Microsoft Live Labs releases DeepFish, a true Mobile Browser

Advertisement (Why?)

Forget Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile, Microsoft has borrowed technology from Sea Dragon, the imaging engine behind Photosynth, and has released a new web browser dubbed DeepFish. The idea behind Deepfish is giving the user the ability to view websites on their mobile phone just as they would view them on a desktop or laptop.

Instead of changing the layout of the web page so that it fits onto the screen, which can make load times slower and majorly hinder the usability in finding content, DeepFish first presents the user with a general page layout of the whole site. From there, the user can use a resizable “zoom box” to zoom in to the page for a closer view. Zooming back out is just as easy. In DeepFish, the forward and back buttons can be used for navigating between the different views of the same page. Thanks to Sea Dragon’s multi-resolution view, this can all be done very quickly because DeepFish breaks down the larger web page into tiles which allow zooming. As well, a “queue map” feature speeds up the whole navigation when the user is already zoomed in on a section of the page.

It’s free and available right now (but availability is limited) for any Windows Mobile version 5.0 and up device. “The code is actually written to be potentially cross-platform. But because we ship these rapid prototypes in live labs, we’re shipping it just for that operating system for now,” concluded Alex Daley, Senior Product Manager at Microsoft Live Labs.

Download: DeepFish

Video: iPod | MP3 | PSP | WMA | WMV | WMV (High) | Zune

News source: On 10

#1 altermind on 29 Mar 2007 - 05:13

I like where this is heading.. still not everyday useable yet... but it's rather simaler to the demos that you see of the apple iphone which is not a bad thing.... on my axim 51v everything is smooth as silk.... so yeah... good sofar.. still feels very incomplete however

edit: png files are not suppported as far as I can see...

(8 replies) #2 punker429 on 29 Mar 2007 - 05:13

Look's like they stole something else from Apple. It works and looks the exact same as Safari on the iPhone. Lameee.

#2.1 altermind on 29 Mar 2007 - 05:20

you do relise the technolagy behind this was developed quite a bit before the iphone don't you ?

#2.2 punker429 on 29 Mar 2007 - 05:23

Quote - (altermind said @ #2.1)

I've been using Windows Mobile since it was first released I've never seen a web browser for it that could load a whole web page just like the iPhone then let you zoom in on parts of it. Unless I'm missing something? Opera mini and IE mobile are horrible at loading regular none wap sites.

#2.3 altermind on 29 Mar 2007 - 05:29

let me clarrify.... I never said there was something like this for mobile devices... this is the first time something like this has actually been as functional on a mobile device.. however.. what led upto this being ported to a mobile has been around for quite a long time.

#2.4 +Smigit on 29 Mar 2007 - 05:38

Quote - (punker429 said @ #2)

I really doubt MS created this purely in the 2 months since the iPhone was announced.

#2.5 superhuman on 29 Mar 2007 - 06:01

Quote - (Smigit said @ #2.4)

There is nothing to doubt about. Photosynth technology has been created for a long time. Do some research. Search youtube will help.

http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

#2.6 PureLegend on 29 Mar 2007 - 06:46

The ZUI has been around for ages, lol

#2.7 NetRyder on 29 Mar 2007 - 07:03

Deepfish on YouTube - December 21, 2006
iPhone launch - January 9, 2007

Making comments without doing your homework. Lameee. =)

#2.8 GP007 on 29 Mar 2007 - 07:38

Quote - (NetRyder said @ #2.7)

Yeah, this is starting to get old, everytime MS releases something that looks similure to or works in the same way as some apple showed off, they're stealing it from Apple? Last I checked the iPhone isn't even selling yet!

#3 Neomac v6 on 29 Mar 2007 - 06:28

Regardless of who was first, it'll be interesting to see this go head-to-head with iPhone/Safari. However I think the iPhone will win by virtue of its overall interface.

#4 NetRyder on 29 Mar 2007 - 06:56

Mini-review + Screenshots

I think it's a pretty good start. Still not fully ready, but the small-screen rendering is better than any other mobile browser I've used so far.

#5 tsutton on 29 Mar 2007 - 07:55

Shame I can't download as it has reached the limit.

#6 NickFritz on 29 Mar 2007 - 08:34

anyone got a copy of this so i can test to see if it supports my DRAC card login?

nick at naf.com.au

#7 altermind on 29 Mar 2007 - 08:53

I should also mention... the safari browser in the iphone is far better overall then this.. but this implementation can work in almost anything... case it's only streaming in images at the end of the day >.<

#8 Ambroos on 29 Mar 2007 - 09:55

Of course the Browser on the iPhone is better... We know it because we all tested the iPhone...

And can i say that the SeaDragon technology, which is behind this all, is more than a year old? Well now i'm really sure Microsoft has stolen it... Apple steals way more from Microsoft (but usually makes it a little bit better or more fancy)

(3 replies) #9 Gobelet on 29 Mar 2007 - 10:13

That would be awesome if it was ported on 360.

#9.1 dugbug on 29 Mar 2007 - 12:54

Quote - (Gobelet said @ #9)

yeah, it would work well for TV/console. Good idea

#9.2 +Smigit on 29 Mar 2007 - 13:42

a console that touts itself as being HD capable should be able to render webpages in their full glory without requiring zooming ect. maybe have a magnifying glass as an option but I dont see why the browser for an xbox would need to built on the basis of being able to zoom in or out.

#9.3 dugbug on 29 Mar 2007 - 15:42

Quote - (Smigit said @ #9.2)

It should be obvious, come on. 1) most people do not have an HDTV. 2) You sit on a sofa, several feet away from a television. This is why fonts for in-game menus and whatnot are very large despite high resolution. 3) Input is not as natual with a controller than it is with a mouse, link-jumping and focus rectangles would work good.

#10 ZombieFly on 29 Mar 2007 - 13:15

can someone email me a copy? Just missed the download

zombiefly at g mail dot com

#11 benplace on 29 Mar 2007 - 13:57

Can someone also send me a copy? benplace at yahoo dot com

(2 replies) #12 pacmania1982 on 29 Mar 2007 - 15:49

I can't believe there is so much hype over this - Nokia S60 3rd Edition cell phones have had a 'Full' web browser for ages. The S60 browser is awesome, and a lot of what has been demoed in this video - it can already do and its not BETA!!

Some screenshots from my Nokia N93 are here: http://monkeymagic.servehttp.com/screenshots/symbian.html

pac

#12.1 Joshie on 29 Mar 2007 - 22:57

Don't you understand? It doesn't matter if fifty other people did something before Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft couldn't possibly have stolen it from anyone but Apple. Because iTheism says so.

#12.2 Coolme on 30 Mar 2007 - 07:27

Kudos to Nokia

Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!

Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.

Neowin.net