First look: Skyfire for Android

By on Apr 2, 2010 at 7:01 PM
Exclusive April 2, 2010

BGR_NYT_Skyfire

Mobile browser Skyfire has won over the hearts and minds of many Windows Mobile and Symbian users for several reasons, including that it’s fast and supports all sorts of video formats (yes, even Flash). A BlackBerry version of Skyfire has been floating in and out of alpha for quite some time, and today, for a brief period, Skyfire opened up the alpha testing floodgates to Android users. The new WebKit-based Android code is in the very early alpha phases.  Video support of any kind, including Flash, has yet to be implemented — which is Skyfire’s bread and butter (since they’re using WebKit, and rendering locally, we’re starting to question whether it will actually come at all). All the same, we wanted to give you guys a taste of what the Skyfire experience, at least in part, will look like on Android.

Click on over to our Skyfire for Android gallery!

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28 Comments

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  • senator strong

    yesssssss!!!!! And it count’s

  • don

    noooooooooooo… recount

  • FrankieFlo

    Um didn’t I hear correctly that update 2.1 would include flash 10.1….did I read that wrong a few months ago…???

    • crappypunk

      you did hear wrong.. it will come out when adobe releases it.. or if you have the desire rom :)

  • FrankieFlo

    Um didn’t I hear correctly that update 2.1 would include flash 10.1….did I read that wrong a few months ago…???

  • Spdwrks

    I dont see it in the Market place??

  • http://www.skyfire.com Jeff Glueck

    Dear Boy Genius,

    Thanks for the post. I’m the CEO at Skyfire. We’re pretty excited about all the interest in the blogosphere around our upcoming Android browser. The response has been pretty amazing.

    Unfortunately, your leaked build and accompanying screen shot and article are inaccurate and based on an out-of-date early build that is not even connected to our web servers any more.

    You can be confident that when it launches soon that the advanced rich media you want to see will work beautifully.

    Next time you try to publish leaked intellectual property, at least get the right stuff. We’ll be happy to provide you an authorized version at the right time.

    Jeff Glueck
    CEO
    Skyfire

    • Roberto

      And the right time will be like… 2020 ? :P

      ps: or is that the date for the blackberry one ? XD

    • Dave

      Dear Jeff

      How about you let people like BGR get legit updated copies so they don’t publish things about old leaked builds that could damage the reputation of the product before it even gets out =)

    • Dave

      btw i applied for both the BB alpha and now the android alpha without a response.. kind of a joke to not even acknowledge that you at least received my application!

      • Malcolm

        I received a response from the Android beta.

    • midibite

      Why is it taking so fucking long to get a browser out there that actually plays Flash? Please explain to me why it is taking so damn long to complete this project?

      We can build entire tract homes in a 3 to 5 months but we can’t get a decent, working browser to play flash and scale properly?

      Come on guys, I think you need to Hire some better engineers from MIT or CalTech. Get with it.

      • crappypunk

        @midibite maybe your mom could do it :) ..hmmm maybe i’m a toolbag

      • Dave

        funny you say that. i got to caltech

    • crappypunk

      @Jeff Glueck .. You’re kind of a tool bag

    • SOUTHERN MISS ELITE

      I don’t see why yall are mad at the CEO. Programming and coding is HARD. It’s not like VB in college that you made a B in!

      I’d rather them take their time and get it right the first time then rush out some bullcrap just so “it can be out there”.

      The CEO made a legit plea. If you’re going to get the leaked IP, at least get it right! Don’t use that outdated crap that’s old and dysfunctional. It makes his product look bad and it gives bad first impressions. I know I looked at the screen shots and were unimpressed because it didn’t do much that would switch me from the browsers I use already.

      Let’s just keep it real here….

      • Intomobile

        Thats what BGR does. Leak the already leaked. Pretty cool that the ceo chimed in though.

    • StevenGlansburg

      Jeff,

      You and your browser suck.

    • Cromag

      Buuuurrrrrnnn. Look forward to trying Skyfire, although I didn’t get a response when applying for the beta, so I don’t think it’s going to be any time soon.

    • slush

      @Jeff Glueck

      Will the official version require your servers to work?

  • Name*

    Jeff:
    Finish the fucking BlackBerry browser. Your team has only been working on it for, what, 18+ months now? Did you give up? Did the BlackBerry platform whoop your ass?
    You had enough balls to post whining about a leaked copy for Android being posted, let’s see if you have the balls to reply and tell us what happened to your BlackBerry version…

    • Mrwirez

      “wHoop ass” with an over pronounced “H”like Stewie does with cool wHip.

      • DgDeBx

        Brian: Say whip.
        Stewie: Whip
        Brian: Now say Cool Whip.
        Stewie: Cool wHip.

  • George

    And you can expect beta testing to being in 2034.

  • user

    This article mentions Skyfire is fast.

    I tried it on Symbian and it was several times slower than Opera Mobile and it’s gui was sub-optimal.

    I uninstalled almost immediately. If Skyfire is fast, Opera Mobile is blazing.

  • Tmogeek

    using it on the HD2 and i’m underwhelmed. not sure i’m going to load it on the N1.

  • Anh D. Nguyen

    somehow I feel that Skyfire has a bad font rendering.

  • Mark

    ” they’re using WebKit, and rendering *locally* ”

    With this move they became a mere Webkit skin job and lost most of the appeal of the original Skyfire and other Opera Mini i.e. proxied browsing to compress and load the pages faster.

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