Mobile Browsers for Smartphones: Are they better than the standard?

Lately, I have been conducting a lot of research on mobile browsers for my BlackBerry. It’s not that I don’t love the standard browser that what was included on my BlackBerry Curve 8310, but I am looking for a mobile browser that allows me to see graphics more efficiently and has faster speeds over the AT&T EDGE Network.

On my personal laptop, I use Firefox 3. I like how I can multi-task, and have the option of having several web pages open at once. So, I was surprised when I read that they were test driving a mobile browser called Fennec. Currently, Fennec is only available for Nokia N810 Internet tablets, but Mozilla is working to prepare Fennec for BlackBerry and other smartphones. CNET discussed that this is still in the development phase and it will most likely be considered Firefox Mobile. CNET also reports that Fennec will also have an add-on, which will synchronize your tabs with your laptop.

This feature is similar to Opera, which also has two mobile browsers. Opera Mini, which is the suggested download for BlackBerry, allows you to synch your information with your laptop. Opera does allow you to see graphics vividly and offers more speed, and like many of these applications, they consume a lot of space on your device. While you have the graphics and tab capabilities, you have to click on the page to zoom in and it has a slightly harder learning curb.

Overall, I think with the upcoming release of Firefox Mobile and other mobile browsers, RIM (makers of BlackBerry) and Windows Mobile will have a great opportunity to improve upon their servers. Apple is winning in this market with the iPhone using Safari browsers, but there is no doubt the market will improve as new technology continues to improve. However, with BlackBerry’s current browser on the Curve and Pearl devices, there is a great need for improving the speed and graphics quality, in order to make the phone more marketable.