Palm® Pre™ for Dummies®

Chapter 10. Browsing the Web

In This Chapter

• Browsing Web sites

• Searching the Web

• Navigating between (and around) Web pages and sites

Not long ago, phones simply weren't expected to be able to browse the Web. Instead, some publishers produced mini-pages — WAP sites — that lacked much of the glitz, glamour, and shine of a traditional Web site in exchange for making Web pages small enough to transfer quickly onto a cell phone (with a slow data connection), and that could look right on a small display. Sadly, these WAP sites were few and far between. And even on the off-chance that some of your favorite full Web sites produced mobile versions, they rarely had enough quality content to make them worth your time.

Nowadays, those old-school speed and size concerns have largely vanished. Handsets like the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1 (just to name a couple) have rewritten the rules for how well mobile devices should be able to load regular Web sites — yes, the very same ones you'd view from your desktop computer — and the Pre happily follows suit. Features such as a large, high-resolution touchscreen display, 3G data support, and a fast processor all help make it possible.

In fact, depending upon the phone you used prior to the Pre, it's entirely possible that you've never even tried browsing the Web from your phone. After you start, though, you'll never want to go back. It's a whole new world!

On the Pre, your Web browser is known simply as Web (easy enough to remember). In this chapter, you'll ...