Microsoft Releases New Mobile Web Browser Dubbed Deepfish!

[Rocco Augusto]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://on10.net/Blogs/larry/exclusive-video-new-mobile-web-browser--deepfish/' target='_blank'>http://on10.net/Blogs/larry/exclusive-video-new-mobile-web-browser--deepfish/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Forget Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile, Microsoft has borrowed technology from Sea Dragon, the imaging engine behind Photosynth, and has released a new web browser dubbed DeepFish. The idea behind Deepfish is giving the user the ability to view websites on their mobile phone just as they would view them on a desktop or laptop... It’s free and available right now (but availability is limited) for any Windows Mobile version 5.0 and up device. 'The code is actually written to be potentially cross-platform. But because we ship these rapid prototypes in live labs, we’re shipping it just for that operating system for now,' concluded Alex Daley, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft Live Labs."</i><br /><br /><a href="http://on10.net/Blogs/larry/exclusive-video-new-mobile-web-browser--deepfish/"><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/augusto-20070328-deepfish.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/></a><br /><br />Ha! All I have heard for the past couple weeks from all of my Mac and Web development friends is how the iPhone will rule the world due to its desktop-like Web browser. They also often playfully taunted me due to the fact that not only was I actually using Internet Explorer, but I was using a even more limited version of Internet Explorer than it's desktop counterpart! Well, all I have to say now is "How do you like them apples?!" <i>(No pun intended :lol:)</i>

[Pete Paxton]

You know, the more I play with this, the more I like it. It's a bit slow but I can now browse certain pages that were not as easy with pocket pie. Once they tweak it and add more features, this could be a real hit.

[Tim Williamson]

Welcome [email protected]

Thanks you for your interest in Deepfish; At this time the tech preview has reached the limit of initially available installations. We will send you a notification if we make additional spots available at a later date.

:(

Anyone have the installation file to share?

[tadevinney]

received the same message.... would love to try this.. Please.....

[Tim Williamson]

Just read at XDA that they require a registration number to be entered... :?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=300122&amp;highlight=deepfish

[Rocco Augusto]

that is correct, they do require a registration number. i honestly thought we would have been able to at least make it until noon tomorrow before the limit was reached. the good news is i was able to download it before registrations were put on hold so hopefully i can get some screenshots up tomorrow :)

for now, i must sleep!

[Tim Williamson]

It sounds like they're slowly releasing registrations...hopefully I'll have one tomorrow sometime.

[Stinger]

It looks better than PIE (which hasn't seen a decent update in aeons) but it still looks limited compared to Opera and Nokia's Safari browser.

[scottb]

For those who have tried it, is this browser operationally any different from Thunderhawk (minus the fee and proxy server of course)?

[Mike Temporale]

It looks a lot like what Nokia is shipping on the E61 or is it E91? Regardless, it's nothing earth shattering, but it is a welcome change. I hope we can all get some beta love soon. :?

[Jerry Raia]

No love here :(

[encece]

Blah...I hate it. Slow Slow Slow.

[Pete Paxton]

It is slow but for sites like www.techbargains.com, at least I can see the whole page and zoom to what I want. PIE is horrible with this site. On the flip side, PIE friendly sites like the mobile version of SPT do much better with IE. I'll probably use both depending on the site I go to.

[Jerry Raia]

OK so it sounds like I'm not missing too much.

[ctmagnus]

The guy on the right in the video... Did Luke Skywalker not wear that jacket in the original Star Wars trilogy? :wink: :lol:

[pgb55]

It's a cool looking interface, but I can't read the pages without doing the old PIE sideways scroll.
I'm not sure I'd call that progress.

[Rocco Augusto]

i havent had a chance to take some screenshots today as i have been swamped, with a capital "S". Scrolling is pretty slow in this app, im a little disappointed they did not implement page up and page down features via the 2 and 8 keys as IE has.

besides the slow scrolling, i love this new browser though i will continue to use PIE for the mobile version of SPT as it is just faster. this isn't microsoft's fault though or a design flaw. this is just jason's fault for making SPT easy to view from mobile devices ;)

[Jerry Raia]

I just got invited in. This thing is pretty cool actually. I have on my Treo though. I'll try to get it for the Blackjack.

[Tim Williamson]

Got the invite today, it works great!

Tip on the Dash, "Z" zooms in and "A" zooms out.

[AdamaDBrown]

It looks a lot like what Nokia is shipping on the E61 or is it E91?

The E61, and the US version, the E62 as well. I got to try out the latter. Frankly, while it seems like a really cool idea, it becomes tiresome rather quickly. I'd love to see it as one rendering option on a browser, but some kind of fit-to-screen mode is much better for average use.

[stevew]

Just got my invite to download 12:30 am est

[WyattEarp]

I like it a lot. But what I find funny is that this similar to what the iPhone does and many WM fans said they didn't like it. Any way I think it's pretty cool to have the web page as it is designed even on a small device.

[Mike Temporale]

I've been using it for the last couple days and I really like it. The slowness comes from the over-loaded server side app - I think.

It's pretty much exactly like the E61 browser, which Apple copied, and now Microsoft is looking at. It's a welcome change for Windows Mobile.