Universe Browser to provide alternate web browsing option, HP hires developer 15
Just last week we saw the first alternative web browser show up in the official App Catalog with Complete Browser, while developer Donald Kirker of OpenMobl Systems has also been working on bringing his Universe Browser to webOS. In 2007 Universe started as the first web browser for the PalmOS platform that supported multi-tab browsing, and Donald wanted to bring some of that innovative browser love to webOS. Universe has been in closed alpha testing for the last couple weeks, getting updates almost every day as it works to distinguish itself with some rather unique features, such as Google Bookmark sync, a customizable navigation menu (like in Firefox or Safari), private browsing, integrated sharing capabilities with multiple webOS Twitter clients and Read It Later, as well as phone and Voogle integration. Universe also provides the ability to add a web shortcut to your launcher, just like the stock browser.
Universe Browser was shaping up to be a rather compelling alternative to the stock web browser, until HP and Palm threw up a little roadblock: they hired the developer. Technically, Kirker is a work-to-hire contractor, but he will be working on their WebKit Team, presumably to help enhance the web browser experience on webOS. It's great to see HP and Palm continue to reach out to the developer community and bring more of them in-house to improve webOS, but it's hardly surprising. As Palm's Josh Marinacci made abundantly clear at the NYC webOS Developer Meetup last month, there are a lot of job opportunities available for developers as HP continues to expand the Palm Global Business Unit and the webOS presence in the marketplace.
But what does this all mean for Universe Browser? Kirker is not entirely sure just yet, but he will continue to work on it and in the short term wants to get it out of alpha and into a full fledged beta. He has been told that he can continue to work on the app, because (as he puts it) "there seems to be enough disconnect from my work and Universe....Thankfully, I never wrote a port of WebKit to the webOS Linux platform, so Universe is *just* a Mojo shell ontop of a WebView wrapper which implements WebKit." (whatever that means!)
So, we wish Donald all the best with his new job, and hope that we will see a final Universe Browser in the near term!
Source: Donald Kirker's Mobile Life blog
15 Comments
Congrats to Don! Hope to see Universe, and more goodies, from him soon!
worddd, although honestly with 2.1 i'd rather use stacked cards than tabs.. like the integration tho..
Not quite...
Stacked cards would be a new window (card) in webOS 2.x. Tabbed is different from new window.
You'll still get stacks when the web page you're visiting dictates that the link you're clicking opens in a new window.
However, it might be nice (though I would not use it) to have a preference/option that says "OPEN PAGES IN TABS INSTEAD OF WINDOWS" to override what websites dictate. (The wording I used there is how it is worded in Safari v5.0.4 for Mac.)
I agree, and said as much in the thread on Complete Browser. Stacks is different than tabs in that stacks can be cross-application (when an email opens a browser page, e.g., it gets thrown in the same stack, which I like), but I still think tabs aren't a particularly "WebOS-y" UI element.
The beta Twitter client Carbon has an interesting approach where you can do left or right swipes and get different windows while the card is still full screen (it also has an option to launch separate cards for certain things if you want to). If Stacks is too limiting, I think the Carbon approach makes more sense for WebOS than tabs. (Carbon has a name for that UI element . . . multipane, maybe? . . . but I can't remember it.)
And a plug for Carbon: if you use Twitter, it's an utterly fantastic, great-looking app.
Good article, but you authors need to proofread your articles:
"Technically, Kirker is a work-to-hire contractor, but he wil bel working on their WebKit..."
Can somebody make a web browser with something as basic as text search within a web page for webOS?
Yes! We need that SOOO badly! Being able to search text on a mobile device is even more important than on a desktop/laptop...
I saw @Adora on twitter mention she wished he was working for palm. I was wondering how long after that it would be until he was hired. Turns out to be a week or less. Congratz to the developer!!
Congrats to Donald. :-D I wish him a Great Journey.
way to go, congrats Donald, please increase the acid score of the native webOS browser, even blackberry browser has a score of 100.
What about Donald adding nitro javascript boost to current webOS browser, that would be amazing
This inspires an idea to increase the n umber and quality of WebOS apps?
X number of developers who make great apps get offered high paying HP jobs?
It's a win-win-win for everybody!
Congratulations Donald!
Now can we get a scroll bar to the right of our native browser??? Would be nice to know where I'm at in a web page.
How about a simple meta-tap (T maybe?) to get to the top of the web page??? (and another one for the bottom? B maybe?).
This browser is awesome! It is a lot faster than the stock webOS browser. It opens faster and it loads web pages significantly faster.
Some good news, HP should be doing more of this!
red