The xScope web browser for Google Android has been one of the most feature-packed Android browsers since its earliest days, thanks to support for tabs, a speed-dial like function, a full screen mode and a built-in file browser. But to be honest, I was never all that taken with the user interface which kind of looked like it was slapped together to be functional rather than attractive.

Now the developer has launched xScope 6 and while it has all the same features as earlier versions it has a completely redesigned user interface which is actually kind of stunning — although perhaps a bit too flashy using the default settings.

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When you tap the screen, a semi-transparent bar pops up showing you buttons for your home page, refresh, back, forward, browser tabs, and additional settings. Tap the tabs button and you’ll see thumbnail icons of open web pages plus a button to press to open a new tab. You can also flip between open tabs by scrolling to the left or right edge of a web page and then flicking past the edge. This will bring up the next or previous web page in your list of open tabs.

The app also features slick animations when you’re bringing up the menu, flipping through tabs, or performing other actions. But I feel like they can waste a bit of time. Fortunately you can disable the animations from the settings menu, as well as tweak the default zoom level for new pages, the page layout, user agent, and other settings.

One thing that bugs me a little bit was the reliance on icons instead of text for some menu options. Several times while testing the app, I clicked on the Power icon and exited the app when I meant to click on the icon next to it to open the settings menu. Both icons show circular objects and it’s a bit easy to get them confused at first, although I suspect you’d get used to them after using the browser for a while.

There’s a free trial version of xScope available from the Android Market which appears to be fully functional, but which says “Trial Version” in large text along the bottom of the screen. The full version of xScope 6 costs $2.99.

via Droid Life

Google launched an iPad-friendly version of Gmail yesterday. It’s a lot like the mobile, touch-friendly version of Gmail that’s already available for the iPhone (and not all that different from Gmail for Android). But it’s designed to take advantage of the larger, higher resolution display on the iPad, so it includes a 2-pane view. On the left is a list of messages, and on the right you can read the actual messages in a conversation.

While the user interface was designed for the iPad, all you need to do to access it on other devices is switch your browser’s user agent. Lifehacker shows you how to do that with a desktop version of Firefox. But unless you have a Windows or Linux machine with a touchscreen, there’s really not much reason to use the iPad version instead of the default Gmail interface.

But several Android smartphones including the Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid have higher screen resolutions than the iPhone — you might want to give the iPad version of Gmail a try on those phones. And it turns out, it’s as easy to do as installing the latest version of xScope, a mobile web browser for Android.

Last night the developer pushed out an update that lets you set the user agent for the browser to iPad. Just go to the settings menu and scroll down until you get to the section that says “User Agent.” You can also set the user agent as iPhone, Computer, or return it to Android.

Then visit gmail.com using the web browser in landscape mode to see the new 2-pane view. Since my Nexus One has a screen resolution of 800 x 480, Gmail doesn’t look quite as good as it will on the iPad with its 1024 x 768 pixel display. But you can definitely fit more information on the screen using the iPad interface than the default Gmail mobile interface.

If you rotate your phone to portrait mode, you’ll only see the message list — just as you would if your user agent were set to Android or iPhone.

You can download xScope ($2.99) or xScope lite (free) from the Android Market.

There are generally two ways to zoom in and out of web pages and images on Google Android devices: You can use two fingers to pinch and zoom or double tap with a single finger to zoom. The xScope web browser offers a third way. Double tap, hold, and drag your finger left and right to zoom in and out. It may sound like a complicated maneuver, but if you’re holding a phone in one hand, or if you have a device that doesn’t support multitouch, it’s actually really easy to use. And it’s far faster and more precise than Android’s vanilla double-tap to zoom feature.

But that’s just one of the things that makes xScope worth checking out. I’ve shot a brief video of the user interface, which you can check out after the break. But here are just a few of the cool features in this browser:

• Full screen mode which removes the Android taskbar
• Scroll on the xScope address bar to reveal additional functions
• Create new tabs by tapping and holding a link, or hitting the tab button from the address bar
• Optional feature lets you scroll up and down using your phone’s volume buttons
• Ability to set the default page zoom level
• Start page offers an Opera Speed Dial-like list of bookmarks
• Built in downloader and file browser
• Task manager lets you kill running tasks to free up memory

The xScope browser comes in free and paid versions, with the full version costing $2.99. The paid version offers the ability to store more favorites and to open files, but the free version is quite functional. In fact, it’s the first third party browser I’ve tried that I like enough to seriously consider making my default browser.

There are two versions of xScope, with one version designed to run on Android 2.0 and newer devices, while another build is available (without multitouch support) for Android 1.6 and older devices. Both versions are available in the Android Market.

You an read more about xScope in the developers’ thread at the Android Forums. Or you can check out a brief user manual. And you can check out my hands-on video after the break.

via Android Community

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