Wake3: WebKit for Windows Mobile

Starting in 2007, there were dozens of articles and blog post about Wake3, a Silicon Valley start-up, regarding their developing the next best thing for mobile users- a simple, effective browser on their handset to get the most out of the mobile web. In 2008, with great anticipation, we learned that Wake3 was finally planning to launch a beta version of their browser in just a few months. “WebKit for Windows Mobile really is, in essence, a kind of iPhone browsing for Windows Mobile,” said Daniel Zucker, CTO of Wake3.

Blogs gushed that the new one form Wake3 for Windows Mobile was expected to offer full web browsing experience to its customers, including AJAX support. However all that was available was an online video demonstration( see below), though the WebKit was expected to be released soon. SO we waited and waited.

I was excited about Webkit as the next mobile phone user. In fact it would come in handy for my job of pitching potential clients for janitorial supplies about the company I represented. If Webkit were successful I could demonstrate how easy it would be to order any of our products with their phone no matter where they were. Let's say the client needed to place an order for dish soap, specifically eco friendly detergents and the accompanying dispensers. With their iPhone, the person in the procurement division of the business would scroll through all our options and then just order. In reality, websites were not mobile phone friendly in 2007, as they are today. SO I suppose even if Webkit had been successful, there would have been some obvious limitations as what could be done on one's mobile iPhone.

Seven years later all this brouhaha seems quaint with the extraordinary smart phones that are available, but in 2007-2008 the paradigm shift brought on by the iPhone was enormous. Startups as well as the big boys in computers and phone devices were scrambling to deliver a single standard across all the world's phones. Wake3 said that their Webkit, an open source web browser engine would be that answer delivering a browser for Windows Mobile making mobile browsing and email possible without needing to buy an iPhone.

The Wake3 website's domain expired sometime after 2009. When I discovered that the domain had become available I bought it with the goal of rebuilding as much of the helpful information as was possible from it's archived pages. Sad to say I was only able to recover a few pages and no images. What Wake3 accomplished is impressive with WebKitas as an open source development experiment. They definitely wanted to contribute back to the community, which is why I believe this domain and its content should not disappear. You can consider this website in an historical context in regards to the technology that has brought us amazing smart phones that are used today performing many of the functions of a computer, typically having a touch screen interface, Internet access, and an operating system capable of running downloaded applications.