|
Generic browsers When Microsoft® gave their Internet Explorer (MSIE) away free they helped stimulate the general spread of a common culture of surfing; basically anyone can surf as a result. Online business applications service providers have benefited from customers having this zero cost resource at the client end to make use of their services. However, since conventional browsers like MSIE were built for general browsing, essentially as readers of html pages, in many ways their functionality has been surpassed by the demands of online business applications providers. All of the reasons for companies not wishing to use a conventional browser like MSIE, Opera, FireFox or others are related to business specifics. Specifics The systems group which is best known for custom browsers of all types is BrowsaWorks.Com. They design and implement many of the better known browsers which today are provided bundled with online service provisions. Many online business applications services are contracted by organizations which make the services available for their staff and customers. This has a series of implications. First of all more organizations prefer to limit the staff or customer view of their service to one in which it is evident who is providing the service. In this case a custom browser which can have all of the functionality of generic browsers can provide a user environment which from the browser inwards has a consistent look and feel of the organization. In some cases companies wish to restrict the access of staff and customers to specific types of content. If a customer has a custom browser then there is no confusion caused by a customer being informed that they need a password or do not have access privileges. A custom browser comes with buttons which are pre-set so that any button a customer uses leads directly to something useful. A particulatly interesting aspect of BrowsaWorks.Com products is an automatic reconfigurability according to the specific objective of the user. By clicking a button for example a "browser-looking" browser can be transfored into a trading terminal with arrays of different buttons to buy and sell commodities. On the other hand the products dont just remain as that conventional rectangle but can literally be of any shape. In the fun category, BrowsaWorks.Com have built transformers (see below) which explode outwards into a fully functional browser and then implode when not in use.  Although for teenagers and children such devices are finding favor with businessmen as executive toys. Since each one is completely custom built they are all different and therefore are always something of interest to show visitors as well as to use, of course. Anyone can buy a custom browser BrowsaWorks.Com will provide such services directly to companies and organizations without them being users of online services. On the other hand BrowsaWorks.Com produce all of the contract browser platform work for such organizations as Navatec.Com, Seel-Telesis.Com, Agence Presse Européenne and NewsRack Media. An interesting feature of BrowsaWorks.Com custom browsers is the possibility for a browser to be set to react to specific content. So, for example, is a specific html page is accessed, without touching any buttons, the browser can reconfigure itself to adapt to the page content. This can also be used as a security or parental control device to bar sites with specific types of html page content. Why use custom browsers? BrowsaWorks.Com say that the main reasons for making use of custom browsers include the following:
There has been an increased interest in custom browsers from the media and entertainment industries. BrowsaWorks.Com reports a growth in one-off exclusive gift items where the user has all of the normal functionality of a conventional browser but with a highly individual interface, graphics and sometimes dynamic content. So how much to these cost? A totally unique gift item can be between $175 to $350 whereas for corporate applications highly sophisticated custom browsers can end up costing around $1.00 each according to the number ordered.   |
