BlackBerry Browser
The BlackBerry Browser has received a major overhaul for the BlackBerry Bold launch in order to make use of the device’s CPU power and lovely screen. But while it’s a major improvement over previous iterations, it still leaves a lot to be desired.
The default view for the Bold Browser is the Page View, and you’ll notice that the mouse cursor now defaults to a zoom button (alternatively you can use the ‘i’ and ‘o’ keys). Zooming in an out of pages is quick, although some times I felt I was caught between being zoomed in too much and too little. Page loading in general is very snappy over the Bold’s 3G and Wi-Fi, with both outpacing my EV-DO BlackBerry 8330 – no small feat considering the Bold is rendering pages in their full glory rather than in dumbed-down mobile versions.
But it’s in RIM’s attempt to add true web browsing to the BlackBerry Bold where things get a little tricky. While a large number of sites that the BBCool staff surfs regularly load as they should, there as almost as many that don’t, including ours (what gives, guys?). Our sister site, QuicklyBored.com fares much better, but still has problems with certain sections. Sadly, not even BlackBerry.com itself loads properly on the BlackBerry Bold browser.
Many of these formatting issues can likely be attributed to a lack of flash animation and embedded video support (although clicking on a YouTube video will launch the video in the Bold’s media player). Hopefully RIM can tweak the browser over time, but for now, it’s better than your regular BlackBerry browsing experience and nowhere near that of the iPhone’s.
