Skyfire, a maker of web browser for mobile devices, has launched Skyfire 2.0 for Android, which is built upon many of the features of Skyfire 1.0 browser and uses cloud computing to give a ‘booster engine’ to mobile phones to handle rich media like video.
The company claims that Skyfire 2.0 for Android comes with a new toolbar SkyBar that allows users to enjoy millions of videos previously unviewable on mobile, and also discover the latest buzz on any topic they browse.
In addition, by activating the SkyBar with a single touch, users are given access to Flash videos on a web page that otherwise would not play, related content recommendations, and easier sharing with their social networks.
According to Skyfire, the new offering features, a ‘video’ icon that enables users to play millions of Flash videos around the web, unlocking content trapped behind those error messages with question marks and blue Legos. Videos are translated into a format easier for the phone to play like html5 video.
In addition, the ‘explore’ icon brings relevant content on the internet to users based on what they are viewing at the time. The Explore button pulls video, buzz, news, images and other sites from the web based on what is on the current page, while, the ‘share’ icon lets users share any article or video with others on Facebook, Twitter, or by email and SMS messaging, adding a comment, and all with a single click, the company said.
The company claims that Skyfire on Android uses cloud-computing technology to enable web video, and provide consumers with faster and smoother video playback, and extended battery life by offloading more of the work to cloud servers. At the same time, since Skyfire 2.0 is built on a webkit core, users get all the functionality they know on the default Android browser, such as pinch to zoom, copy and paste, find text on the page, and open up to eight browser tabs.
Jeff Glueck, CEO at Skyfire, said: “Skyfire 2.0 was built for the way people use social media and the web today. People are now starting their web experience by scanning their Facebook and Twitter news feeds.
“Our new browser allows you to open those links and view the videos that your friends have shared. To make that work, people need a browser that can handle the full internet.”
