Microsoft Trials New Deepfish Browser
Microsoft has unveiled a preview of Deepfish, a new mobile browsing technology for Windows Mobile devices (including the Treo 700wx and 750) that aims to preserve the layout and content of web pages. Similar to the mobile version of Apple's Safari browser (as demonstrated during the iPhone keynote), Deepfish eschews reformatting web pages for mobile screens and instead allows users to zoom in and out of the page to get at the content they need, giving a more desktop-like experience.
Unlike Safari (I assume), Deepfish does not render the pages itself. Rather, it uses a thin client to access servers that initially dish up a thumbnail image of the site you're browsing. According to the Deepfish Team blog, as you dig deeper into the page, Deepfish will load only the sections you're drilling into, resulting in "substantially quicker load times for most pages".
Deepfish is still in the preview stage and as such still lacks a number of features, such as cookies and javascript support. Despite this, the Deepfish Team say it still provides "a great experience on most sites". You can register for the preview at the Deepfish site. Read on for a video demo.
Permalink
PrintArticle Comments
(12 comments)
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.
RE: So very beta
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680
RE: So very beta
Aside from that, the iPhone Safari interface was only just unveiled a couple of months ago. Even if Deepfish hadn't already been being shown before then, it would be pretty hard for them to have developed everything in Deepfish in such a short span of time.
Having said that, just from watching the video demonstration of Deepfish and comparing it to the iPhone Safari demonstration, Safari at least looks like a more natural experience (i.e. doing without the "zoom square" to position where to focus on). But we'll have to see. In the iPhone demonstration at least the touch scrolling also looks very natural to me, but I'm wondering if I will really like that as much as using a joystick (not that I necessary like the joystick navigation using Blazer on my Treo 65).
idea
It's time like these I wish I had a WinMob device. Blasphemous, I know.
W.r.t. these comments...I wonder what Apple has patented?
RE: So very beta
-- http://www.palminfocenter.com/comments/9318/#131150
less of a joke, eh?
Bad, old idea
A good mobile browsing experience depends on a mobile-optimized site. There's no amount of magic that can take a website optimized for an 800+ pixel-wide screen and shrinking it down to a small screen and comparatively slow data connection.
http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -
RE: Bad, old idea
The interesting part was that MS said they had written it to potentially be cross-platform, so it may not just be WinMob users who benefit.
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680
RE: Bad, old idea
BTW, I also think the idea is horrible. It works for non-mobile sites, but is not that helpful at all. It is horrible for mobile sites.
RE: Bad, old idea
Headed by a very intelligent guy named John Robotham, the company seems to still be in business.
__
Mike Compeau
Doesn't this break the web?
Blogged a little more about it here:
http://comments.deasil.com/2007/03/30/deepfish-interesting-but-crappy/
my blog: http://comments.deasil.com/">#comments
PalmOS?
..0...-1...-2...-3...
..-59205821...-59205822...-59205823...
http://vtbsd.net/winhelp/
Latest Comments
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
So very beta
So I've tested this software on both WM Smartphone and PPC, and based on what I have experienced DeepFish is a very poorly implemented piece of software, or very early code at least. Some of its shortcomings owe more to Windows Mobile than anything else, but that can't be helped at this point.
Aside from the obvious fact DeepFish is a ripoff of iPhone's Safari browser, the UI doesn't work as you would think it should. For example, you might all be thinking.."Hey! I'll bet I zoom in simply by tapping on the screen with my finger." Nope. In order to zoom in you have to call up the highlight box by using the center d-pad, which is rather clumsy and feels very unnatural. You can manipulate webpages entirely via d-pad of course, but not so with the touchscreen.
The zooming motion works very flaky. When scrolling up and down a web page, ugly horizontal lines spill across the top of the screen, which shows this software's ugly underpinnings.
On the whole DF looks and feels like an attempt to fasten an advanced UI feature over a legacy interface. An iPhone-like GUI gimmick on top of Windows Mobile is like lipstick on a pig. If Microsoft truly wants to deliver an innovative mobile web experience, ala iPhone, the entire software framework needs to be revamped first.
Still, DF is a credible first attempt at a new browser metaphor (at least new to Microsoft anyway). But the folks in Redmond still have a long way to go before they get this right.
-------------------------------
http://www.pocketfactory.com
http://www.elitistsnob.com