Skyfire browser for iPad goes live, lets you finally watch Flash videos

by Vlad Bobleanta on December 23, 2010 at 12:30 PM

Skyfire, the alternative browser that uses some server-based trickery to make Flash videos playable on the iPhone, has just gone live for iPad. The new version tailored for the iPad comes with one touch access to your Facebook news feed, profile, friends, inbox, events and places. This is all made possible by what Skyfire calls Facebook QuickView, which is basically a button on the lower-side toolbar that gives you quick access to the aforementioned items. Similarly, there's a QuickView for Twitter. Your Google Reader feeds are also just one tap away. Skyfire doesn't incorporate a feed reader, rather it has a dedicated button that will launch the mobile version of Google Reader (and, for one extra tap -- Gmail, Google Buzz, Calendar or Docs) at any time in an overlay.

The Fireplace Feed Reader will, if tapped, display a filtered list of your Facebook feed that only includes links to Web pages, images, and videos posted by your friends. The Popular button on the SkyBar (the lower-side toolbar) will show you what content from the site you're currently on is popular among (all) Facebook users. And the Facebook Like button lets you instantly 'like' any Web page with just one tap. You can also share the page you're on with Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Read It Later, Instapaper and Pinboard.

Additionally, Skyfire for iPad has support for full-screen browsing, user agent switching, and private browsing. A demo video of the app is available after the break.

Skyfire for iPad costs $4.99. Download it from the iTunes App Store

Tags: apps, browsers, IOS, ipad, skyfire, skyfire for ipad, SkyfireForIpad

View the original article here

Skyfire iPad App with Flash Added to App Store

Skyfire's iPad app, which brings Flash content to the Apple tablet, was added to the App Store Wednesday night.

The app is available now for $4.99. It acts as a Web browser, converting Flash video into HTML5 and playing it back in a separate window. With the iPad version, that window can be expanded to full-screen mode to take advantage of the iPad's 9.7-inch screen.

While Flash videos are supported, Flash games and apps are not. That being said, not every Web video site - like Hulu - will work with Skyfire for iPad. "We are working hard at it," the company said. Users outside the U.S. might also not be able to access their local TV Web site since some stations do not stream to Skyfire's U.S.-based servers. It is currently only available in English.

The iPad version also includes many of the social-networking components Skyfire recently added to its Android app. The bottom menu bar includes links to Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader, so users can read and interact with their news feeds or followers within the Skyfire app. A "Fireplace" option, meanwhile, pulls up all the links Facebook friends have shared, so you can open up news stories or watch videos within Skyfire. A "Popular" link also shows links that have been shared by friends and the Facebook community in general. Skyfire for iPad also includes a universal "Like" button, so you can like any page on the Internet and have it show up on Facebook.

There is also the option to browse privately so cookies and browser histories are not left behind.

The Skyfire iPhone app made its debut in the App Store in the U.S. in early November, but the initial demand quickly overwhelmed the company. The app, which sells for $2.99, was temporarily pulled from the store, but returned after Skyfire made some capacity adjustments. Recently, Skyfire extended support for its iPhone version to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Armenia, Malaysia, Mali, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It's also available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and all of Europe.

Skyfire recently provided a sneak peak at the iPad app; the video is below. For more about the iPhone app, see PCMag's full review.

View the original article here

Skyfire for iPad coming soon | Macgasm

Skyfire announced via Twitter that they are working on and will soon release an iPad version of their app.

Keep in mind the app can only do Flash video and not flash games or ads. Skyfire is a proxy browser like Opera Mini and other browsers that have made it onto the App Store.

A bit of history about this app: The current app (that was pulled after a short release time due to their servers being overloaded), which is for the iPhone, costs $2.99 and is available in the US App Store. When Skyfire first announced that they were submitting this app to the App Store, many didn’t think it would be approved.

It was approved and quickly became hugely popular — said to have had $1 million pulled in during the first weekend of sale (minus Apple’s 30% cut). Due to these high download numbers though, their servers did struggle and it was pulled from the store so they could let users get the app in batches. The video below shows the current 2.0 version in action.

For me personally, Flash on mobile devices isn’t anything I feel I am missing. On my desktop, I have flash blocker enabled and I don’t feel I have been to any sites and thought — “oh gee, I wish I had Flash” — so I didn’t get the app. I maybe would have tried it, but at that price I didn’t feel it was something I needed. The sites I go to for video (Tvcatchup.com / iPlayer / filmon.com …) on my iPad don’t use flash anymore either, so there really is no motivator for me to get it.

When it comes to having it on my iPad, I can imagine, as with most iPad apps, it will be even more expensive, so I don’t think I will try it there either — but you may find it useful and want to add that ability to your iPad sooner rather than later in case Apple does pull the app. Also it will be interesting to see how many people do continue to use the app once the hype has died down. Will this prove that people really do miss Flash not being on iOS devices?

Because Skyfire uses cloud-computing, it translates the flash video into the HTML5 format on its servers. This means that initial reasons for not running flash on these devices, such as draining battery life and general performance, are eliminated.

Some current Skyfire features in the 2.0 version for the iPhone that we will surely see in the iPad version:

· Flash Video –The “Video” icon enables users to play millions of Flash videos around the web that otherwise do not play on mobile. This unlocks content trapped behind those error messages with question marks and blue Legos by transcoding the Flash content into HTML5 on Skyfire’s servers.

· Related Content – The “Explore” icon brings the most relevant content on the Internet to a user’s fingertips based on what they are viewing at the time. The Explore button pulls video, buzz, news, images and other sites from the web based on what is on the current page.

Could this mean that with Flash video accessible on both the iPhone and iPad there will be a bit of a ceasefire between Apple and Adobe? Will it compound the idea that Flash on devices isn’t a great idea and that HTML5 is the way to go? Have you already got the iPhone version? Will you also purchase the iPad version?

Article Via 9to5mac

View the original article here