MS aims at iPhone-like browsing
updated 10:55 am EDT, Thu March 29, 2007
Microsoft Deepfish Browser
Microsoft today issued a response to the iPhone's mobile version of Safari with Deepfish, the codename for a new technology designed for Windows Mobile 5 or 6 smartphones to provide a more desktop-like web browser experience. The software automatically creates a complete image of a website, preserving the formatting intended by its creator; instead of using a touchscreen, however, the Microsoft-developed component uses the joystick or keypad to guide a selection box over an area to zoom in for a closer view of an image or text. Pressing the select button on the phone again lets the user switch between dynamic elements such as hyperlinks and text forms.
Deepfish is currently available for free only on a first-come, first-serve limited public beta, Microsoft says: when an unspecified limit is reached, downloads of the test version will stop for the foreseeable future. The company hasn't revealed if and when it expects to release a final version.
Though characterized as a "great opportunity for innovation" by Microsoft, the technology is extremely close in spirit to the full-screen web app developed by Apple for the iPhone, which relies exclusively on finger taps to zoom into and launch individual page components. The primary changes beyond the physical input method include hiding the address bar in a menu and offering more advanced options such as clearing the browser's file cache.
oh joy(stick)
03/29, 11:58am reply
a joystick to navigate a web page! that's innovation... honestly, i can't think of a more tedious way to do this.
i think as other companies try to catch up to the iPhone, you're just going to see more and more how far off the mark they really are.
scottnichol
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 1999
touch screen
03/29, 12:19pm reply
It's funny how the competition and critics glosses over the fact that the iPhone's touch screen is much more capable than your average smartphone touchscreen.
No device on the market today has a screen that works like the iPhone's multitouch screen. I'm interested to see how useful it really is.
hayesk
Professional Poster
Joined: Sep 1999
patents
03/29, 12:27pm reply
didn't steve said they were protecting like 200 patents on the iPhone. I can see another day in court looming for Microsoft's lawyers
chucker
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Joined: Mar 2007
almost like DS
03/29, 12:37pm reply
Looks a bit like the Opera browser on the Nintendo DS, except a bit more clunky. Nice to see MS innovating.
adrian_milliner
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Joined: Jun 2005
Re: touchscreen
03/29, 01:03pm reply
No device on the market today has a screen that works like the iPhone's multitouch screen. I'm interested to see how useful it really is.
Of course, since the iPhone's not on the market, we can say that no device at all has a touchscreen that works like the iPhone's is supposed to work in 3-6 months.
testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001
this is why microsoft...
03/29, 01:13pm reply
... is in trouble. not two days ago they hyped up their zenzui, yet another mobile internet browsing technology. they're a hydra with no inter-department communication. balmer has lost control, they need billy g back in charge. say what you will about megalomaniacs (jobs, gates), they keep their companies lean and focused.
dashiel
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Joined: Sep 2001
but wait!
03/29, 02:37pm reply
In reality you wont be experiencing the joy of navigating a web page with a joystick, you get double joy of getting to navigate a web page with one of those little thumbsticks that they put on the phones. Yah! This might be an acceptable experience on a blackberry perl, since it has that nice little track ball...
machead
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Joined: Aug 2006
how does...
03/29, 03:39pm reply
.. M$ copying [badly] a design feature puyt forth by Apple and a couple of others after they already did it - make it as a Top Story on a Mac specific News Site ?
And why is it actually worth my time to care - unless M$ did it first - Not ! - did it better - Not !
So why MacNN do you consistantly waste the time of your readers with this non-sense ?
You might want to add some of these ponders to your FAQ page_
UberFu
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Joined: Oct 2002
Missing the point...
03/29, 04:39pm reply
You guys are missing the point. The point is that they got to name a product Deepfish.
PookJP
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2001
play on words?
03/29, 05:01pm reply
Perhaps MS knows they are in "deep s***", so they named this DeepFish? Stupidest name for a product ever. I know that's only the codename, but they should never have even let that info out. These kinds of names tend to stick to products, and this will be forever referred to as DeepFish, or something worse.
Whatever, it's just another of the famous "me too, me too!" products from the MeToo company, Inc, aka Microsoft.
nativeNYer
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Joined: Apr 2005