Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 3rd Dec 2012 15:25 UTC
Interesting theory, backed up by data, to explain the difference between Android device sales and browser usage share. "The stock Android browser in previous versions reportedly had problems rendering non-mobile optimized web-pages, leading to lower usage. If a user realized that certain webpages were improperly rendered on a mobile device, it would obviously lead to a drop in future browsing sessions from that device. Meanwhile, on Android 4.0, as consumers have realized that the browsing experience is more "desktop-like", it has led to an increase in browser usage."
Thread beginning with comment 544030
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2010-06-08
RE[5]: Comment by shmerl
by lucas_maximus on Mon 3rd Dec 2012 23:11
in reply to "RE[4]: Comment by shmerl"
Member since:2009-08-18
IE didn't try to focus on standards, it tried to hijack them. Luckily it failed.
No, it did try to focus on standards. IE 8 was the first browser that implemented XHTML 1.1 and CSS 2.1 correctly. (Firefox 2 BTW came out at the same time as IE8 and that supported far fewer web standards and has far more bugs).
IE 6 was working against a draft standard at the time and said draft standard was changed after its release and they Microsoft couldn't change it because they promised to support it for as long as they have.
The equivalent browser at the time was Netscape ... and that didn't give f--k about standards.
Also recently, Microsoft have actually been speaking to the web developers on why they don't always support the latest stuff.
This is what I said about it:
http://luke-robbins.co.uk/internet-explorer-and-why-they-are-behind...
Here is the original video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtHb6tBx6Y
The long of the short of it is, that IE is used by the Enterprise and Enterprise customers expect a certain set of features to be support to browser EOL. If they get include standards that aren't finalised they find themselves forever supporting an incorrect standard (see IE6 comment I made above).
I don't think Webkit tries to hijack standards like IE did, but custom extensions obviously complicate things. The situation improves with time though.
No it won't improve with time, because other browser that aren't webkit based are being forced to support the -webkit extensions on mobile.
Webkit it the IE6 of the Mobile browsers.
Edited 2012-12-03 23:15 UTC
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2009-08-18
Not really IMHO. Two reasons:
* Yet again whoever allowed vendor specific extensions made a massive mistake, they assumed that web developers would adhere to recommendation (not many do, which is ignoring the reality of the situation ... they took an idealistic and not pragmatic view). At some point they could have made a line in the sand ... but they didn't have the balls.
* Companies only care about the top X% support, Webkit was there first, was ahead of the game and it was abused because people have mouths to feed.
I could go on about this .. as this is my trade.
But IE was soo damn superior at the time compared to the competition and there were no real standards in place (much like today) there was little point taking anything else seriously.
You can rage all your want about that, but at the time standards supports was a joke and the only browser that came near to it was IE.