Comments on: Ask Freelock: What’s the scoop on mobile devices? http://opensourcesmall.biz/2008/09/ask-freelock-whats-the-scoop-on-mobile-devices/ The living site of the book by John Locke Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:53:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Alan http://opensourcesmall.biz/2008/09/ask-freelock-whats-the-scoop-on-mobile-devices/comment-page-1/#comment-163662 Alan Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:10:41 +0000 http://opensourcesmall.biz/?p=272#comment-163662 Actually, the Blackberry does ship with a browser, and a reasonably capable one at that. The built-in browser has several "modes," with availability controlled by "service books" provided by the vendor. The modes on my T-Mobile 8320/Curve are Internet Browser (via the phone system), WiFi Browser (via WiFi) and T-Zones, which is a more stripped down version of the Internet browser. Options in the built-in browser include Javascript support (enabled, disabled, prompt); HTML tables; background images; foreground/background colors; embedded media (limited); style sheets. Emulation modes for the browser are Blackberry, Openwave/WAP, Openwave Gateway, Microsoft IE, MS Pocket IE and Netscape. The normal view is geared to displaying content on a small screen, but there's always the option for "Desktop View" on the menu for each page. And of course you can install Opera if you prefer it, though it's not as integrated with other applications (e.g. can't set it as the default browser, can't dial phone numbers from within it, and it doesn't use the optimized text entry fields so it's much clumsier for forms). Development for all modern Blackberries is in Java; many MIDP2 programs will run immediately and others need minor changes. Actually, the Blackberry does ship with a browser, and a reasonably capable one at that. The built-in browser has several “modes,” with availability controlled by “service books” provided by the vendor. The modes on my T-Mobile 8320/Curve are Internet Browser (via the phone system), WiFi Browser (via WiFi) and T-Zones, which is a more stripped down version of the Internet browser.

Options in the built-in browser include Javascript support (enabled, disabled, prompt); HTML tables; background images; foreground/background colors; embedded media (limited); style sheets. Emulation modes for the browser are Blackberry, Openwave/WAP, Openwave Gateway, Microsoft IE, MS Pocket IE and Netscape.

The normal view is geared to displaying content on a small screen, but there’s always the option for “Desktop View” on the menu for each page.

And of course you can install Opera if you prefer it, though it’s not as integrated with other applications (e.g. can’t set it as the default browser, can’t dial phone numbers from within it, and it doesn’t use the optimized text entry fields so it’s much clumsier for forms).

Development for all modern Blackberries is in Java; many MIDP2 programs will run immediately and others need minor changes.

]]>