Internet Explorer Mobile

Internet Explorer Mobile

The latest version of Internet Explorer Mobile in Windows Phone displaying Wikipedia zoomed completely out.
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Operating system	Windows CE, Windows Phone
Type	Mobile browser
License	Proprietary
Website	Internet Explorer Mobile Website

Internet Explorer Mobile (formerly named Pocket Internet Explorer; commonly abbreviated to IE Mobile)^[1] is a mobile browser developed by Microsoft, based on versions of the Trident layout engine. IE Mobile comes loaded by default with Windows Phone and Windows CE.

The current Internet Explorer Mobile version is based on the desktop version of Internet Explorer 9; however, older versions, called Pocket Internet Explorer, are not based on the same layout engine.

Features

Tabs in Internet Explorer Mobile 9

The latest version of Internet Explorer Mobile includes tabbed browsing. The browser support multi-touch gestures including pinch-to-zoom as well as tap-to-zoom for desktop web sites. It does not support the Touch API though. Bing Search is tightly integrated with Internet Explorer Mobile. IE Mobile can display websites in both "mobile version" and "desktop version".

Platforms

The previous version, Internet Explorer Mobile 6 is included with Windows Mobile 6.5 and Zune HD and Internet Explorer Mobile 7 is included with Windows CE 7. The current version, Internet Explorer Mobile 9 is included with Windows Phone. Each version has the same Trident rendering engine as its desktop counterpart, but with additional improvements.

Version history

Pocket Internet Explorer

Pocket Internet Explorer 1

Pocket Internet Explorer was first introduced in Windows CE 1.0, released in November 1996.^[2] It does not derive from the Internet Explorer code and was written from scratch for being as light-weight as possible. PIE 1.1 was later released that supported cookies, HTTPS, and SSL.

Pocket Internet Explorer 2-3

Pocket Internet Explorer 2.0, released in September 1997 with Windows CE 2.0, added many new features: offline browsing, resizing images to fit to screen, and richer HTML support, including framesets and tables. PIE 3.0, introduced in July 1998 with Windows CE 2.10, added support for JScript and various secure protocols.

Pocket Internet Explorer 4

Pocket Internet Explorer 4 was the first to support ActiveX, CSS, VBScript as well as further extending support for HTTPS and advanced HTML features. Pocket PC 2002 version of PIE brought limited support for DHTML and XML, and also the ability to browse WAP sites – a feature not present in Internet Explorer for PC, Internet Explorer 6.0 added support for IFrames. The web browser supports FTP, XSLT, cookies and animated GIFs among other features.

Internet Explorer Mobile

Internet Explorer Mobile 6

On July 8, 2008 at the annual Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft announced Internet Explorer Mobile 6 for their next version of Windows Mobile. Andy Lees, Microsoft's senior vice president of mobile communications business said that Internet Explorer Mobile 6 was going to be a full version of Internet Explorer 6 on Windows Mobile.^[3][4] It was shown running briefly during Microsoft's 2009 CES Keynote on a Palm Treo Pro,^[5] and again in an official video for Toshiba's TG01 phone, which has Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor.^[6]

Internet Explorer Mobile 6 was released as part of Windows Mobile 6.5. New features include enhanced Javascript and AJAX support (Jscript v5.7 from Internet Explorer 8) and support for Adobe Flash Lite 3.1.^[7] The browser also has a redesigned finger friendly Graphical user interface.^[8][9][10] Overall rendering quality and speed are also improved with this version;^[9][10] however according to Gizmodo and Engadget it doesn't render pages as well as does Opera Mobile and browsers based on Webkit.^[9][10][11]

Internet Explorer Mobile 7

On February 15, 2010 Microsoft unveiled its next-generation mobile operating system, Windows Phone.^[12] With it, came a new version of the Internet Explorer Mobile browser. So far, new features for the browser include multi-touch gesture support, tabbed browsing, a new UI, smooth zoom in/out animations, and a hybrid rendering engine of the Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 desktop versions.^[13] One unique feature of this version of IE Mobile for Windows Phone is that Microsoft can automatically update the layout engine and add features, independently of the new Windows Phone Update system in Windows Phone.^[14] According to Engadget and Gizmodo, rendering speed and quality has significantly improved and is now on par with those of competing mobile browsers based on WebKit.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Internet Explorer Mobile 9

At Mobile World Congress 2011 on February, 2011, Microsoft unveiled a major upgrade to Internet Explorer Mobile based on the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 9.^[19] Address bar has been moved to the bottom of the screen and is now also present in landscape orientation.^[20] Internet Explorer Mobile 9, like its desktop counterpart, features full hardware acceleration. Microsoft shown many HTML5 demos, including Speed Reading, on the browser. Security has also been enhanced with the port of SmartScreen Filter.

Gallery

• 

  Pocket Internet Explorer 3 in Windows CE 3.0 for Handheld PC

• 

  Pocket Internet Explorer 4 in Pocket PC

• 

  Internet Explorer Mobile 6 in Windows Mobile 6.5

• 

  Internet Explorer Mobile 6 in Zune HD

• 

  Acid3 shown on Internet Explorer Mobile

• 

  Internet Explorer Mobile 7 in Windows Phone

• 

  Tabs in Internet Explorer Mobile 9

• 

  Internet Explorer Mobile 9 in Windows Phone

User agent

Internet Explorer Mobile 9 on Windows Phone can be set to either "mobile view" or "desktop view". When in mobile view, the UA string of Windows Phone is given by:

Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows Phone OS 7.5; Trident/5.0; IEMobile/9.0; <DeviceManufacturer>; <DeviceModel>)

The UA string in desktop view looks almost similar to that of the Internet Explorer 9 running on Windows 7 with some additional identifiers.

Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0; XBLWP7; ZuneWP7)

Google and its sites are able to bypass the desktop mode setting on Windows Phone devices and redirect the user to either a mobile site or a less functional website. A browser incompatibility message may also even be displayed.

See also

• Mobile browser
• List of web browsers
• Comparison of web browsers

References

1. ^ Ramig, Randy (October 4, 2005). "IE Mobile blog". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft. http://blogs.msdn.com/iemobile/archive/2005/10/04/Randal.aspx. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
2. ^ Garaffa, Dave (19 November 1996). "Hey, Is That A Browser In Your Pocket Or...". Internet.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 1999. http://web.archive.org/web/19990501193416/browserwatch.internet.com/news/story/microsoft94.html. 
3. ^ "Andy Lees: Worldwide Partner Conference 2008". Microsoft. July 8, 2008. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/lees/wpc2008.mspx. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
4. ^ Hess, Arne (2008-09-25). "BROWSER: Microsoft's Internet Explorer Mobile 6 aka 6 on 6 is real and shows its face". the unwired. http://www.theunwired.net/?item=browser-microsoft-s-internet-explorer-mobile-6-aka-6-on-6-is-real-and-shows-its-face. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
5. ^ Bohn, Dieter (Jan 8, 2009). "Microsoft Keynote Outs Sprint Treo Pro on the Sly". WPCentral. http://www.wpcentral.com/microsoft-keynote-outs-sprint-treo-pro-sly. Retrieved 2011-09-25. 
6. ^ "Official Toshiba TG01 promotional video". WMPower User. February 4, 2009. http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=2719. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
7. ^ "Internet Explorer Mobile 6". Microsoft Windows Mobile Team Blog. 11 November 2008. http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2008/11/11/internet-explorer-mobile-6.aspx. Retrieved 14 January 2010. 
8. ^ "IE 6 for Windows phones: Interface improved". CNet. 6 October 2009. http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12261_7-10367686-10356022.html. 
9. ^ ^{a b c} "Windows Mobile 6.5 Review: There's No Excuse For This". Gizmodo. 6 October 2009. http://gizmodo.com/5374876/windows-mobile-65-review-theres-no-excuse-for-this. Retrieved 13 January 2010. 
10. ^ ^{a b c} "Windows Mobile 6.5 review". Engadget. 6 October 2009. http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/06/windows-mobile-6-5-review/. Retrieved 13 January 2010. 
11. ^ "Windows Mobile 6.5 Review:It Still Sucks". MobileCrunch. 6 October 2009. http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/10/06/windows-mobile-6-5-review-it-still-sucks/. Retrieved 13 January 2010. 
12. ^ "Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 7 Series" (Press release). Microsoft. Feb. 15, 2010. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2010/feb10/02-15MWC10PR.mspx. Retrieved 27 February 2010. 
13. ^ Fried, Ina (2010-02-15). "Microsoft hits redial in phone effort (Q&A)". CNet. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10452710-56.html. Retrieved 2010-02-28. 
14. ^ Mobile IE is upgradeable, independent of Windows Phone 7 | wpcentral | Windows Phone News, Forums, and Reviews
15. ^ Windows Phone 7 review - Engadget
16. ^ Windows Phone 7 browser surprisingly good | WMPoweruser
17. ^ Exclusive: Windows Phone 7 Web Browser Comparison (Video)
18. ^ Windows Phone 7 In Depth: A Fresh Start
19. ^ Microsoft shows off WP7's future with multitasking, Twitter integration, and IE9, all coming this year - Engadget
20. ^ IE9 For Windows Phone Is “Code Complete” - everythingWM Archived 1 July 2011 at WebCite

External links

• Internet Explorer Mobile
• IE Mobile Team Blog