ThunderHawk browser

[kneofyte]

Hi,

I just loaded the ThunderHawk browser on my T-Mobile PPC and it works absolutely great. Its way faster compared to pocket IE and its built in Java support helps me browse lot more web sites. But I have one problem. It seems to work only in landscape mode. I want it to work in normal mode so that I can use my keyboard with it. Anybody know if its possible in ThunderHawk or do I need to look for another browser.
Thanks.

[Janak Parekh]

Thunderhawk only runs in landscape mode, and in fact you can't use standard SIPs - you must use the built-in keyboard for any entry. It's a serious limitation, but sort of necessary given the underlying design assumptions of the product. I think you can use an external keyboard, but you're going to have to develop some clever cable.

BTW, it doesn't have any Java support AFAIK. Are you referring to JavaScript support?

--janak

[kneofyte]

Yes, that would be a serious limitation. I will have to look at other 3rd party browsers that browse in standard mode. But even so, I like its tremendous speeds. I guess they cache most of the pages in their proxy. I guess anonymity and security would be a concern though. I am not sure if I would do any billing or credit card transactions using ThunderHawk. They do offer SSL and 128 bit encryption but what about privacy. I am sorry about the confusion. It supports Javascript 1.5 and not Java in its entirety.

[Pat Logsdon]

I don't have one, but you might be able to use Thunderhawk with the PockeTop keyboard, which uses a mirror and IR.

[Janak Parekh]

I guess they cache most of the pages in their proxy. I guess anonymity and security would be a concern though. I am not sure if I would do any billing or credit card transactions using ThunderHawk. They do offer SSL and 128 bit encryption but what about privacy.
If Bitstream's competent, they won't cache any SSL pages. In fact, it's not clear they cache anything -- they're more of a compression proxy, not a caching proxy. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

--janak

[kneofyte]

Thats it for all the praises for ThunderHawk. I am really mad with it this time. It happened before but I thought it was my fault. But now I think otherwise.

Here's my story....

I installed ThunderHawk ver 1.06 ( Trial ) on my T-Mobile PocketPC. It worked perfect for a day. The next day, its totally stuck. A soft nor a hard reset for that matter would help. I got a replacement phone after the wireless group couldnt figure out what to do. It comes in last week and stupid me installs ThunderHawk again! And you can guess wat happened. Its stuck again!! I need to speak to T-Mobile again and hope they are not mad at me this time. This is the most horrible experience I had with any software..its crashing my device, but thanks to excellent T-Mobile customer support. I got my replacement phone thru UPS ( $15.00) in 2 days. I hope to get the same deal now.

I am tired.

[Janak Parekh]

Hmm, something is really weird. I've installed Thunderhawk and used it quite a few times without problems on a couple of devices, including a T-Mobile PPC PE. Sometimes, if the GPRS connection is messed up a soft reset might be required (as the program hangs looking for the server), but that really should be it.

Did you try contacting the Bitstream folks?

--janak

[kneofyte]

Well, the good news is T-Mobile is sending in another replacement. They also said that any third party software we install is at our own risk. T-Mobile has not offically tested any 3rd party software for compatibilty with their firmware. They asked me to give my replacement some time and see if everthings okay before I install any further utilities. They also suggested to install additional software in parts and not all at once. They have noted bitstreams web address and they said that they would get in touch with their ppl.

As far as bitstream goes, I complained to them regarding the freezing of the Thunderhawk welcome screen and me having to do a soft reset everytime. This was with my very first phone. This is what they said,



ThunderHawk is compatible with the T-Mobile pocketpc phone edition. At
this point, we do not know why ThunderHawk is freezing after a
connection is established.

PLease try this:
Start ThunderHawk.
Click Cancel on the connection screen.
As soon as you see any screen that says ThunderHawk, press the hardware buttons that open the Thunderhawk keypad. When the keypad opens, tap the checkmark icon on the keypad toolbar.
Check the username and registration key in ThunderHawk options against
the user data.

Then do one of two things (A or B below).
What you do depends on if the registration key in your T-Mobile matches
the reg key in your original ThunderHawk e-mail

A.
If the registration key on your T-mobile is DIFFERENT from the
registration key in your user account e-mail, please tell us what
registration key is on your TMobile. Cancel out of the ThunderHawk
option screen then bring up the keypad and close ThunderHawk.

OR

B.
If registration key MATCHES the key in your user account e-mail, change
any data that needs changing, and re-enter your password. When all the
data is correct, tap the OK button to accept any changes, then bring up
the keypad and close ThunderHawk.
Start ThunderHawk.
On the connection screen, make sure you have selected the correct
connection method.



I am going to contact them regarding the sytem crashe(s). I shall post their feedback soon.

[pocketpreacher]

Another crasher here. *Most* of the time I can sign in fine, but scrolling down on a webpage that loads freaks the program out. The stinkin' thunderhawk eyeball keeps looking at me and blinking, taunting me to poke him with my stylus. The screen finally scrolls down one notch after about 30 seconds. Way too long, using IE afterwards was very liberating.

[Janak Parekh]

Another crasher here. *Most* of the time I can sign in fine, but scrolling down on a webpage that loads freaks the program out. The stinkin' thunderhawk eyeball keeps looking at me and blinking, taunting me to poke him with my stylus. The screen finally scrolls down one notch after about 30 seconds. Way too long, using IE afterwards was very liberating.
Well, this is a much different problem than what kneofyte is getting. I do occasionally have to quit or, in the worst case, soft-reset when the GPRS connection is flaky; but I've never had to hard reset.

For what it's worth, Thunderhawk is "lazy" when it comes to loading stuff, so sometimes a scroll will trigger a load. GPRS, again, tends to flake out in marginal signal areas, so that's probably why you're hanging.

--janak

[kneofyte]

This is the latest I have heard from bitstream,



We apologize for the problems you have encountered trying to use
Thunderhawk on your T-Mobile device. We are extremely puzzled by your
problems.

Did ThunderHawk always freeze on your first attempt to run it?
Were you ever able to open the ThunderHawk keypad?
(see: <http://www.bitstream.com/wireless/faqs3.html#toolbar1>)
When you tried ThunderHawk on your replacement T-Mobile, did you
download a new installer from:
<http://www.bitstream.com/wireless/install.html>
Or did you use the installer you already had on your desktop system?
What version of Thunderhawk have you been trying?

We do not know of any reasons for ThunderHawk to completely freeze a
system.
ThunderHawk does take over the input and output of the device, so that
ThunderHawk totally controls screen display. You can only close
Thunderhawk from its keypad, but usually the keypad does open even when
ThunderHawk won't browse. Tapping the X icon on the ThunderHawk keypad
then closes ThunderHawk.

We have run ThunderHawk on T-Mobile systems for over an hour without any
problems. We have never required a soft or hard reset to close
ThunderHawk on a T-Mobile. There are over 150 registered T-mobile
ThunderHawk users.

Because of the problems you have had with ThunderHawk on your T-Mobile
and replacement devices, we cannot recommend installing ThunderHawk on
your newest T-Mobile.



This is what I replied back,


No, ThunderHawk did not freeze on my first attempt. It froze oevrnight and my pocketpc would not switch on no matter what. Yes, I was able to open the keypad initially before it froze. On my second device, I installed it completely afresh from the link you have provided below and not from the old one in my desktop pc. I think I am using the latest version 1.06 if I am right. I loaded the trial version from the link below and so I assume it to be 1.06. Even I am suprised on its behavior on my pocketpc which has worked fine on other T-Mobile pocketpc users.

If you would like my exact settings, here it is,

I have a GPRS data connection to browse the net without the DNS or Proxy servers of T-Mobile. My IMAP email settings dont work with their proxy. So its been disabled. The only other software I have installed other than the factory settings is the T-Mobile keyboard driver.



Hope I get it to work someday. ThunderHawk is a great browser. I wouldnot want to loose it becos of some bug that I cannot figure out yet.