The Download Blog

Editors' note: Since this article published, Skyfire has offered the first hundred CNET readers immediate access to Skyfire's Symbian beta program. (Note: Only U.S. phones at this time.) Enter the promo code CNET100 in the sign-up page. Once you have signed up for the Skyfire Symbian Beta with the beta code, an SMS message will be sent to your mobile phone prompting you to create a password. Once you enter a password, you will be presented with a download link.

On Thursday, mobile browser start-up Skyfire announced the opening of a private beta for the Symbian Series 60 (S60) platform--nearly a week after a Symbian users Web site busted the news.

Skyfire is positioned as a resource-light Web browser that relies on Web servers to deliver a desktop browsing experience. I covered Skyfire soon after its initial Windows Mobile release and agree that it has a nice design and good potential; however, with rendering and crashing issues, it's not nearly ready for open beta. That's too bad because adding an identical build for Symbian means that Skyfire has two platforms in private beta with some tall performance hurdles to leap.

Going global (and taking on Opera) Skyfire's Symbian beta program is the mobile browser's second platform, and its entree into the European market, where it will be rolling out later this year. This move improves Skyfire's competitive position against Opera Mobile, whose release of a free version 9.5 beta for Symbian is also scheduled for "the near future."

Opera Mini, Opera Software's build for Java phones and BlackBerry, has pretty much dominated alternative browsers in Europe, but Skyfire could destabilize that position. As a direct competitor to Opera Mobile 8.65, which sells for $24, Skyfire's free beta brings a few advantages to the table. It's true that Opera Mobile 9.5 beta is also currently offered for free, but with its Symbian build also in development, there could be an interesting battle over Symbian owners.

Pricing isn't the only point of comparison between Opera and Skyfire. Opera wants to bring Symbian owners the "authentic" desktop experience through a rich client and Skyfire will attempt to do so by pulling data from its servers. That makes Skyfire lighter on system resources, but it won't have as many search and linking capabilities out of the gate as Opera Mobile 9.5 beta, which integrated some tricks from the desktop browser. Conversely, Opera's cell phone browsers verge on cluttered, so there's a benefit to Skyfire's pared-down look.… Read more

There are just three simple instructions for finding local restaurants with Urbanspoon for iPhone and iPod Touch, an application developed by the makers of Urbanspoon.com:

Step 1: If you're one the iPhone, let the app use GPS to pinpoint your location. If you're on the iPod Touch, tap the button to enter your city.

Step 2: Vigorously shake the device up and down like you would a blocked-up ketchup bottle. Or simply press the "shake" button.

Step 3: Watch the application's slot machine wheels spin as Urbanspoon settles on a cuisine, price range, and … Read more

YouNote and Evernote have won me over by making the iPhone and iPod Touch a powerful note-taking tool for anyone who frequently jots down thoughts and returns to them later. There's no absolute winner in this match, since each application takes a different note-taking approach, but by the review's end, we're guessing you'll have crowned one over the other.

Evernote for iPhone

Evernote has been a real hit with CNET editors since its March beta, and with good reason. The service lets you add, access, and synchronize notes from just about everywhere--your Windows or Mac desktop, … Read more

The new iPhone app from Palringo brings an official multi-instant messaging client to the Apple device. It supports eight chat protocols and includes some useful iPhone-specific features, but also suffers from several irritating limitations.

Palringo can handle Apple iChat, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Gadu Gadu, ICQ, Jabber, and Windows Live Messenger. Assuming you've got no problems with the iPhone keyboard, creating a profile for one of these accounts is as simple as selecting the proper icon and typing in your username and password. First, though, you must set up a Palringo account. Not to worry: when you open … Read more

What's more efficient: managing your cell phone from a cramped screen or managing it from the comfort of your desktop computer? From the computer, of course. Dashwire 2.0 is a free service for Windows Mobile phones that lets you control your phone's address book, text messages, photos, videos, and ringtones from an online dashboard. Come for the ergonomic advantage and stay for the extra perks, like updating your social status on Facebook and Twitter from Dashwire's status bar, and using visual voice mail.

Learn more about Dashwire's strengths and weaknesses in this First Look video.… Read more

There are two ways to get to your most-wanted applications on a Windows Mobile phone. If you're lucky, your program of choice is among the icons of six recently-opened applications strung along the top bar of the Windows Mobile interface. Otherwise, you'll be picking or clicking through the randomly-arranged icons in the application explorer, the platform's inert portal to your collection of programs.

Until the Windows Mobile interface gives people more options for starting programs fast, there's Elecont Launcher, a much more direct solution for quick-launching applications. This small, simple, and handy install takes out some … Read more

Facebook's first attempt to migrate its vast social networking hub to an iPhone-optimized Web app was a success. Almost a year later, this new Facebook application for iPhone and iPod Touches running version 2.0 of the device firmware is even better, crowning many of the same anchor features with a few extra perks.

Watch the First Look video for a close-up view of the navigation and functionality, and see how Facebook chat on iPhone dominates the original online version. Also find out why this condensed application might actually be easier to use than Facebook.com, and finally, see … Read more

Personal organizer PageOnce has a great iPhone application that I think many will find to be incredibly useful. Like its desktop sibling, PageOnce for iPhone is a feed aggregator the likes of Netvibes or MyYahoo. The only difference is that you're feeding it account information for utilities and services to get a quick overall view of your various balances and spending activity.

I've been using the application for the past few days, and have come to rely on it almost exclusively to keep track of bank accounts, mobile phone usage, and my Netflix queue. In fact, it's … Read more

If you're not the type of person to carry around a notepad or voice recorder with you, there are a handful of Web services raring to help you out if you've got a mobile phone. ReQall, a service that launched back at Demo 07 has a great new iPhone application that does just that. I got in touch with Sunil Vemuri, ReQall's chief product officer who showed it off during one of today's CEO pitch sessions at the AlwaysOn Summit.

The application's killer feature is that it saves your notes both locally and to the … Read more