Fri 22 Sep 2006
Many of us, including myself, love S60 OSS browser. It is a cool browser that allows us to view web pages in the same way as we view them in our PC. For you who don’t know S60 OSS browser, it is an open source software from Nokia that is shipped with S60 3rd Edition phones.
Nothing is perfect… Using S60 OSS browser may lead to some problems too. Viewing full web pages with GPRS/3G sometimes can be expensive without flat-rate data plan or WiFi connection. As an example, the size of Yahoo!’s home page is about 400 KB!
There is another with RAM usage on S60 OSS browser. The Register has pointed out the fact that S60 OSS browser consumes a lot of RAM. Sometimes, the browser runs out of memory after we view several “heavy” pages.
Is there a way to load web pages faster (and also cheaper) in our S60 OSS browser? One possible way is by using Skweezer. Point out your browser to http://www.skweezer.net/ and then type the URL you want to visit in Sweezer’s home page.
The screenshots below shows the difference of Yahoo!’s home page viewed with standard view and Skweezer. For comparison, the page size from Skweezer, including image, is about 65 KB (see right image). If we compare to the original size, which is 400 KB (see left image), the page size is reduced to 16%!
Left: Without Skweezer - Right: With Skweezer
Bonus Links
Compatible device: S60 3rd, Nokia N-Series, Nokia E-Series.
RSS 2.0
September 23rd, 2006 at 2:24 am
Use Opera Mini 2.0 and you get the same result
September 23rd, 2006 at 2:30 pm
@Roberto: Thanks for the feedback. Yes, you’re right, with Opera Mini 2.0, the layout will look the same.
However, you are still downloading the full size of the page with Opera 2.0 Mini. The Opera browser is the one that filters out unnecessary information.
While with Skweezer, you only the compressed version of the page (which is much smaller).
September 24th, 2006 at 11:02 pm
@Antony
Are you sure Opera Mini downloads the full page?
Because it loads a looooot faster than using the regular webbrowser. I think it load pre-compressed pages from a sort of Opera proxy server else it wouldn’t load so fast.
Read the review here:
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/reviews/item/Opera_Mini.php
September 25th, 2006 at 8:16 am
@Roberto: Of yes, you’re right. I rarely use Opera Mini, so I don’t notice it. I have found the following description from Opera Mini:
“Opera Mini uses a remote server to pre-process Web pages before sending them to your phone. Web content is optimized for your device, ensuring fast browsing and a great user experience.”
Sorry for the confusion…
September 25th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
I can’t see the point in using the full OSS browser, with its huge RAM footprint, just to view Skweezed pages. You might as well use the ‘Services’ browser, saving 5MB or so of RAM…..
And yes, Opera Mini does it better, not only ’squeezing’ the bloat out of pages but also compressing them, giving an extra 50% bandwidth saving over Skweezer.
Steve
September 25th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
@Steve: Thanks Steve. From bandwidth point of view, Opera is better because they compress it on the server side. From my understanding, Services browser still download the full pages.
February 10th, 2007 at 4:28 am
A cool work to save time and money ! Thank you for sharing !
March 11th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Thanks for this information, its really made my bandwith cost more effective.