Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) announced today a new technology, code-named "ThunderHawk," which brings full-featured Web browsing to wireless devices. Unlike today's browsers for wireless devices, Bitstream ThunderHawk gives users complete Internet access with real Web pages while maintaining full text legibility. Bitstream has filed 12 preliminary patent applications for this technology.
ThunderHawk provides customers with the same browsing experience on a handheld device as they use on the desktop. This includes being able to view the full text and images of any Web page without excessive scrolling. By not relying on WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) or cHTML (Compact HyperText Markup Language), ThunderHawk does not require Web content providers to repurpose their content or build separate Web sites -- one for the desktop, one for the wireless world. Instead, Bitstream ThunderHawk gives customers full Web access and functionality. They can see a Web page just as it appears on the desktop.
Bitstream ThunderHawk enables wireless carriers and service providers to differentiate themselves by providing real Web browsing to their customers. Manufacturers of wireless PDAs and cell phones can also integrate ThunderHawk directly into their devices, providing the same capabilities to their customers.
ThunderHawk technology optimizes content going to wireless devices in order to speed up delivery. Now, customers will not have to wait forever for a page to download.
ThunderHawk relies on distributed computing for thin clients and servers. The thin client code is device independent, making it easy to port to any wireless product. The architecture is very clean and runs on any operating system, which makes it easy for developers to implement. All in all, ThunderHawk has an extremely small footprint, under 100 KB.
ThunderHawk comes from Bitstream, a world-renowned developer of font technology and high-quality digital fonts. By leveraging its expertise in font technology, Bitstream can display full Web pages on small color LCD screens (320 x 240) while maintaining full legibility. In addition, Bitstream has also designed a Wireless Font Set(TM), using the "Kaasila(TM)" font family, for ThunderHawk. This set of fonts, designed specifically for wireless devices, is named after Thunderhawk's chief software architect, Sampo Kaasila, who also invented TrueType while working at Apple.
"With ThunderHawk, Bitstream has developed the leading-edge Web browsing technology for wireless devices," said Anna Chagnon, president of Bitstream. "By leveraging our expertise in font rendering technology, we have created the Web browsing experience most wireless and handheld device users expect but have not yet received from current solutions in the marketplace. Today, most browsers on wireless devices either repurpose rich Web pages into screens and screens of boring text, or show you only a peephole of a Web page, forcing you to scroll around a stamp-sized window. ThunderHawk is a breakthrough technology that gives you full Web browsing in your hand."
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