Inside BlackBerry » BlackBerry 10 Browser

How HTML5 Apps Can Match a Native Experience

Donny Halliwell — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:01:24 +0000

I was recently talking with a friend—one who’s not altogether tech-savvy—and he asked what makes BlackBerry 10 a different experience from other mobile devices. I talked about many of the new features such as BlackBerry Flow and BlackBerry Hub, and I also mentioned better navigation and the smoothness and power of the HTML5 support built into the BlackBerry 10 operating system. At that, he stopped me and asked, “I can already use a ton of apps on my smartphone. Can HTML5 make mobile apps work faster?”

What a great question! The best way I can answer this question is by example. For instance, if you’ve ever been prompted to allow a game or quiz access or post to your Facebook page, you’ve most likely just engaged a Facebook (HTML-based) app. Even signing into your Facebook or Twitter profile from another website using OpenID or OAuth engages a web app of sorts.

The HTML5 support built into BlackBerry 10 is designed to enable web apps to function faster and smoother. It’s this tight integration that allows web apps to look and feel like native apps, while leaving things like processor and memory on the device and to support native apps. So running HTML5 apps on your BlackBerry 10 device will indeed make the mobile apps run faster, while not making the native (apps) restless.

What are your thoughts on web apps and BlackBerry 10? Let us know in the comments.

For an even more basic explanation of the above, check out this post titled “Inside HTML5 and the New BlackBerry 10 Web Browser”

BlackBerry 10 Interview: Catching up with Matthew from the Browser Team

Donny Halliwell — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:06:28 +0000

At the BlackBerry 10 launch event, I had the opportunity to catch up with some of the people that have been working hard to create BlackBerry 10. One of my favorite new features is the browser on the BlackBerry Z10. It is fast and brings me the information I’m looking when I need it on the go. I caught up with Matthew Staikos from the browser team to learn even more about this great browser.

[ YouTube link for mobile version ]

So there’s some great highlights of the new BlackBerry 10 browser – and isn’t it cool that Matthew also loves BlackBerry Remember? What do you love most about BlackBerry 10?

BlackBerry 10 HTML5 Browser Demo Showcases Bookmark Tagging [VIDEO]

Donny Halliwell — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:20:05 +0000

Since first showing you the browser in BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry Jam Americas, the team has been working hard to create an amazing browsing experience. Matthew from the browser team and I wanted to show you some of tweaks and features they’ve made that make it stand out.

If you’re like me, you have a ton of bookmarks on your smartphone, and they can be tricky to navigate between. We’ve made it easy to organize everything now, with tags — a simple feature, yes, but one that is designed to make your life that much easier. Watch Matthew demo the BlackBerry 10 browser:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

In the above video, Matthew shows off an HTML5 game running smoothly on the device, the tagging feature for organizing your bookmarks, and some subtle changes we’ve made so you can see more of the website on your screen. In case you missed it back in September, we showed you how powerful the HTML5 compatibility is with the “get user media demo” that allows for web designers to access items on the device like the camera to create rich multimedia browsing. We also showed off reader mode and share functions, so be sure to check out that blog post.

BlackBerry 10 is shaping up to be the best BlackBerry experience to date. Can’t wait to get your hands on it? Sign up here for more details and let us know what you think of the BlackBerry 10 browser in the comments below.

10 Things We Learned about BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry Jam Americas

Donny Halliwell — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:09:11 +0000

By now, I’m sure you’ve seen some of the amazing things that came out of BlackBerry® Jam Americas. BlackBerry® 10 features like BlackBerry Flow, the BlackBerry 10 browser, BlackBerry App World for BlackBerry 10 and the BlackBerry Hub, were just a few of the BlackBerry 10 demos I witnessed. Check out my recap in this SlideShare™ presentation.

What BlackBerry 10 features are you most excited to explore? Let us know in the comments below!

BlackBerry 10 Browser Previewed at BlackBerry Jam Americas [VIDEO]

Donny Halliwell — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:39:22 +0000

Have you been chomping at the bit, waiting for more information on BlackBerry ® 10? This week we’re showcasing some of the core OS features to developers at BlackBerry ® Jam Americas 2012 in San Jose, so they can continue to build amazing apps for launch.

The BlackBerry 10 browser is designed to give customers fluid navigation, solid performance, a robust feature set and the ability to easily share information. It’s also designed with safety and security in mind, as mobile users are accessing more and more private information online, like their finances.

To get a hands-on preview of the BlackBerry 10 browser, I sat down with Matthew Staikos from the browser team. Here’s what he wanted to share with you:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Amazing! Did you see what he did with the camera in the browser? I personally can’t wait to get surfing on BlackBerry 10. What are you most excited about?

For this video, we used the latest developer hardware prototype model, the BlackBerry Dev Alpha B, to demonstrate concepts we’re working on for BlackBerry 10. This device is not representative of final hardware.