web browser

As people spend more time online
with their phones and as
smartphone technology improves,
users continually expect better
performance from their mobile Web
browsers. Dolphin Browser HD (for
Android 2.0 and above; use Dolphin
Browser for earlier Android
versions) very nearly provides
desktop-quality browsing optimized
for a pocketable device.
Many of Dolphin Browser HD's
features seem inspired by the Firefox
desktop browser (to which it has no
official relationship). Most exciting is
the ability to extend functionality
with add-ons. Currently 42 add-ons
are available for Dolphin HD, but you
can expect that number to grow.
Some of my favorites include
Adblocker (a port of the famous
Firefox add-on), Del.icio.us
Bookmarks (which lets you post Web
pages to the Delicious social-
bookmarking service), Tab History,
QR Code Share (which creates a
scannable QR code image of your
current Web page URL), and
Bookmarks to SD (which backs up
your bookmarks to the internal SD
Card and lets you sync your
bookmarks to your Google
Bookmarks account).
You can install as many add-ons as
you like; if you're a heavy add-on
user, you can disable the ones you
don't use often in order to free up
memory. Several themes, which
change the appearance (mainly the
color) of the browser, are also
available.
Like Firefox, Dolphin Browser HD
organizes open Web pages in a
tabbed interface. Although the stock
Android Web browser allows you to
have several windows open at once,
navigating among them is awkward.
Dolphin Browser HD's tabbed
interface makes the task simple: You
can have up to eight tabs open
simultaneously (more than that
would probably tie up too much
memory), and switching is as easy
as touching a tab or swiping the tab
bar to bring the other tabs into view.
Dolphin Browser HD has an
innovative approach to maximizing
touchscreen navigation of its
features. To access Bookmarks and
History, simply swipe-and-drag the
screen all the way to the right, which
opens a Firefox-like sidebar. Swipe-
and-drag to close it when you are
done. Similarly, you can swipe-and-
drag to the left to open a toolbar that
gives access to installed add-ons and
themes. And like Firefox, Dolphin
Browser HD has a built-in link to an
add-ons gallery.
Gesture-based navigation, another
outstanding feature, adds a whole
new level of functionality. When this
feature is activated, you can draw a
predefined gesture on the
touchscreen, and Dolphin Browser
HD will execute the command. This
setup works for menu commands
(such as adding a bookmark) or for
going to a particular Web page (such
as Facebook). You can, of course, add
your own custom gestures; to
arrange them, press the Menu key
and then select More, Settings,
Gesture Settings. Now your mobile
Web browser can do something that
most desktop browsers cannot do.
Dolphin Browser HD supports Flash--
the technology that enables most
Web videos--if your Android phone
has Flash support (available in
Android 2.2, aka Froyo). In my phone
(Sprint HTC EVO 4G phone)
running Android 2.2, Dolphin
Browser HD was able to play videos
from Blip.tv, The Onion (with some
awkward display formatting), Vimeo
(though some HD videos choked
occasionally), and YouTube. If video playback is
important to you, I recommend
Skyfire Browser instead--it can play
more videos, even on Android
phones that don't have native Flash
support.
One of the best and most innovative
mobile Web browsers available,
Dolphin Browser HD offers extremely
powerful extensibility, as well as
intuitive and finger-friendly
navigation. Its video-streaming
capability needs improvement,
however.