Microsoft offers Deepfish mobile browser preview

Stephen Withers
Friday, 30 March 2007 03:06

Your IT - Mobility

Microsoft's 'Deepfish' web browser aims to provide an "as designed" view of almost any Web site within the confines of the small screens offered on most Windows Mobile devices - but only an invited few will get to try the preview release.

Announced at the eTech Conference, Deepfish lets users zoom in and out of web pages to focus on the parts that interest them. To save bandwidth and improve page load times, only the portion of interest is transferred to the device.

Unlike ZenZui's tiled interface, Deepfish presents pages in a familiar format and does not require the web developer or publisher to make any changes. "[W]e capture the full layout of the page and deliver it to the mobile device, resulting in an experience similar to that on the desktop," said Microsoft technical fellow Gary William Flake, founder and director of Microsoft Live Labs.

"Deepfish’s interface [provides] users with a simple way to zoom in and out on the part of the Web page that interests them, while presenting the information as it was intended. All of this adds up to an easier and faster way to navigate through a page."

The preview release is far from complete, lacking features such as ActiveX controls, AJAX, cookies and Javascript.

"[W]e are not announcing any specific plans for making the product more widely available," said Flake.

The preview has been oversubscribed, but Microsoft is accepting registrations of interest in future releases.