With Apple releasing a mobile browsers based on its flagship Safari desktop browsers, things have changed in way people think of browsing from a device with just 3.5 inch screen.

Currently, Mobile Safari seems to have a clear lead in this side of the world. But, There seems to be lot of thrust from the competitors like Opera, Mozilla and a relatively new comer Skyfire.

They are pushing for a mobile browser which provides all the feature of a regular browser to mobile devices.

The iPhone’s touch interface clearly has made browsing easy for users but it’s just as clearly a high-end phone. Mozilla’s Mobile Firefox project is crafting both a touch and a nontouch user interface.

Bitstream’s ThunderHawk shows at the top of the screen what the company calls a "minimap" of the entire Web page, outlining the section of the page being viewed by the user, with clickable "hotspots" to other parts of the page. The minimap is an aid to navigating the full page quickly.

Opera Mobile 9.5 borrows from Opera Mini to now show a full Web page, then let users pan and zoom to find and focus on specific areas. A grayed-out upside down "V" on the bottom right of the screen gives one-click access to an overlay page of standard browser buttons and actions.

More here