The long awaited beta release of Internet Explorer 9 has arrived. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the new Web browser’s elegant simplicity is indeed eye-catching.
The sleek, streamlined UI boasts a polished exterior to an HTML5 hardware-accelerated graphics engine and a new JavaScript engine, dubbed Chakra, also boasts display speed that outrivals the Google Chrome pace car. Putting the emphasis squarely on the Website, and not on embellishments, the IE9 UI only displays the controls needed to browse, while favorite sites can be pinned to the task bar. The browser also supports another Windows 7 feature — jump lists — for handling common tasks without having to open a browser window. Like Google Chrome, another new IE9 feature, called One Box, makes the address bar double as the entry point for search queries.
The beta of IE9 is available for download from Microsoft’s Beauty of the Web site in no fewer than 33 languages. [24×7]
MS Mobile on GSM, CDMA or LTE phones? While the jury is still out on whether an Apple iPhone will materialize next year on Verizon’s CDMA network, reports out of Redmond indicate the new Windows 7 Phone will target the global GSM standard instead of the domestic Verizon version. Product Manager Greg Sullivan told the Wall Street Journal that the company had initially decided to focus on GSM. That means we won’t see the Windows 7 phone on the most robust US backbone for quite a while. According to Verizon, nationwide LTE coverage won’t be completed until 2013 at the earliest. [24×7]
A traffic report on Seattle’s Mobile startups shows growing congestion on the 520 and I-90 floating bridges, not just of commuters but of high-velocity ideas. iPhone app developer Order Maker wants to speed pizza and other food-to-go to your table from any mobile device. iVice Mobile Apps is recommending cigars, spirits, beer and wine (just not while you’re driving). Aha Mobile Inc., a provider of on-demand mobile and location-based Internet content services, is being acquired by Harman Corp. while Cequint, a maker of mobile Caller ID services wil be acquired by TNS, Inc. for a package that could range up to $112.5 million. Mobile ad tracking startup, Montavo, has hired Crucible Capital Group to raise money. And Swype could be the fastest vehicle yet, letting you drive your typing speeds well above the speed limit on their very intuitive keyboards! [24×7]
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