Database Users

M$'s new browser?

So around a month ago I saw Micro$oft advertise free downloads of their prototype browser, which looked like it directly competes with Apple's new iPhone browser. It shows the entire website and allows zoomage and all that jive stuff. I went to download it but they already closed the download when I arrived.
I immediately searched here to see if anyone was talking about it but to no avail. Now, I can't even remember it's name.
Does anyone know about this or where I could download this?

http://labs.live.com/deepfish/

Awesome..
Does anyone have this as a download hosted privately? If that is illegal then I apologize and wouldn't ask.

Deepfish works by going through Microsoft's server which does the processing. Each user has a unique registration code which is sent to deepfish's server with every use of the browser, so even if you do get a copy of the software, it's useless without your own code. They disable codes that are used by multiple people, so people are not likely to share. I posted my code here (or maybe at hofo) awhile back and I got a notice from the deepfish people explaining this, and telling me that my code was disabled. They sent me a new one, though, and suggested I not share it.
In my opinion the picsel browser that somebody posted here also is much better at the same functionality.

Ah, so it's Microsoft's version of skweezer or loband.org ... I'd feel a little uneasy sending ALL of my internet traffic via Microsoft's servers, they know too much about me already.
Might give the beta a go though should I ever get an invite.

My biggest annoyance with Android's web browser

Android comes with a seriously awesome web browser. It can easily browse regular desktop versions of web pages even over EDGE with no major problems. I'm so glad to leave crippled mobile versions of web pages behind me forever.
EXCEPT
Google, of all places, seems to have some kind of lock preventing the Android browser from gaining access to the desktop versions of their websites. They come up with the mobile versions by default, and even if you click the button to switch it to the desktop version, it doesn't. It takes you to yet another mobile version that is just styled a little closer to the desktop version, but it's by no means identical.
Google built this browser, they know that it can handle desktop webpages, why won't they let us do that with their own sites? I find it really annoying to deal with crippled versions of Google's web pages. In Gmail I can't edit my contacts, in YouTube... I don't know what the hell's going on... all I see is large ugly text, in Google Search I don't have the convenient switch to image search while viewing web results. It's FRUSTRATING.

chefgon said:
Android comes with a seriously awesome web browser. It can easily browse regular desktop versions of web pages even over EDGE with no major problems. I'm so glad to leave crippled mobile versions of web pages behind me forever.
EXCEPT
Google, of all places, seems to have some kind of lock preventing the Android browser from gaining access to the desktop versions of their websites. They come up with the mobile versions by default, and even if you click the button to switch it to the desktop version, it doesn't. It takes you to yet another mobile version that is just styled a little closer to the desktop version, but it's by no means identical.
Google built this browser, they know that it can handle desktop webpages, why won't they let us do that with their own sites? I find it really annoying to deal with crippled versions of Google's web pages. In Gmail I can't edit my contacts, in YouTube... I don't know what the hell's going on... all I see is large ugly text, in Google Search I don't have the convenient switch to image search while viewing web results. It's FRUSTRATING.
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I really dont know why your browser does that, but I have access to the regular google.com classic view page. I can pic between web, images, local, news.. etc.. I can also log to igoogle.com

I can aswell

Most mobile sites have a link to view the regular site. Google has this.
go to www.google.com then you see on the bottom Mobile is default choice, click on CLASSIC to view the regular website version

Anyone else having an issue with the browser where after a while it no longer renders the pages?
It shows the progress bar filling up and done, but just a blank page.

quedijo said:
Anyone else having an issue with the browser where after a while it no longer renders the pages?
It shows the progress bar filling up and done, but just a blank page.
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Click to collapse
Yes I've had that problem as well as not being able to get into market have no clue why. Frustrating!!!

I keep having this problem too. The only thing that seems to solve the problem is a restart. I dont know if it has anything to do with me clearing the cache but it IS verry annoying.

Yeah, even killing the browser process doesn't do it either.

quedijo said:
Anyone else having an issue with the browser where after a while it no longer renders the pages?
It shows the progress bar filling up and done, but just a blank page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats network issues with thew the 3g when i disable 3g it worked but sometimes it wont

i think it has to do with your cache i wish they come out with a new firmware that lets you save programs to sdcard or cache to sd card

I'm having the same issues. It was working when I first got the phone, but now it only gives me the option for mobile view.

I found a solution to the most annoying, biggest mistake from Google. For those who loved iGoogle and cant find it, here it is:
www.google.com/ig/i?source=mofe
And here is an alternate BETA site from Yahoo as backup:
http://beta.m.yahoo.com/

brooklynite said:
I found a solution to the most annoying, biggest mistake from Google. For those who loved iGoogle and cant find it, here it is:
www.google.com/ig/i?source=mofe
And here is an alternate BETA site from Yahoo as backup:
http://beta.m.yahoo.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess Google found out the shut down the site.
Yahoo's Beta sucks.

Anyone use Monilink?

I used to use Monilink a lot on my old Nokia. It is a Java app which you use to manage your bank account, it comes direct from your bank.
Anyone managed to use it under Android? I can't even get the wap push message to arrive when I register. I think it is arriving but the phone is ignoring it because when I put my sim in a different phone the message arrives every time!

doesn't work.
use the text message service from your bank.
There's a new version of the software coming out 1st weekend of December which will work with newer touchscreen phones, but still nothing for android or windows mobile yet.
the download link is just wap.monilink.co.uk/download.wml
i'd stick with the text alerts.

ballandbiscuit said:
I used to use Monilink a lot on my old Nokia. It is a Java app which you use to manage your bank account, it comes direct from your bank.
Anyone managed to use it under Android? I can't even get the wap push message to arrive when I register. I think it is arriving but the phone is ignoring it because when I put my sim in a different phone the message arrives every time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, I didn't think anyone used MoniLink anymore! I was on the testing team for the bank when it was first launched, it never seemed to take off.
rhedgehog is right, looks like it will be coming out shotly, its just in testing, but this is not for Android / WM, they are not looking at this yet.

I used to find it quite good for quickly checking balances etc. Have to investigate the sms option to see if you can just send a text and they reply with balance etc. Perhaps before long the banks will make a version of internet banking with formatting for iphone/android etc as the full blown sites are rather clunky and slow when on the mobile.

Yes, you can. Each bank has a slightly different number, but in general you text BAL or MINI to that nuimber and it sends you back your balance or a mini statement.

ballandbiscuit said:
I used to find it quite good for quickly checking balances etc. Have to investigate the sms option to see if you can just send a text and they reply with balance etc. Perhaps before long the banks will make a version of internet banking with formatting for iphone/android etc as the full blown sites are rather clunky and slow when on the mobile.
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Click to collapse
Don't think you'll really ever get that from mainstream banks, especially the one I work out. It seems their attitute to mobile banking is that the industry changes too much and they can't afford resources to suit every mobile phone.
With computers, you have the main browsers like IE, FireFox, Safari, so they make it work for those, but others are a bonus. There are so many platforms and browsers for mobile, they just won't do it.
The bank I work for made me laugh when the iPhone came out and they advertised that their internet banking was made iPhone friendly like they made it like that, truth is, they just got lucky!

sad thing is, monilink are just releasing a version for the iphone. They are then updating for the other mainstream touchscreen phones (nokias and samsungs etc) in december...but nothing for us.
Sucks really.

Java
I would also like to get this running,
I am getting the message through with a link to download the app, I then paste this link into my java Midlet Manager, IE opens and and says it cant find the link, I f I was able to get this downloaded i dont see why it wouldnt run in the Midlet Manager ?
Any halp will be much appreciated.
Merry Christmas

I find using NatWest online banking on Hero quite ok. I used to use monilink on my windows mobile phones as the opera browser seemed incompatible. But all the browsers I tried on Android work without any problems.

Why does Google on the sense tab work differently than on the Opera browser?

I don't know if anyone else has tried this, but the google box that you can bring up on the Sense tab (the one for internet) is different than the one when you open the Opera Browser that is right under the address bar. The difference between the two is the one on the Sense tab gives you the results of the search, but anytime you click on any of the links for your results its TEXT ONLY. The one on the Opera Browser has links that takes you to the site, but still lets it stay as a "desktop" looking site. Anyone know why it does that? Is it a glitch? Can it be fixed?

I agree. I would like to know as well.
In the tab: you can change it in registry to the following and it will do every google search in desktop version :
google.com/search?hl=en-US&output=html&q=%s
however, if you are in the browser already, and did a google search, it will come up in mobile search results.
How can we change the one in browser to desktop searchers?

Hmm never noticed this before,might be a good idea to
change it to give proper search results

The search bar that you refer to invokes Google's specilaized mobile view rendering service. Essentially what Google does is to take all the websites out there and convert them to a mobile friendly version before diplaying it on your screen.
That's why it is different from the Desktop View and even the Opera Mobile View because Google is dong the conversion, not the browser.
It's quite handy if you want quick access to text information.

lemonspeakers said:
How can we change the one in browser to desktop searchers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
custom user agent.
as you are now opera is telling google it is a mobile browser. spoof for example the FireFox desktop use agent and you will see desktop google.
as for the search tab, as mentioned above you can force the results and even use a different search engine if you like.
more details here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=656897

Desktop browsing instead of android mobile

Tired of the about:debug hopefully a fix is coming soon....
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App

TheWh0leTruth said:
Tired of the about:debug hopefully a fix is coming soon....
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand its up to the developers of websites to differentiate between "Android" which is tablets, and "Android Mobile" which is phones.

Dolphin is the bees knees on my xoom I love the side to side features... all ready uninstalled the stock browser
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martonikaj said:
From what I understand its up to the developers of websites to differentiate between "Android" which is tablets, and "Android Mobile" which is phones.
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Click to collapse
You are correct, but isn't that a little ridiculous? I mean the other browsers deliver us a desktop experience with no problem. I guess I understand the desire for the browser to be recognized as Android-specific, but relying on websites to change their code ultimately results in a less-than-ideal experience for the user. I don't know what a website's motivation would be to change their code. From their standpoint, I think it would seem like we are expecting them to make changes so that our substandard app will work. The websites will probably catch up, but meanwhile, shouldn't the stock browser be able to bring us as satisfying an experience as a third party app does?

nbowes said:
The websites will probably catch up, but meanwhile, shouldn't the stock browser be able to bring us as satisfying an experience as a third party app does?
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The websites would never catch up if that was the case. Right now the best way to deal with it is write to page owner that have this problem and complain.

Why not just change the user agent? Am I missing something?
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Magnesus said:
The websites would never catch up if that was the case. Right now the best way to deal with it is write to page owner that have this problem and complain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You make a very good point here. And I guess the sites in question are actually the better sites that redirect a user to alternative content (low-res video or non-Flash pages) based on the browser's signature. Since they already consider that, they may be more likely to respond to user requests and feedback and change their code. Our browser type should begin to show up in their web traffic reports, too. But I think it'll be a slow-going change because in the whole lineup of browsers, we're a minority. Personally, I'll be more apt to open Dolphin to view a page that isn't displaying in desktop mode, long before I would hunt down a webmaster email address and send a note. I'm not even sure exactly what to ask for in the note. If anybody would care to provide a post with some proper terminology, that might help the cause.
ChongoDroid said:
Why not just change the user agent? Am I missing something?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand it, we can select "desktop" as our user agent, but that identifies our browser as "android" which a lot of sites interpret as "android mobile" and redirect us to mobile content anyway. I have also read where some folks can't get the setting to stick through a reboot.

nbowes said:
You make a very good point here. And I guess the sites in question are actually the better sites that redirect a user to alternative content (low-res video or non-Flash pages) based on the browser's signature. Since they already consider that, they may be more likely to respond to user requests and feedback and change their code. Our browser type should begin to show up in their web traffic reports, too. But I think it'll be a slow-going change because in the whole lineup of browsers, we're a minority. Personally, I'll be more apt to open Dolphin to view a page that isn't displaying in desktop mode, long before I would hunt down a webmaster email address and send a note. I'm not even sure exactly what to ask for in the note. If anybody would care to provide a post with some proper terminology, that might help the cause.
As I understand it, we can select "desktop" as our user agent, but that identifies our browser as "android" which a lot of sites interpret as "android mobile" and redirect us to mobile content anyway. I have also read where some folks can't get the setting to stick through a reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Desktop is not android. Android is android just like iPhone emulates an iPhone... about:debug or dolphin browser? Cmon
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ChongoDroid said:
Desktop is not android. Android is android just like iPhone emulates an iPhone... about:debug or dolphin browser? Cmon
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I select "desktop" in the stock browser, it gives me a very different experience than when I select it in another browser, such as Dolphin. I am under the impression that selecting "android" would tell a website that I am on an android phone, and it would render the mobile version of the site. I don't want that, so I selected "desktop" but still often get directed to mobile versions of sites. I thought I read that the reason for this is that selecting "desktop" identifies the browser as "android"...as opposed to "android mobile." I guess sites aren't coded to recognize "android" as being different than "android mobile" and render the mobile version.
The suggestion has been to notify site owners of the problem and ask them to update their code. I think to do that effectively, I need to fully understand the issue, and I'm sorry but your reply didn't help me with that.

Android user agent is for tablets. Desktop is for desktop. Not many sites are setup to render pages for a tablet that's why you get the mobile version when set to android.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App

But...I'm getting mobile versions when I'm set to desktop.
Thank you for your replies. I think Chongo has made a pretty solid case for the Dolphin browser.

Dolphin is one of the best alternative.
I am using the Dolphin Mini on my Nexus S just because of this user-agent issue, plus tabbed browsing, quick bookmarks, etc.
It is not as fast as the stock one, but the speed is still fast enough to enjoy the experience.
I read that Dolphin is still not good enough on Honeycomb. They have updated it, but still choppy.
We can hope that the developers are hard work to bring it up to speed with Honeycomb, better stability, faster with hardware acceleration. Certainly, this will be realized quickly as I read Google developer posted detailed information about hardware acceleration on Honeycomb:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/03/android-30-hardware-acceleration.html
nbowes said:
But...I'm getting mobile versions when I'm set to desktop.
Thank you for your replies. I think Chongo has made a pretty solid case for the Dolphin browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Btw, anyone can really catch the stock browser user agent string?
I am interested to know "exactly", the exact string text, what is the user agent string of the stock browser, default setting and when set to desktop via about:debug.
And also from the Dolphin set to "desktop".
Thanks if you can do this for us.

nbowes said:
But...I'm getting mobile versions when I'm set to desktop.
Thank you for your replies. I think Chongo has made a pretty solid case for the Dolphin browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to type ' about:debug' every time you reboot and in some cases after clearing your browsing history or after the browser stops. In other words, 'about:debug' does not stick. But your settings are remembered, so you won't have to keep changing your user agent, you'll just need to keep typing 'about:debug' in your address bar. The easier way to tell if you're still in debug mode is by clicking the menu icon and seeing if you have expanded options or not.
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gogol said:
Btw, anyone can really catch the stock browser user agent string?
I am interested to know "exactly", the exact string text, what is the user agent string of the stock browser, default setting and when set to desktop via about:debug.
And also from the Dolphin set to "desktop".
Thanks if you can do this for us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://my-addr.com/ua
For me, Safari is listed when in both desktop and android mode. When in android mode, platform shows as unknown.
With Dolphin in desktop mode, the agent is Chrome and the platform is Win7.

I don't have Xoom, so I cannot test that
But, I tested using my Nexus S, and here is the result:
Dolphin in Android mode:
Browser name: Default Browser
Platform: unknown
Operating System: Linux, Smart Move!!!
User Agent: Safari
Dolphin in desktop mode:
Browser branch name: Safari 3.1
Browser name: Safari
Browser version: 3.1
Platform: MacOSX
Operating System: Mac OS X
User Agent: Safari
Stock browser in Android (default) mode:
Browser name: Default Browser
Platform: unknown
Operating System: Linux, Smart Move!!!
User Agent: Safari
Stock browser in desktop mode:
Browser branch name: Safari 5.0
Browser name: Safari
Browser version: 5.0
Platform: MacOSX
Operating System: Mac OS X
User Agent: Safari
They are all using "Safari", no word "Android" mentioned.
nbowes said:
http://my-addr.com/ua
For me, Safari is listed when in both desktop and android mode. When in android mode, platform shows as unknown.
With Dolphin in desktop mode, the agent is Chrome and the platform is Win7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

One good thing about being automatically sent to the mobile version of a site?
Gizmodo.com
The mobile site is vanilla and plain but DAMN it's better to look at than that new mess of a website they've put up the last couple of months.
/rant

I think the issue here is why can't the Stock browser settings stick when you change the user agent. Dolphin seems to work perfectly fine after rebooting or after a browser crash. If the Stock browser did the same thing, after changing it to desktop, I don't think anyone would have an issue.

FYI Google addressed why this happens in their Android Blog:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/12/android-browser-user-agent-issues.html
Basically, the browser reports itself as Android, but not Android Mobile (as someone else suggested).
Websites currently sense if you are using Android and assume its a phone (because it always used to be), but now they should key of the word "Mobile" instead.
This does have drawbacks, but from an engineering perspective, it is the "correct" way to do it. Hacking the user agent is bad practice - its important for web admins to know if a lot of tablets are accessing their website, for example, so they can make sure the site works well for them. If Google set it to spoof a windows desktop, web admins would never know how many tablets were being used, and may be serving their users with a less than optimal page for tablets without realizing it.
So it will take some time for web admins to fix their sites, but unfortunately, this is the right way to do it. It would be great though if the about:debug settings were sticky. It might be bad practice for Google to design the tablet to spoof the user agent, but its fine if an individual user decides to.
-Taylor

It seems like the best option is to complain to webmasters who do not allow the option of leaving mobile mode on their sites.
If the option to view either mobile or full site is given then there is no need to spoof the user agent and the device would be properly tracked by whatever software the host is using. We need to complain more to the web admins if we will ever see the compatability that the ipad users currently have when browsing the web. At the same time the web admins need to know that enough of our devices are out there before they will see a need to create an alternative browsing experience. This is why I am against changing the user agent.
Edit: Perhaps Google had the same thought in mind and this is the reason the user agent setting does not hold after a reboot.
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