Skyfire 2.0 for Android launches, enables Flash video through H.264

Skyfire today announced the availability of their next generation browser for Android. Available as a public beta in the Android Market, Skyfire 2.0 allows users to view Flash videos on the web through on the fly transcoding to H.264.

Traditionally, users are required to have the Flash Player plugin to view embedded Flash videos on the web. Skyfire 2.0 changes this by converting supported Flash video websites directly to H.264 through their servers and relaying it back to the browser. Implementation of this is done through the “Skybar”, a toolbar that automatically detects the Flash video on the page and prompts users if they would like to watch it. Hulu is not currently supported.

Skyfire 2.0 also gains new social networking and sharing features, where users can now find and share additional content through sites like Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, or SMS. Other noteworthy features include pinch to zoom, user agent switching, tabbed browsing, private browsing, copy and paste, find on page, offline viewing, and more.

Click here to download Skyfire 2.0 for Android.