.KEYWORD browser0902
.FLYINGHEAD MOBILE INTERNET
.TITLE Four Palm OS Web browsers show their stuff
.FEATURE
.SPOTLIGHT FIGALT cover.gif
.SUMMARY The proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and the proof of a good Palm OS-based Web browser is how well it renders some popular sites. Recently, in PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition, Contributing Editor Stephen Vance surveyed four very different Palm OS browsers. This time around, he’ll show you how those browsers handle four of his favorite Web sites, with different stressing characteristics, to demonstrate the browsers’ capabilities.
.AUTHOR Stephen Vance
Previously, in my article, "A survey of Palm OS Web browsers for IT professionals," in the August 2002 issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition (at http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200208/browser001.html), I decided to look into that staple of modern networked communications, the Web browser. This series of articles examines browsers that operate over TCP/IP and that process raw HTML using the HTTP protocol. The contenders are EudoraWeb (at http://www.eudora.com/internetsuite/), PocketLink (at http://www.mdevelop.com/product_PL.jsp), Xiino (at http://www.ilinx.co.jp/en/), and Blazer (at http://www.handspring.com/software/blazer_overview.jhtml).
.H1 Road tests
The ultimate proof of an application’s utility is how well it works in real life. To that end, I chose four of my favorite Web sites with different stressing characteristics to sample the browsers’ capabilities.
The four sites I tested were Yahoo!Finance (at http://finance.yahoo.com), the Hunger Site (at http://www.thehungersite.com), Dilbert.com (at http://www.dilbert.com), and the New York Times (at http://www.nytimes.com).
.H2 Yahoo!Finance
Yahoo!Finance has a relatively simple layout, limited use of images, and structured use of tables. Figure A shows this site using Internet Explorer for comparison.
.FIGPAIR A Here’s Yahoo!Finance in Internet Explorer.
EudoraWeb’s rendering of Yahoo!Finance, shown in Figure B, provides a simple text view with a basic re-flowing of content. Alt tag data (descriptions of a graphic displayed when graphics are turned off in the browser) makes the lack of images functional as long as the site is designed well.
.FIG B Here is how EudoraWeb renders Yahoo!Finance.
PocketLink, in Figure C, provides a more aesthetic view, including the site banner. However, it re-flows the site, leaving lots of empty space to scroll over. Regardless, the rendering is strong and useful.
.FIG C Here is how Yahoo!Finance is displayed with PocketLink.
In Figure D, Xiino does an excellent job of both rendering the image and re-flowing the text densely but faithfully. My only objection is its insistence on compressing tables to fit the width of the screen instead of adding a horizontal scroll.
.FIG D Here is how Xiino displays Yahoo!Finance.
Blazer’s horizontal scroll bar makes a significant difference with Yahoo!Finance. The table of market indices underneath the NASDAQ chart extends to the right of the screen width. Using the horizontal scroll allows the entire table to be displayed without compromise. It’s shown in Figure E.
.FIG E Here is how Blazer displays Yahoo!Finance.
.H2 The Hunger Site
The Hunger Site, which, with its sister sites, helps various worthwhile causes based on click-through, has significant use of small images and a simple tabular layout, but by default uses JavaScript to create pop-unders. Figure F shows this site in Internet Explorer.
.FIGPAIR F The Hunger Site is displayed in Internet Explorer.
EudoraWeb renders this site as you would expect, but the extensive use of images to communicate the causes and to provide sponsors’ ad banners comes through confusingly as re-flowed text, shown in Figure G.
.FIG G Here is how EudoraWeb displays the Hunger Site.
PocketLink has problems with the Hunger Site. As a result, it could not be rendered or cached, as shown in Figure H.
.FIG H PocketLink has a problem with the Hunger Site.
Rendering differences were most apparent between Xiino and Blazer for this site. In Figure I, notice how the navigation tabs for the sister sites are stacked two-by-two.
.FIG I This is how Xiino displays the Hunger Site.
Blazer displays the images one below the other. The Blazer documentation specifically discusses this phenomenon. I do not have a preference in approaches, but Blazer’s approach results in more legible images. Fortunately, Xiino’s support for JavaScript did not result in pop-under display.
Blazer also mangles the animated world map by re-flowing the table that contains the image tiles. This is not an unexpected behavior, but it violates the look and feel of the site. Blazer is shown in Figure J.
.FIG J Here is how Blazer displays the Hunger Site.
.H2 Dilbert.com
Dilbert.com is the online presence of the popular comic and includes larger images, regional color regions, a tabular layout, and some JavaScript rollover behaviors. Figure K shows the site using Internet Explorer.
.FIGPAIR K Here’s how Dilbert.com looks in Internet Explorer.
The limits of a text-only browser are highlighted by EudoraWeb’s handling of Dilbert.com in Figure L. The utility of text ends when the whole point of a site is its image content.
.FIG L This is EudoraWeb’s display of Dilbert.com.
PocketLink doesn’t do much better, despite its image display capability. As the documentation states, background colors are not displayed, as is apparent in Figure M. Also, the comic strip itself was never displayed, leaving only a large white space in the page.
.FIG M PocketLink makes a valiant attempt at displaying Dilbert.com.
Xiino provided a better rendering of the site, as shown in Figure N.
.FIG N Xiino was better at displaying Dilbert.com.
Blazer also performed better in this regard. However, both browsers scaled the comic strip down to an illegible level. Blazer is shown in Figure O.
.FIG O Here, Blazer is displaying Dilbert.com.
.H2 The New York Times
The New York Times has a simple color scheme, a large image for The New York Times logo, optimized images for article pictures and navigation grahics, and a relatively sophisticated tabular layout. Figure P shows the Times using Internet Explorer.
.FIGPAIR P This is how the New York Times looks in Internet Explorer.
The complexity of the New York Times site proves to be too much for both EudoraWeb and PocketLink. EudoraWeb only displays the left-hand navigation column, omitting the news content entirely, as shown in Figure Q.
.FIG Q EudoraWeb fails at displaying the New York Times.
PocketLink does a little better, but is unable to handle the size of the page, as shown in Figure R.
.FIG R Here, the New York Times is displayed by PocketLink.
Both Xiino and Blazer performed very well on the New York Times. I have a slight preference for the way Blazer re-flows the columns, but both are very usable and complete. Both browsers also display all the images associated with articles. Blazer seemed faster in rendering sub-regions of the rather large page.
Xiino is shown in Figure S.
.FIG S Xiino displays the New York Times well.
Blazer is shown in Figure T.
.FIG T Blazer also did well with the New York Times.
.H1 Conclusion
All in all, the capabilities of Xiino and Blazer are pretty amazing for the platform. I have a slight preference for Blazer based on its horizontal scrolling, somewhat more intelligent image scaling, and outstanding documentation. Xiino could also take a usability hint from Blazer and PocketLink in the shortcut buttons for commonly typed sequences, like "www." and ".com". PocketLink has respectable capabilities, but it needs to mature to demand its comparable price. EudoraWeb is a sturdy but limited entry for the minimalist with email integration needs.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Handspring’s Blazer, visit http://www.handspring.com/software/blazer_overview.jhtml.
For more information on Eudora Internet Suite for the Palm Computing Platform, visit http://www.eudora.com/internetsuite/.
For more information on PocketLink, visit http://www.mdevelop.com/product_PL.jsp.
For more information on Xiino, visit http://www.ilinx.co.jp/en/.
For the article, "A survey of Palm OS Web browsers for IT professionals," by Stephen Vance in the August 2002 issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition, visit http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200208/browser001.html.
For more information on Yahoo!Finance, visit http://finance.yahoo.com.
For more information on the Hunger Site, visit http://www.thehungersite.com.
For more information on Dilbert.com, visit http://www.dilbert.com.
For more information on the New York Times, visit http://www.nytimes.com.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
.H1 Easy, flexible article reprints
ZATZ now offers a quick, easy, flexible and inexpensive way to use article reprints in your marketing and promotion efforts. You can now get article reprints for a one-time fee of only $200. For details, visit http://mediakit.zatz.com/reprints.
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