“The solution is organization of information,” says Bakhash. SpaceTime 3D lets you create a series of stacks, around different instances of a search, such as an eBay search or an image search. “All of the information is incorporated into this dynamic timeline that keeps expanding. You create a visual history of your browsing experience.” What is most interesting about SpaceTime 3D, however, is not the eye candy but the way it reaches into the databases at select sites and pulls out the relevant information. For instance, in an image search at Google, the 3D panes are just the images, not the surrounding Web pages. A search of YouTube calls up only the video panes, which you can play in 3D space without opening the page of origin. And perhaps most significantly, the browser is fully integrated with eBay’s APIs. A search for “pocket watches” brings up images of the items with their details and most of the basic eBay functions (such as bid, compare, and so on) superimposed in 3D space by the browser itself. On top of everything else SpaceTime 3D hopes to bring to the browsing experience, Bakhash says, “It just makes [Web browsing] more enjoyable.”

While SpaceTime 3D occupies the high end of next-gen browser development, some of the most novel development is occurring at the simplest levels. The popular Browzar client is an Internet Explorer shell that does not record browsing history, retain cookies, or even perform auto-complete in forms that could reveal your previous browsing behavior. “It was an obvious idea, and sometimes it takes one company to do the obvious before it becomes obvious to everyone else,” says founder Ajaz Ahmed. Many people around the world use Browzar in a disposable fashion. When using someone else’s computer or accessing the Web from Internet cafés, they download a copy and uninstall it when done. “We aren’t saying use it as the main browser,” says Ahmed. “We are saying use it when you want some privacy.”

Shortly after the release of Browzar last year, Ahmed received waves of suggestions from people. He recently added a file shredding feature that lets people eliminate all trace of downloaded files from a computer. It also has ActiveX support and tabbed browsing. The browser now even warns you when it hasn’t uninstalled itself properly. “We get virtually no errors reports to us,” says Ahmed. The next versions will respond to even more subsequent requests from users. Ahmed is looking at a “service side” model that lets users access favorites remotely and without storing them on the local machine. And then there is an upcoming Boss Mode. “A lot of people have written in about doing it in different colors like Internet Explorer because when the boss is walking past they may not want him to know they are using Browzar,” says Ahmed. “We will offer skins.”

The All-In-Ones

Another key area of browser development involves greater integration of online tasks. Generally, we use different programs for email, instant messaging, file management, and specific site functions such as social media. Developing tools that integrate some of this functionality into a single interface is the kind of ambitious, expensive project that requires well-funded companies. And so, no less a mega-media firm than AOL (a Time Warner subsidiary) has one of the most intricate attempts to unify all Internet activity. The Helix software puts Web browsing, your multiple email accounts, instant messaging, and a file cabinet into a single tabbed interface so you never have to load separate clients to connect to the various functions. Essentially a sleeker upgrade of the current AOL OpenRide software, Helix launched in beta in late July with an AppMap feature that replaced the older OpenRide approach that used four animated screen panes to divide online tasks. The AppMap is a freeform structure that puts all your open tasks into thumbnail panes on the screen for faster task switching. Alas, AOL continues to suffer from user disinterest. Its OpenRide software never seemed to gain traction, and with multiple lines of development for AOL software, it’s unclear where the company is headed.

Another Web browser idea that seems to be in a constant state of becoming is the much-hyped, well-funded Flock.com “social browser.” Announced in 2005, Flock quickly became the darling of Silicon Valley venture capitalists because it integrates the emerging social media craze with the standard browser experience. Users can drag and drop images from Flickr and PhotoBucket into the browser and keep them in view. Users can also make blog posts from the browser and share Favorites, and your MyWorld page can contain the real-time feeds from all your friends, blogs, and shared media libraries. Still in 0.9x beta, Flock continues to promise a 1.0 version by the time you read this, but we reported the same thing over a year ago. The company suffered delays and some early rough versions of the Firefox-based browser, and now some other browsers are taking up the model. Netscape Navigator 9, for instance, has added features that let users vote on stories and monitor content that selected friends like, as well.

Beyond The Desktop

Perhaps the most important area of Web browser development is occurring off the Desktop altogether, on handheld devices and other access points to Web data. Certainly the most dramatic new browser launch of the year came from a phone, Apple’s iPhone, which introduced touchscreen control to a miniature version of the Safari browser. Pinching and spreading fingers on a screen literally expands and contracts a standard Web page on a 3.5-inch display. Changes in the mobile browsing experience are more than just a convenience, says Gene Keenan, vice president of mobile search at advertising firm Isobar; they actually help spur the growth of an entire industry by making the Internet portable. As a result of Apple’s public relation success with the iPhone, “you will see third parties develop mobile Web browsers and take advantage of the larger Internet experience. We will see more phones with those browsers, and it will raise the profile of the mobile Web,” he says.

Opera, the alternative browser company, is betting on users accessing the Web away from their PCs. Long before the iPhone, Opera’s Mini client was rendering and reformatting full Web pages from standard URLs for the phone. The client communicates with the Opera servers. Calls to the URL from the handset are routed through the Opera servers, which then render the pages and reorganize their layout in a way that is appropriate for the handset. Then the rendered version of the site goes to the phone. Over 15 million copies of Opera Mini have been downloaded to phones worldwide, the company says. Only about 10 to 15% of people with Web-capable phones now use them to access the Internet. Arguably, the emerging platform of mobile data is waiting for a better browser to help users embrace the mobile Web.

While browsers no doubt will continue to evolve, many feel that the future of the Web really lies in many new and different devices accessing Web-based information. Game consoles, for instance, represent the leading edge of browser development that is also being done for set-top TV boxes and digital video recorders such as Tivo. Sony’s PSP (PlayStation Portable) and PlayStation 3 both include full browsers that use game controller interfaces to navigate full-scale pages. Opera has developed versions of its browser for Nintendo’s DS handheld game console and the Wii.

But for all the innovation in browser design, new browsers have a mixed record of taking hold. AOL, Opera, and Netscape have offered alternative browsing experiences to the mainstream for years, but Microsoft continued to dominate until a single upstart, Mozilla’s Firefox, finally came in to shave off 27% of the European market share (about 18.7% of the United States). The next step for many next-gen browsers may not be new features so much as new strategies for moving users to try a different browsing experience.

by Steve Smith

Q&A: Browzar: Less (Much Less) Can Be More Why didn’t the guys at Mozilla and Microsoft make it easier to surf the Web without leaving traces of your behavior? Browzar founder Ajaz Ahmed is not sure. His very popular Browzar client is simply an Internet Explorer shell that turns on most of the privacy protection features that are already available to IE users if they only knew about them. His simple idea of truly private Web browsing has generated a loyal following of global fans who also helped guide the program’s development. CPU: How many people are using Browzar now? Ahmed: In the first week we had 250,000 downloads. It’s difficult for us to tell how many people are using it since some people download versions every single time they use it. CPU: Why do they use it? Ahmed: We have had people write in with embarrassing stories about browsers. One man found out his girlfriend was pregnant from their browser history. A little lad discovered his parents were getting divorced because [their browser history] showed they were looking for divorce lawyers. We get a lot of people using it for Web-based email and banking. CPU: What is the technology behind Browzar? Ahmed: We wanted something quick and convenient, something you download. We took the IE engine and built a shell on top of it. We wrote code that takes care of all the things people have concerns about. Some of the things we do you can manually do on the browser, but the vast majority of people don’t know how to do it. CPU: How do you make a project like this financially worthwhile? How will you make money? Ahmed: I have a deal with Ask.com. People can use the search engine on our Start page, and if you do and click on a sponsored link we share in the revenue. People aren’t obligated to use it. We let people change the Start page. But the search engine generates sufficient revenue.

Safari Stalks The PC Market There is no doubt that the Safari 3 Beta browser Apple released in June gives users some of the clean, elegant interface perks Mac users enjoy. Its easy drag-and-drop bookmark management is a joy. And the one-click “Private Browsing” removes any traces of your recent browsing. Otherwise, Safari gives users the RSS subscriptions, tabbed browsing, and pop-up blocking they already get from IE 7 and Firefox. Also, some early users complained of buggy behavior and crashes, and Safari’s promise of “blazing” performance relative to the competition is not evident to most of us. A lukewarm reception by many reviewers suggests that even for the seemingly charmed Apple, the PC browser market is not easy to crack. There is no doubt that the Safari 3 Beta browser Apple released in June gives users some of the clean, elegant interface perks Mac users enjoy. Its easy drag-and-drop bookmark management is a joy. And the one-click “Private Browsing” removes any traces of your recent browsing. Otherwise, Safari gives users the RSS subscriptions, tabbed browsing, and pop-up blocking they already get from IE 7 and Firefox. Also, some early users complained of buggy behavior and crashes, and Safari’s promise of “blazing” performance relative to the competition is not evident to most of us. A lukewarm reception by many reviewers suggests that even for the seemingly charmed Apple, the PC browser market is not easy to crack.

Infinite Loop: King Me What could never have been accomplished by human trial and error has been accomplished using dozens of computers running nonstop for 18 years: a program called Chinook has proved that, as long as no player makes an error, the game of checkers will inevitably end in a draw. As simple as the game appears, checkers actually holds 500 quadrillion possible positions. Pulling off this feat was actually quite astounding considering its complexity. The computers deliberately ignored moves unless they would result in a win, as would a human competitor. There is one ploy, however, that will forever be the prerogative of real-life players: Bluffing. cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2007/07/19/4352423-cp.html