A mobile browser, also called a microbrowser, minibrowser, or wireless internet browser (WIB), is a web browser designed for use on a mobile device such as a mobile phone or PDA. Mobile browsers are optimized so as to display Web content most effectively for small screens on portable devices. Mobile browser software must be small and efficient to accommodate the low memory capacity and low-bandwidth of wireless handheld devices. Typically they were stripped-down web browsers, but as of 2006 some mobile browsers can handle more recent technologies like CSS 2.1, JavaScript, and Ajax.
Websites designed for access from these browsers are referred to as wireless portals[1] or collectively as the Mobile Web. They may automatically create "mobile" versions of each page, for example this one.
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The mobile browser usually connects via cellular network, or increasingly via Wireless LAN, using standard HTTP over TCP/IP and displays web pages written in HTML, XHTML Mobile Profile (WAP 2.0), or WML (which evolved from HDML). WML and HDML are stripped-down formats suitable for transmission across limited bandwidth, and wireless data connection called WAP. In Japan, DoCoMo defined the i-mode service based on i-mode HTML, which is an extension of Compact HTML (C-HTML), a simple subset of HTML.
WAP 2.0 specifies XHTML Mobile Profile plus WAP CSS, subsets of the W3C's standard XHTML and CSS with minor mobile extensions.
Newer microbrowsers are full-featured Web browsers capable of HTML, CSS, ECMAScript, as well as mobile technologies such as WML, i-mode HTML, or cHTML.
To accommodate small screens, they use Post-WIMP interfaces.
The first mobile browser for a PDA was PocketWeb [2][3] for the Apple Newton created at TecO in 1994, followed by the first commercial product NetHopper released in August 1996.[4]
The so-called microbrowser technologies such as WAP, NTTDocomo's i-mode platform and Openwave's HDML platform fueled the first wave of interest in wireless data services.
The first deployment of a microbrowser on a mobile phone was probably in 1997 when Unwired Planet (later to become Openwave) put their "UP.Browser" on AT&T handsets to give users access to HDML content.[5][6]
A British company, STNC Ltd., developed a microbrowser (HitchHiker) in 1997 that was intended to present the entire device UI. The demonstration platform for this microbrowser (Webwalker) had 1 MIPS total processing power. This was a single core platform, running the GSM stack on the same processor as the application stack. In 1999 STNC was acquired by Microsoft[7] and HitchHiker became Microsoft Mobile Explorer 2.0,[8] not related to the primitive Microsoft Mobile Explorer 1.0. HitchHiker is believed to be the first microbrowser with a unified rendering model, handling HTML and WAP along with ECMAScript, WMLScript, POP3 and IMAP mail in a single client. Although it was not used, it was possible to combine HTML and WAP in the same pages although this would render the pages invalid for any other device. Mobile Explorer 2.0 was available on the Benefon Q, Sony CMD-Z5, CMD-J5, CMD-MZ5, CMD-J6, CMD-Z7, CMD-J7 and CMD-J70. With the addition of a messaging kernel and a driver model, this was powerful enough to be the operating system for certain embedded devices. One such device was the Amstrad e-m@iler and e-m@iler 2. This code formed the basis for MME3.
Multiple companies offered browsers for the Palm OS platform. The first HTML browser for Palm OS 1.0 was HandWeb by Smartcode software, released in 1997. HandWeb included its own TCP/IP stack, and Smartcode was acquired by Palm in 1999. MicroBrowsers for the Palm OS platform multiplied after the release of PalmOS 2.0, which included a TCP/IP stack. A freeware (although later shareware) browser for the PalmOS was Palmscape, written in 1998 by Kazuho Oku in Japan, who went on to found Ilinx. Still in limited use as late as 2003. Qualcomm also developed the Eudora Web browser, and launched it with the PalmOS based QCP smartphone. PocketWeb was a proxy-based Web browsing solution, developed by Student at the University of California Berkeley and later acquired by PumaTech.
Released in 2001, Mobile Explorer 3.0 added iMode compatibility (cHTML) plus numerous proprietary schemes.[9] By imaginatively combining these proprietary schemes with WAP protocols, MME3.0 implemented OTA database synchronisation, push email, push information clients (not unlike a 'Today Screen') and PIM functionality. The cancelled Sony Ericsson CMD-Z700 was to feature heavy integration with MME3.0. Although Mobile Explorer was ahead of its time in the mobile phone space, development was stopped in 2002.
Also in 2002, Palm, Inc. offered Web Pro on Tungsten PDAs based upon a Novarra browser. PalmSource offered a competing Web browser based on Access Netfront.
Opera Software pioneered with its Small Screen Rendering (SSR) and Medium Screen Rendering (MSR) technology. The Opera web browser is able to reformat regular web pages for optimal fit on small screens and medium-sized (PDA) screens. It was also the first widely available mobile browser to support Ajax and the first mobile browser to pass ACID2 test.[1]
Distinct from a mobile browser is a web-based emulator, which uses a "Virtual Handset" to display WAP pages on a computer screen, implemented either in Java or as an HTML transcoder.
The following are some of the more popular mobile browsers. Some mobile browsers are really miniaturized Web browsers, so some mobile browser companies also provide browsers for desktop and laptop computers.
| Browser | Creator | FOSS | Current layout engine | Software license | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android browser | Yes | WebKit | Apache 2.0 and GPL v2 | - | |
| BlackBerry Browser | Research in Motion | No | Mango (ver 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 5.0) Webkit (ver 6.0+) |
proprietary | - |
| Blazer | Palm | No | NetFront[10] | proprietary | installed on all newer Palm Treos and PDAs |
| Firefox for mobile | Mozilla | Yes | Gecko | MPL 1.1 or later, GNU GPL 2.0 or later, GNU LGPL 2.1 or later | Currently released for Android and Nokia Maemo devices |
| Internet Explorer Mobile | Microsoft | No | Trident | proprietary | on Windows Phone |
| Iris Browser | Torch Mobile | ? | WebKit | proprietary | Acquired by Research in Motion - No longer supports Windows Mobile or Linux |
| Kindle Basic Web | Amazon.com | No | NetFront | proprietary | - |
| Myriad Browser | Myriad Group | No | Magellan (ver. 6.X) Fugu (ver 7.X) WebKit (ver 9)[11] |
proprietary | Acquired from Openwave in 2008 |
| NetFront | ACCESS Co., Ltd. | No | NetFront | proprietary | - |
| Nokia Series 40 Browser | Nokia | No | WebKit[12] | proprietary | - |
| Obigo Browser | Obigo AB | No | WebKit (to be released) | proprietary | 100% owned by Teleca AB |
| Opera Mobile | Opera Software | No | Presto | proprietary | Capable of reading HTML and reformat for small screens, installed on many phones |
| PlayStation Portable web browser | Sony | No | NetFront | proprietary | |
| Polaris Browser | Infraware Inc. | No | Lumi (Ver. 6.X) WebKit (Ver. 7.X) |
proprietary | Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics, KYOCERA and other Smartphone and cellular phone in USA, China, Korea, etc. |
| Series 60 web browser | Nokia | ? | WebKit | BSD licenses | on Series 60 phones (predominantly Nokia) |
| Safari | Apple Inc | No | WebKit | proprietary | on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad |
| Skyfire Mobile Browser | Skyfire | No | Webkit | proprietary | Renders Flash 10, Ajax and Silverlight content. Currently supports iOS and Android. |
| uZard Web | Logicplant Co., Ltd. | No | MoRDAC (Mobile oriented Remote Display and Control) | proprietary | on Samsung, LG Electronics and other smartphones and cellular phones in Korea |
| WebOS Browser | No | Webkit | proprietary | - | |
| Browser | Creator | FOSS | Current layout engine | Software license | Notes |
| Browser | Creator | Current layout engine | Platforms | Software license | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOLT browser | Bitstream Inc. | WebKit | Java ME, BlackBerry | Proprietary | |
| Deepfish | Microsoft | Windows Mobile | Proprietary | Proxy-rendering browser (Discontinued) | |
| Dolphin Browser | MoboTap | WebKit | Android, iOS | ||
| Firefox for mobile | Mozilla Foundation | Gecko | Maemo, Android | MPL/GPL/LGPL | |
| ibisBrowser | ibis inc. | Java enabled phones, Windows Mobile | |||
| JOCA | InteracT!V | Java ME | Proxy-rendering free software | ||
| Links | Twibright Labs | PlayStation Portable | GPL | Unofficial port, requires custom firmware | |
| Minimo | Mozilla Foundation | Gecko | Linux, Windows CE | MPL/GPL/LGPL | Discontinued |
| NetFront | ACCESS Co., Ltd. | NetFront, WebKit | Linux, S60, BREW, Android, Windows Mobile, Others | Proprietary | |
| Opera Mini | Opera Software | Presto | Java ME, Android, Windows Mobile, iOS, BlackBerry, S60, Others | Supports most features of stand-alone Opera, but can run on less capable phones by offloading memory-intensive rendering to proxy server (based on Opera Mobile running on a server) | |
| Opera Mobile | Opera Software | Presto | Android, Maemo, BREW, S60, Windows Mobile | supports all modern web standards supported by desktop browsers, including XHTML, CSS2 and Ajax. Has advanced Small Screen Rendering that adapts regular pages to small screen (proprietary) | |
| Pixo | Sun Microsystems | ||||
| Skweezer | |||||
| Skyfire | Skyfire Labs, Inc. | WebKit (ver 2.x+), Gecko (ver 1.x) | Android, iOS | Supports Flash and Ajax. As of 2010-12-31, it no longer supports Symbian OS or Windows Mobile | |
| Steel | WebKit | Android | Discontinued | ||
| Teashark | Java ME | Proprietary Freeware | |||
| Tristit | Java enabled phones, BlackBerry | ||||
| UC Browser | UC Mobile | U3 | S60, Java ME, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Bada | Proprietary Freeware | Proxy-rendering |
| Vision Mobile Browser | Novarra | Java ME, BREW | Proprietary | ||
| WinWAP | Winwap Technologies | Windows Mobile | Proprietary | ||
| Browser | Creator | Current layout engine | Platforms | Software license | Notes |
Mobile transcoders reformat and compress web content for mobile devices and must be used in conjunction with built-in or user-installed microbrowsers. The following are several leading mobile transcoding services.
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