Back in the days when I regularly used a Pocket PC, Access’ NetFront browser was my salvation from Pocket Internet Explorer.  Now, Microsoft have tweaked PIE in the meantime, but it still pales compared to the current browser-du-jour: mobile Safari on the iPhone; what’s needed is a Windows Mobile app which can handle not only full webpages but all the multimedia and Flash wizardry that so many users demand.  Skyfire think they have just such an application, and the good thing is that Brighthand’s Ed Hardy very much agrees: he calls it “far and away the best web browser for Windows Mobile I’ve ever seen.”

So why so special?  Well, Skyfire can handle not only proper HTML but dynamic Flash, Java and advanced Ajax; that means YouTube and other online video sites will work natively, without a specific mobile site.  It can also do some of the clever page rendering that makes Safari on the iPhone such a joy: initially you’re shown the whole page, very much zoomed out, and then tapping on a section of text or an article automatically scales it to fit the screen.  Skyfire call it SmartFit, and although they warned Ed that it was still a work-in-progress, he had no troubles at all.

Aside from compatibility, it’s also fast - basically because Skyfire’s servers render the page you request, which is squirted to your smartphone as an interactive image.  There are bugs (it’s still in beta), such as longer YouTube videos loosing audio sync, but if Ed’s opinion is anything to go by Skyfire have a winner on their hands.

Brighthand have a demo of the browser in action as part of their review; if you’ve ever been frustrated by PIE, take a look!