We are excited to announce public availability of the Deepfish technology preview from Microsoft Live Labs. Deepfish is a new type of mobile information browsing experience, aimed at preserving the rich layout and full form of documents on mobile devices while providing novel ways of effectively navigating that content on small screens. Deepfish's unique interface enables you to zoom in and out of page, quickly getting to the areas you are interested in without screen length after screen length of scrolling. And because the layout is preserved, navigation menus, lists of search results or news headlines, and other elements that might have been bent so thoroughly to fit the usual single column layout that they were no longer legible can now be browsed simply and easily. A consequence of Deepfish's multi-resolution approach to browsing pages is that it loads a thumbnail of pages initially and then only what is needed for more detail when requested or in the background as you browse the initial the view, resulting in substantially quicker load times for most pages.
The preview is available for download now for Windows Mobile 5.0+ devices. There are a limited number of slots available, and they will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis. So, give it a try, and don't forget to let us know what you think about Deepfish.
Sound familiar? Deepfish has surfaced briefly before through videos of an earlier build, but now is the first time you can try Deepfish for yourself. As a technology preview, it is important to note that Deepfish is not a complete implementation of what you would expect of a shipping mobile browser--it does not support cookies or javascript for instance--however, it does provide for a great experience on most sites. We have more information on how to use Deepfish and other details in our overview and FAQ.
Note : Deepfish is currently only available by invite only to a small number of beta users. Please visit http://labs.live.com/deepfish page to keep informed of future updates and availability.
Deepfish is a lightweight client application that leverages a powerful server side technology for delivery of content such as web pages to a Windows Mobile device. Content is displayed in a familiar desktop format that requires no additional work by the content or site author.
Deepfish provides:
- A familiar look and feel of web pages on mobile as seen on desktop.
- Bandwidth optimized rendering for faster content delivery.
- Address bar web navigation.
- Intuitive zooming, panning and cue map for quick navigation and browsing.
- Support for simple link navigation and form submission.
As a technology preview, Deepfish is early in its development cycle (still a few releases from beta quality). As a result some features are not implemented or are only partially implemented. Currently, the technology preview does not support ActiveX controls, AJAX, cookies, Javascript, and HTTP POST.
Currently, the Deepfish technology preview is available only on a limited basis. Access to the technology preview is provided on a first come, first serve basis and the technology preview will be closed to new participants once our initial limit is reached. We may increase the size of the preview over time to gather additional feedback and preview new features. If you were unable to get access to the first round and would still to try Deepfish, please stay tuned to the team blog for updates.
