Skyfire?s $2.99 web browser quickly ?sells out? at the App Store

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps

As reported earlier, the Skyfire Web Browser for iPhone was supposed to be released soon. But what we didn’t expect is that the release would be this soon, and that it would “sell out” so quickly. Despite costing $2.99 to get a web browser that allows you to stream some Flash videos on your iPhone, Skyfire Labs pulled the app until they can increase capacity.

From their website:

The user experience was performing well for the first few hours, but as the surge continued, the peak load on our servers and bandwidth caused the video experience to degrade.

Thus we are effectively ?sold out? and will temporarily not accept new purchases from the App Store.  We are working really hard to increase capacity and will be accepting new purchases from the App Store as soon as we can support it.

Regardless, the app’s Android version is available as a free download for all Android phone users. So, what gives? The Android OS does support Flash video anyway, so there’s no added premium in getting this app running on Android devices except for its web browsing features. As for the iPhone, this feature definitely has some value-added benefits. The price may be even too small for some “engineering magic” that this app is bringing in to our iPhone.

But wait, is Skyfire worthy of its $2.99 price? Some are reporting that not all Flash-videos can be played. And take note, although Flash videos are supported, Flash games are not. But who needs Flash-based games anyway? Don’t we all have enough great, native games for our iOS devices?

Still, the other features of Skyfire may lure you to spend your precious $2.99:

• Play millions of Flash videos ? everyday, with no limits!
• All-new “Skybar” toolbar gives one-click access to video and related content
• Be social: Share via Facebook and Twitter.
• Stay in touch: Unique Facebook “Quickview” allows you to see your wall and feeds with one click.
• Standard browser elements: Tabs, search, sharing, bookmarks, history, etc.
• Video search, with safe search option helps you quickly find videos about your favorite topic
• ?Desktop? option loads pages as on a desktop browser, giving a greater selection of video (vs. mobile sites)
• Private Browsing option: Browse with no history and cookies left behind
• Click the ?Explore? button for related videos, news trends, photos and tweets!

So, do you have Skyfire? Will you get it when it returns?

Product [Skyfire 2.0]

Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

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