Looking like the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise, the Inspire browser presents a slick interface to the World Wide Web. Key features are listed below.
- No need for lots of additional plugins
- Sits on the back of Internet Explorer 4.00 (In other words, you need to have IE 4.00 installed before Inspire will work)
- Supports push technology with pre-set channels
- Audio quality is an important feature and believe me it IS good!
- Vast array of examples that exploit the Inspire browser
Plugins
Plugins are the little programs that add features and facilities to your browser. On the Internet, a whole army of plugins is required to use and view web pages.
Creative have created a system with their Inspire browser that lets you hear almost any kind of audio or visual without the need for additional programs.
This takes some doing but, coming from the company that set the audio standard the world over, it is no great surprise!
What this means in real terms is much less waiting for active-x, vbscripts or Java to download and run.
Channels
Definitely one of Inspire's stronger suits. Channel buttons are displayed along the bottom and are simply a mouse click away. Inspire comes already preloaded with channels such as Music, Games, a Shopping Mall and Entertainment.
These channels allow you to flick through a vast amount of information from sites that take advantage of Inspire's superior sound quality (not to mention visuals!)
Audio
This is where Inspire really comes to the fore. The audio quality is simply breathtaking — even on sites that play simple MIDI background sounds.
On example sites that show off the ability of audio, the streaming is seamless, the sound is crystal clear without one jot of "static" or wobble than can occur playing sounds off the Internet.
In the limited space I have here, I cannot do the sound system justice. It just has to be heard!
Browser Facilities
As Inspire sits on top of Internet Explorer 4.00, it is not surprising that Inspire handles web sites much in the same way Internet Explorer 4.00 would.
The main view screen naturally takes up most of the screen. Below the main screen are four main areas. To the left are the program pre-set controls. This is akin to "favourites" or "bookmarks." Centrally comes the system message area and you get a clear indication of what is happening when you load a web page. Below this comes the 10 button channels — simply click on a button and that channel will appear, much the same as a TV channel would.
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