Amazon has introduced a new web Browser — Silk, for Kindle Fire tablets. The new Silk browser combines native computing within the device with that of the huge data centres built by the Amazon. It also divides work between the two in such a way so as to increase efficiency.
“It is split between what runs on your device and what runs in the cloud,” says an Amazon engineer, Peter Vosshal, in a video released by the company.
In the new browser, the identification steps between the device and the Internet are expected to be shorter, and certain elements of the web pages can also be preloaded by the browser, which means the users will see their webpages faster than ever.
For example, if a reader often moves to a certain online newspaper after reading something, the Silk browser may request that page ahead of time and keep it ready for the users.
The Silk browser takes advantage of two benefits it has – it resides in the Kindle Fire tablet and it has to connect with Amazon’s own cloud. It will do some computing in the device itself, and a lot of computing in the cloud, getting maximum efficiency as a result.
It seems Amazon is mastering the cloud faster than the others, though it’s early days yet. So far, most programming problems or even the solutions depended upon the available processing power available in the device, all that seems to be changing with the Silk browser.
However, an executive of rival Opera downplayed the new Silk browser, saying: “We’re very flattered that Amazon chose to replicate something that we’ve had in the marketplace for a long time.”
In simpler terms, Opera says it has been doing many things the new Silk browser claims to do.