4. CSS and JavaScript

Websites are getting more complex and Web apps are getting more powerful. In theory, Web apps are ideal for smart phones because you don’t have to worry about installing or updating them, but they rely on powerful modern browsers. Parsing the combination of CSS, JavaScript, and Ajax usually requires tagging and navigating photos on Flickr or editing a file on Google Docs needs a powerful processor and a good JavaScript engine. Since it doesn’t rely on the capabilities of the phone, Skyfire can handle just about any Web page, including iframes, in-place pop-ups like calendar pickers, and the browsing widget on Flickr that lets you scroll through a photo stream without changing the page.

The difference between using a mobile version of an airline site and the full version could mean you can check in online but not choose your seat. However, Skyfire can load complex pages like airline seat maps to allow you to do that. It can also load online banking sites, but while you might choose an airline because it makes it easy to check in from your smart phone, you probably wouldn't change banks to get a mobile-banking application. With Skyfire you can check a balance or pay a bill. The connection to the Skyfire server is encrypted and passwords on secure sites aren't saved, so it’s not a security risk.