Blazer is a Palm OS based browser from Handspring that enables users who own Palm-based wireless devices to view and surf Web sites. Visited sites do not have to be optimized specifically for wireless device use in order to be visited, as Blazer includes support for regular HTML pages as well as support for mobile-device optimized WAP (WML/HDML) and cHTML Web sites. The software runs on devices that are based on the Palm OS platform; Handspring states that all Visors with 8MB of memory or more are compatible, "...as well as other Palm OS devices that have a minimum of 8MB of memory and Palm OS version 3.5 or higher." Note that the user must also have an existing connection to the Internet from the device. Handspring offers a free copy of Blazer with the Handspring VisorPhone as a part of their Wireless Internet Access Suite, which also includes E-Mail and messaging tools; and intends to include the browser in the newly announced Treo line of handhelds (see related link below).

In addition to its support for standard HTML as well as mobile-device optimized pages, other key features of the browser include support for strong encryption (SSL) and over 65,000 colors (on devices with 16-bit color support). Its progressive rendering features allow it to display Web pages quickly as they are being downloaded, rather than wait for the entire page download before displaying. Key features in the latest release (2.0) include support for up to 100 bookmarks; a user-selectable homepage; and 128-bit SSL encryption support.

Blazer is able to display standard HTML pages on the mobile screen by means of a proxy server; which means a separate server does the work of retrieving the selected page on behalf of the user and provides a specially formatted version of the page to the user's device. According to information appearing on the Handspring Web site, "The proxy server strips out unnecessary and unsupported content, adapts it to fit the handheld screen, and reduces the size of images." Among the unnecessary and unsupported content to be stripped are components that require a media plugin such as streaming video and audio, as well as Java, JavaScript, FTP, or file downloads. The proxy server, which cannot be bypassed, may also block the user's access to their corporate intranet (or any other site that runs behind a corporate firewall).

Blazer 2.0 is available now, with pricing set at $19.95. Blazer 1.1 users may be eligible for a free upgrade; visit the Handspring Web site for further details.

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