Has real mobile browsing arrived at last?

Mobile Web browsing sucks. You can’t get much plainer than that. But a new crop of browsers may at last be changing the game.

Ever browsed the Web on your phone? Chances are you haven’t, and you’re not alone.

The mobile Web browsing experience has been for the most part awful due to a deadly combination of small screens, underpowered devices and low-bandwidth networks.

Wireless bandwidth is improving, but even more to the point a new crop of mobile browsers have emerged that may at last make it not only palatable but downright enjoyable to browse the Web on your phone or mobile device.

This week, a new company called Skyfire demoed a browser/proxy solution that delivers a full Web experience, including embedded Flash, on a phone browser. Meanwhile, the Mozilla foundation showed the first prototypes of its forthcoming mobile browser, including versions for touch-screens and button-centric devices.

These new browsers join others – notably Apple’s iPhone browser and the iPhone-like Opera Mini browser – that for the first time are letting users view and navigate Web pages on their phone that look and act much like their desktop counterparts.

“Generally speaking, consumers don’t know they can browse the Web on their phones, and they aren’t happy with the experience if they do manage to try it. But with Apple and Google generating awareness about full Internet browsing on mobile devices, the market is primed for new solutions, particularly those that can access content that has multimedia elements or rich formatting,” said Avi Greengart, research director-mobile devices at Current Analysis.

Early returns show that when an operator/device maker deliver a strong browsing experience, consumers will use it, Greengart said. For instance, he noted that “consumer satisfaction with the iPhone is quite high, and Google has reported that iPhone users are a vastly over-represented group when it comes to mobile browsing. Providing a strong mobile browsing solution is clearly a valuable proposition.”

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