jQuery Mobile Alpha 3 expands browser support

The jQuery developers have issued a third alpha of jQuery Mobile 1.0, a version of the framework optimised for touch interfaces on smartphones and tablets. The latest alpha version expands browser support to include Firefox 4 for Mobile (also known as "Fennec"), as well as Opera Mobile / Mini – iOS, Android, BlackBerry 6 and Palm WebOS support has also been refined.

Compared to the previous alpha, jQuery Mobile 1.0 Alpha 3 features improved keyboard and general accessibility support on VoiceOver, "refactored and improved" core and navigation plugins, and a touch-optimised theme for the jQuery UI datepicker plugin – the plugin is not included in the default build. Additionally, "A-grade support" for Windows Phone 7 and Nokia is nearing. Other changes include 240 new unit tests, fixes for more than 150 bugs, and various other improvements and optimisations.

The developers note that they are planning on releasing a first beta within a month, before moving on to a final 1.0 release – the final version of jQuery Mobile 1.0 was originally expected to arrive last month. Moving forward, they plan to improve overall performance, as well as user experience and responsiveness.

Additional details about the release can be found in a post on the jQuery Mobile blog; demos and documentation are provided. The third alpha for jQuery Mobile 1.0 is available to download from the project's site. Like jQuery, jQuery Mobile is licensed under the MIT licence or GPL version 2.

See also:

• jQuery 1.5 arrives, a report from The H.
• Mozilla releases Firefox 4 Beta 4 for Android and Maemo, a report from The H.

(crve)