As far as phones go, the Droid is an olympian. A supermodel. A movie star. But without multitouch, it’s a movie star with rickets, and awkward inflection. That is: mildly disappointing! That’s where the Dolphin browser comes in.
It wasn’t a huge leap to take RIM’s purchase of Torch Mobile, a software company known almost exclusively for making a single WebKit mobile browser, as a sign that the company was ready to take the dive, but just in case that wasn’t enough, BlackBerry just put out a call for WebKit developers:
You name it, we’ve got it: Sexy search tools! Google Voice! Upstart app stores! Maps, with stuff on them! Radio! Emulators, from the future! Fresh new browsers! It’s all in a day’s month’s work for Windows Mobile.
Other improvements include a more intuitive Omnibox (that’s the address bar, for people who don’t read the Chrome Dev blog every morning), and wider HTML5 support, including plugin-free video embeds. There are plenty of themes to try out, but Google’s examples—Chrome with a wood finish?—don’t bode particularly well. Windows download available now. [Google]
Mike Arrington’s CrunchPad web tablet, already several prototypes in, is quickly bubbling to reality reports Bits: There’s going to be an announcement in July or August, and it’ll be available “as soon as possible.”
The ZuneHD looks like a lovely catchup to the original iPod touch—you know, before apps allowed it to be so much more—except for one thing. That damn browser. It’s not just they’re basing it off hellacious and reviled IE—it’s that it’s not WebKit-based.
