When SkyFire (the maker of the mobile browser of the same name) picked up Kolbysoft — who developed the mobile browser called Steel, everyone was wondering what the purchase would bring. A few short months later, and we get to see the fruit of their labor. SkyFire 2.0 has officially launched on Android, and with it, a couple of features that Android-users should welcome with open arms.
Features wise, and as the title suggests, SkyFire 2.0 brings Flash Player to your Android device. As it stands right now, until Froyo hits the market, it seems that HTC’s Sense UI is the best way to access Flash content. That is, until now. SkyFire 2.0 offers Flash in a very different way: by utilizing the other excellent feature known as SkyBar. When you access a page with a Flash video on it, you simply hit the Menu key, and it will bring up the SkyBar. This bar will give you access to “videos,” which is a quick way to see the Flash videos that would normally display on the page.
This means that pages should load a bit faster, as they won’t have to render the video in the page, while it loads. Just hit the SkyBar, and access the video whenever you want. The application is available right now in the Android Market, so if you’re interested, go take a look. If you’re still skeptical, check out the video below and see what all the talk is about. Full press release below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t00fEV2_kE
Skyfire Launches the First Flash Video Enabled Mobile Browser for Android
The first ‘mobile browser for the Social Media generation’ eliminates broken links from your Facebook stream, tracks Twitter buzz, and makes sharing easy
Mountain View, CA – April 29, 2010– Skyfire, maker of the award-winning web-browser for mobile devices, today launches Skyfire 2.0 for Android, making the mobile internet experience faster, Flash-enabled and fun, with media recommendations and social features. Skyfire is one of the fastest growing mobile browsers in the world, ranking in the top 10 all-time apps in the Nokia Ovi Store and Windows Marketplace.
Skyfire 2.0 for Android is built upon many of the popular features of Skyfire’s 1.0 browser, and uses cloud computing to give a “booster engine” to mobile phones so they can handle rich media like video. And now, Skyfire 2.0 for Android takes mobile browsing to a new level with the addition of the SkyBarTM, a new toolbar that lets users enjoy millions of videos previously unviewable on mobile, and also discover the latest buzz on any topic they browse.What is the SkyBarTM?
The SkyBar brings the best of the internet to a mobile user’s fingertips, without any additional searching. By activating the SkyBar with a single touch, users are given access to Flash videos on a web page that otherwise would not play, related content recommendations, and easier sharing with their social networks.
· Video –The “Video” icon enables users to play millions of Flash videos around the web that otherwise do not play on mobile. This unlocks content trapped behind those error messages with question marks and blue Legos. Behind the scenes, videos are translated into a format easier for the phone to play, like html5 video.
· Related Content – The “Explore” icon brings the most relevant content on the internet to a user’s fingertips based on what they are viewing at the time. The Explore button pulls video, buzz, news, images and other sites from the web based on what is on the current page.
· Sharing – The “Share” icon lets users share any article or video easily to their friends on Facebook, Twitter, or by email and SMS messaging, adding a comment, and all with a single click.
The first mobile browser for the social media generation:
“Skyfire 2.0 was built for the way people use social media and the web today. People are now starting their web experience by scanning their Facebook and Twitter news feeds,” explains Jeff Glueck, CEO of Skyfire. “Our new browser allows you to open those links and view the videos that your friends have shared. To make that work, people need a browser that can handle the full internet.”
The Power of Cloud Computing:
Skyfire on Android uses cloud-computing technology to enable this web video; the benefits for consumers include faster and smoother video playback, and extended battery life by offloading more of the work to cloud servers. At the same time, since Skyfire 2.0 is built on a webkit core, users get all the functionality they know on the default Android browser, such as pinch to zoom, copy and paste, find text on the page, open up to eight browser tabs, and more.
Skyfire is one of the fastest growing downloadable browsers with usage increasing 500% year over year, and currently streaming over 25 million minutes of Flash video every month, more than any other mobile browser worldwide.
Skyfire 2.0 for Android is available for download worldwide free at bit.ly/skyfireandroid
About Skyfire
Skyfire is the creator of the Skyfire mobile browser, and has a mission to enable the “full internet” including rich media on mobile phones. The browser won the Best Mobile Application-People’s Voice at the 2009 Webby Awards and was named a Top App of 2009 by the New York Times’ Gadgetwise. Skyfire is based in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. For more information, visit www.skyfire.com, or follow Skyfire on Twitter attwitter.com/skyfire.
