Beta of Free Web Browser Available

Posted By: Ed Monday, April 8, 2002 8:32:26 AM

Linux Labs has released a beta version of Vagabond, a web browser that supports cookies, SSL, WAP, color, and more. It uses the company's high-speed internet gateway but users will be able to set up their own internet server and gateway. The beta, which will only run for 30 days, is free and available now.

The final version of the browser will be free but there will be what Linux Labs descibes as a "nominal charge" for the suite of client/server applications.

It supports HTML, WAP, i-mode, cookies, SSL, bookmark editing and exporting, hot-search, browser emulation mode (IE5, Mozilla, etc.), a bypass gateway mode (web clipping only), editable gateway and home page, graphics on/off mode change by button, an advanced toolbar & history (toggleable), auto-fill in of URL prefix/suffixes, and selectable clipping size per page.

It runs on any PalmOS-based device, OS version 3.2 or higher, that has Web Clipping libraries installed.

Vagabond is published under an Open Source license so users will be able to gain access to the source code for the client and server

The server-side of the application runs in Perl and MySQL and will be offered for both individual use and enterprise development. Linux Labs will be offering both server collocation for the server-side process, as well as shared hosting of the CGI/Perl on its shared Debian GNU/Linux Hostuniverse hosting system. The OpenMobility development team will be offering service contracts and development work for the software as well as engineering services of e-commerce and wireless databases.

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looks cool

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 9:06:46 AM #

looks good, I will pay for one if it has full proper HTML support

No javascript

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 9:19:51 AM #

Yeah, it looks cool but until there's real javascript support out there there's no real reason for me to switch. Boy, it must really be hard to put that in. I recall reading on the AvantGo website that it took something like 260k per js command to implement, which is why they have extremely limited js in the freebie. I *do* wish they'd let me purchase the enterprise browser which has full support.

RE: No javascript

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 9:51:43 PM #

Not 260 per JS command, rather about 260 for the entire javaScript add-on, which is quite fantastic!

new palm web browser

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 9:50:34 AM #

Am I mistaken or isnt Palm Inc supposed to release a new web browser today?
I am pretty sure that they said April 8th and have foolishly assumed 2002...
Has anyone heard anything on this subject?

RE: new palm web browser

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 9:54:46 AM #

I'm sure Palm will be glad to hear that people are eager to see their new browser but you need to at least wait until they have a chance to get to work. It's not even 7 am yet where they are.If I was launching a new product, I'd like to be there when it happens and I'm not fond of getting up at 3 am so I doubt they are, either.

RE: new palm web browser

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 12:25:42 PM #

So you are saying that april 8th means midnite april 8th?
I am not surprised but i am disappointed i suppose one more day wont matter that much...

Where is THAT DAMNED browser PALM????

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 4:18:41 PM #

It's 4:15 EDT,

"The Palm Web Browser is scheduled to be available in the United States on April 8, in Europe at the end of April, and in other regions at a later date, for an estimated U.S. street price of $19.95 (or local equivalent)."

Palm has another 45 minutes to release the damned thin in NYC.

three hrs and 45 minutes to release it in west coast.

or 10hrs and 45 minutes until the day is over in west coast.

RE: new palm web browser

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 10:06:48 PM #

OK. So it's 10 pm eastern time and still now Web Browser. Can't Palm release anything on time?????

Web Browser?

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 10:02:51 AM #

Seems that it is not a 'real' web browser, and the 'realness' is even less than Blazer and Palmscape..

- It is just a not-so-pretty front-end of web clipping. I suppose there is a back-end server that convert WML, iMode page to web clipping format
- It cannot handle images
- It cannot handle asian languages like Chinese
- It is s..l..o..w.. I cannot even access it default openmobility.org page. But I am able to access other pages.

RE: Web Browser?

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 10:19:22 AM #

> It cannot handle images

The description says "graphics on/off mode change by button"

I wonder if they haven't added images to the beta yet. Or do you have them turned off and don't realize it?

RE: Web Browser?

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 12:14:05 PM #

image checkbox checked. no image is shown. I tried WAP sites. But cannot make any HTML site work using IE5 emulation.

The forbidden question

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 10:08:01 AM #

Sorry to insert a (mostly) off-topic SONY post, but does anyone know if there is (currently or will be soon) a browser that supports 320x320? That'd be nifty! ;-)

-Palm Man

RE: The forbidden question

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 10:25:08 AM #

You can check out Xiino. It's hi-res. The down side is it is in Japanese.
www.ilinx.co.jp/products/xiino/index.html
They are supposedly working on an English version but I've been hearing that for like a year.

RE: The forbidden question

Palm_Otaku @ 4/8/2002 3:25:09 PM #

ilinx are the same developers that recently released the (way-cool!) PalmScape browser in English, so perhaps the 320x320 version isn't too far down the road...?

RE: The forbidden question

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 11:13:08 PM #

Palmscape is actually the *precedent* of xiino, so it is unlikely there will be a new version of Palmscape

RE: The forbidden question

big_raji @ 4/9/2002 11:51:44 AM #

Gah! I just installed Xiino, then realized that navigating Japanese text isn't as easy as I thought.

I removed the PRC files, and now I still have Japanese text in my Palm Preferences.

Now what? How do I get rid of it?

Gah!

---
If you sing in french while hopping on one foot, the evil birds won't come out of your bathroom mirror.

RE: The forbidden question

big_raji @ 4/9/2002 11:55:54 AM #

Nevermind, found it.

"Internet Prefs Panel" prc and pdb files.

---
If you sing in french while hopping on one foot, the evil birds won't come out of your bathroom mirror.

Painstakingly S L O W

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/8/2002 12:33:35 PM #

Guess Blazer is still the way to go. This one is waaay too slow.

Tried the ICQ feature. Now, if there was only a way to receive responses from the person you are messaging, then it would be useful. Sent a message to myself and this is what showed up:

Sender IP: 216.162.42.xxx

So when is Palm finally releasing their browser?