Blazer (web browser)
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Web browser |
| Founded | November 2000 |
| Founder | Bluelark Systems |
| Fate | Acquired by Handspring in December 2000; development halted as Palm OS lost market relevance |
Area served | Palm OS handheld devices |
| Products | Web browser software for Palm OS devices |
Blazer was a web browser designed for handheld devices running Palm OS version 3.1 or above.
Initially created by Bluelark Systems and launched in November 2000, the company was acquired by Handspring shortly thereafter in December. The first release, version 1.0, offered compatibility with HTML, WAP, and the markup language utilized by i-Mode. Development of Blazer halted as Palm OS gradually lost market relevance.
Blazer 1
Debuting in November 2000, Blazer 1 was recognized for its rapid performance, progressive page rendering, and support for WAP and i-Mode in addition to HTML. It employed a proxy server to transcode and optimize images tailored for handheld displays. This initial iteration was distributed as a free download.
Blazer 2
Introduced in early 2002, Blazer 2 brought enhancements such as proxy server compatibility, SSL encryption, support for 16-bit color depth, and an upgraded user interface. It came pre-installed on the Treo 180 and was also available as a commercial download.
By September 22, 2005, Palm discontinued the proxy servers associated with Blazer versions 1 and 2, effectively disabling these releases.
Blazer 3
Representing a significant overhaul, Blazer 3 replaced its original architecture with the NetFront Browser Engine, which had been notably implemented in the Sony Clie. This version was shipped with the Treo 600 device.
Blazer 4
Versions 4.0 and 4.1 were bundled with devices such as the Tungsten E2, Tungsten T5, and Treo models 650 and 680. Improvements included quicker page loading times, a more polished user interface, VPN functionality through plugins, options to save images and HTML content to memory cards or internal storage, bookmark management, customizable homepages, and resuming browsing from the last visited page. Supported web standards comprised HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0, WML 1.3, SSL 3.0, cHTML, JavaScript version 1.5, partial implementations of CSS versions 1.0 and 2.0, as well as image formats like GIF (including animated and transparent variants), JPEG, PNG, BMP, along with cookie handling. Some advanced features could lead to application crashes if Wide Page Mode was not enabled.
Blazer version 4.3 appeared on devices such as the Treo 650, TX, and LifeDrive; it featured a fast mode that disabled image rendering and CSS to accelerate browsing speed.
Released in May 2006 alongside the Treo 700p, Blazer 4.5 delivered enhanced page rendering speed and introduced streaming video playback through an integrated edition of the Kinoma Player. This version was also included with the Treo 755p along with a mobile-optimized iteration of Google Maps.
Streaming video
Streaming video functionality was provided via the Kinoma Video Player supporting various formats including Windows Media.
Blazer lacked support for Adobe Flash Player, restricting access to widely used platforms such as ESPN and YouTube—a limitation that Palm did not resolve. Only a limited number of devices offered Flash compatibility.
The Centro model demonstrated the ability to play YouTube videos within its browser by utilizing high-speed internet on YouTube’s mobile site, which operates without requiring Flash. Similarly, earlier Palm devices running the current Blazer version could also stream these videos in a manner comparable to the iPhone’s dedicated YouTube application.
Kinoma introduced an updated Video Player compatible with numerous Palm phones that supports Flash Video; however, this player functions independently of Blazer. Users could browse videos through Kinoma’s media guide aggregating popular sources like YouTube and Google Video. Many Palm customers were eligible for discounted pricing on this upgrade.