Skyfire Introduces Skyfire Rocket

Skyfire already turned smartphones on their sides when they created a browser that played flash video. Even on a tiny screen, being able to watch full episodes of tv shows and other flash based video is a big convenience when you are on the go.

But if you don’t want to use Skyfire’s browser, or your device doesn’t support Skyfire, you’re stuck. Not for long, though, if Skyfire has anything to say about it. They are working on a product that will let manufacturers use the best parts of Skyfire, like the video capabilities, but overlayed on a device’s native browser.

No word on if they have anyone signed up yet, but this sounds like a great idea! If you’ve never used Skyfire, and you have an Android or Windows Mobile phone, you need to give it a try; for flash video alone it is worth it!

Check out the full details of Skyfire’s Rocket program below!

Skyfire Adds B2B and Launches Skyfire Rocket™:

A Cloud-Based Rich-Media Platform for Mobile Operators and Handset Manufacturers

Skyfire Rocket Enhances Native Mobile Browsers with Rich Media and

Cloud Computing Services

Mountain View, CA – May 20, 2010–Skyfire, maker of the award-winning web browser for mobile devices, today launches Skyfire Rocket, a B2B product that allows mobile OEMs and Carriers to integrate Skyfire’s famed rich media and video capabilities into existing browsers and apps from third parties.

Skyfire’s proprietary cloud-computing technology offers an open standards-based solution to major challenges with mobile video, including network data congestion, battery life, and the ability to play the many different formats seen across the web that are often unworkable on mobile devices.

Skyfire Rocket Offers:

• Adaptive Video Streaming– Skyfire Rocket transcodes Flash and other rich media into HTML5 and optimizes data delivery based on real-time network conditions.  That means a better user experience, faster load times and less re-buffering or choppiness.
• Data Compression and Optimization– Skyfire Rocket optimizes web video for efficient and reliable playback on mobile devices, decreasing the associated wireless network traffic by 75%.
• Better Battery Life – Skyfire Rocket transcodes web video into formats, like h.264 baseline profile, utilize built-in hardware graphics acceleration on mobile devices, significantly extending battery life.
• Power Surfing – Skyfire Rocket enables smart browsing recommendations, one-click sharing, and cloud-powered toolbars, the same technology recently offered in Skyfire’s 2.0 consumer browser for Android.  This includes contextual advertising services that offer new revenue streams for carriers and OEMs.

Skyfire Rocket Takes on Mobile Warming
Skyfire helps to reduce the mobile bandwidth required to keep up with consumers’ demand for video content on-the-go. Video’s explosion is already straining networks, causing congestion and poor service in major US and European cities.

Cisco’s Visual Networking Index study projects that mobile data will grow to 39x today’s levels by 2014. By that year, 69% of mobile data traffic will be driven by video use. Skyfire compresses video by 75% on average, to use cellular networks more efficiently. This not only helps carriers but also creates smooth video playback without constant stuttering and re-buffering.

“Skyfire Rocket is the first technology to make a full Internet browser that is ‘network friendly’”, said Jeffrey Glueck, CEO of Skyfire.  “By allowing carriers and OEMs to embed Skyfire’s technology into their existing native browsers, rather than replacing them, Skyfire is making it easy to deploy adaptive video data delivery. With Skyfire Rocket, mobile operators and device OEMs can deliver the web video experience that consumers are demanding.”

Rocket Technology bridges PC and mobile content:

Skyfire Rocket supports emerging open standards such as html5, webkit, h.264, and http streaming, including Flash and other rich media content.  As standards develop and transitions take time, Skyfire provides a bridge between all popular PC web standards and current mobile standards. This means web content can work on any device offered by operators or OEMs, including more affordable, less powerful smartphones and feature phones that would not have the hardware specifications to run full Adobe Flash 10.1. For the few “super-phones” that do have Flash 10.1 capabilities, Skyfire Rocket can work in tandem with plug-ins to improve their performance.

For more information on the Skyfire Rocket platform, visit www.skyfire.com/partners

And to download Skyfire on your Android phone, go to Android Market and search “Skyfire” or go here.

About Skyfire:

Skyfire is the creator of the Skyfire mobile browser, and has a mission to enable the “full internet” including rich media on mobile phones. The browser won the Best Mobile Application-People’s Voice at the 2009 Webby Awards and was named a Top App of 2009 by the New York Times’ Gadgetwise. Skyfire is based in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.  For more information, visit www.skyfire.com, or follow Skyfire on Twitter attwitter.com/skyfire.