.

The Norwegian software maker is highlighting several innovative features of Dragonfly that could give it a leg up on Firebug, all depending on how well they work.

Dragonfly will make it possible to debug webpages whether they’re on your desktop computer or any remote device, like a cellphone, that runs the Opera browser. This has the potential to make development for mobile devices much easier.

To JavaScript programmers’ delight, Dragonfly will also show the most up-to-date document object model (DOM) of a page, not just its initial construction. This means the effects of dynamic changes to a webpage, whether Ajax-driven or not, will now be much more transparent and traceable.

Dragonfly is also said to have a sophisticated JavaScript debugger that lets you diagnose errors on a line-by-line basis. JavaScript notoriously lacks any real debugging capabilities so this feature holds a lot of promise for developers tired of inserting alert functions throughout their code to see where it breaks.

A couple downsides: it will only be available for Opera, certainly not one of the most widespread browsers, and it won’t initially support in-browser edits to CSS styles. This latter shortcoming is a big one since CSS editing constitutes perhaps the most useful feature of Firebug.

Dragonfly will be released as open source under the BSD license. Microsoft announced at MIX that it has also worked on a set of developer tools for Internet Explorer 8, still in early beta.

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Source: Mark Hendrickson

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Filed under: Gaming

It looks like web browsing on the Wii is about to get a whole lot more interesting, as an entirely unofficial Wii Opera SDK has now been released to the general public, opening up the possibility for all sorts of browser-based games, among other things. What’s more, the SDK allows developers with the necessary know-how to take full advantage of the Wiimote, including the ability to detect the remote’s distance from the sensor bar, along with any button presses, and movement along the Z-axis. That makes things like the familiar-looking “2 Play Ship Demo” pictured above fully playable using the Wiimote, as well as more basic things like drawing and 3D rotation. Those looking to get started on a homebrew game of their own can hit up the read link below for the necessary files, while the rest of us can try out a handful of ready made demos at the same link.

[Via Joystiq]

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Source: Donald Melanson

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Filed under: Cellphones

We can’t say we would’ve chosen Samsung’s SGH-G800 to star at the Vienna State Opera House, but we heard the iPhone and N95 both refused to leave their respective dressing rooms. The show must go on, right?

Josh: “2 b or not 2 b, tht is the qstn”
Ryan: “An elaborate getup for a videocall, I know. But I assure you, dear madam, that I’m wearing no pants.”
Evan: “Can ye hear me now?”
Don: “A bar, a bar, my kingdom for a bar!”
Thomas: “Figaro, figaro… hello, mom?”
Darren: Samsung: “Idiot, we meant the Opera b r o w s e r”
Paul: “Not enough sparkle? Are you sure?”
Steve: “Line?”
Nilay: “Alas, poor Yorick, for he was not in my 5″
Ross: “This is Puccini. You know nothing of my work.”

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Cellphones

The iPhone isn’t the only handset whose software innards are getting lovingly torn apart in the name of science this week. It turns out some intrepid users of the Helio Ocean (a device occasionally compared to the iPhone, coincidentally) have been slaving away on a method for adding extra applications outside of the carrier’s walled garden. Their first success is a doozy, too: Opera Mini 3, one of the most prized jewels in the world of mobile software. The developers aren’t claiming it’s bug-free — landscape mode and the QWERTY keyboard don’t work, for example — but it’s a huge step in the right direction and they’re continuing to work out the kinks. More custom apps are said to be on the way, and don’t worry, Drift and Heat users — support’s said to be on the way for you guys, too.

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Source: Chris Ziegler

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