Makayama's TouchBrowser adds iPhone-style browsing to Windows Mobile
by Sean Cooper 
posted Apr 17th 2008 at 2:24PM
Janky image aside -- there are so many perspective problems in that pic it makes us feel woozy -- Makayama's TouchBrowser does seem to bring the goods when it comes to scrollable web browsing on Windows Mobile. Featuring both mobile and desktop views, a full screen keyboard, and judging by the YouTube vid they've posted -- see it after the break -- it looks grand. The software supports all Pocket PCs with VGA or QVGA screens -- except Treo and Windows Mobile Classic devices. So if your touchscreen isn't getting quite enough touching and flicking, for only $15 this may offer up a small bit of joy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Peter @ Apr 17th 2008 2:51PM
Too bad they don't have a trial version.
Clint @ Apr 17th 2008 3:18PM
Wha? No Treo... frak 'em. I'll stick with Skyfire...
Disco Ball @ Apr 17th 2008 3:56PM
quoted from other sources...
Beware, this is not a browser. It is only a user interface a la PointUI. TouchBrowser is a UI that uses PIE to render web pages and is not likely to produce an iPhone like experience as it's website states, especially since PIE does not render tables as mobile Safari does. The company tells on itself in its own manual. To add insult to injury, there's a $14.95 charge to use the UI.
From the manual:
"Why do some pages display incorrect? TouchBrowser uses the Pocket Internet Explorer to render HTML pages. It's a new user interface on top of an existing browser. TouchBrowser renders pages exactly the same as Pocket Internet Explorer. Pages that Pocket Internet Explorer can't handle correctly (like websites with Flash, or with complex layouts) are also rendered incorrectly by Touchbrowser. If you're looking for a browser that can handle these websites correctly, Touchbrowser is not the thing you're looking for, but we advice Opera or a similar browser based on a more modern rendering engine."
Definitely not a welcome product. Developers, if you want to get paid, develop real, self-sufficient software. Piggybacking on existing software is a waste of your resources.
I wish I had another set of hands, so I could give this product four thumbs down. HATE HATE HATE!!!
philr8 @ Apr 17th 2008 4:03PM
Not bad, I guess. Basically does the same things as Netfront and Opera Mobile. The scrolling was pretty smooth, but that keyboard was absolutely horrid.
But, yeah, not gonna make me give up Skyfire (which rules).
Senor Diddy @ Apr 17th 2008 4:39PM
PIE+ offers the same scrolling feature
http://www.reensoft.com/PIEPlus/
And they have a 14 day trial version.
BT @ Apr 17th 2008 6:36PM
just say no to this browser. who would want to try a browser out, knowing that they have to buy it in order to try it? plus, this has been discussed in depth, it's maneuvering off PIE. and it costs $15. no thanks.
Riley Freeman @ Apr 17th 2008 7:31PM
skyfire is the way to go best thing out
JNGold @ Apr 18th 2008 7:36PM
I bought it for a goof. What a piece of garbage! It's slow, buggy, and you can't even set your own homepage even though you enter the URL in the appropriate setting in the app. The app always opens to MSN.
wixostrix @ Apr 19th 2008 4:40PM
My Tilt came with TouchFlo so my IE explorer does let me scroll. The only thing this thing seems to offer is no scroll bars. Nothing more.