Correctly identifying tricky user agents
This week we have been looking at the browser detection for the Sony PS Vita. We've found that on occasion two different browsers can use the same user agent, ultimately proving that you need the advanced user agent parsing that 51Degrees provides in order to correctly identify all device ID combinations.
As you can see from the image capture above, the Sony PS Vita user agent pretends to be using Silk, Amazon's proprietary browser most often seen in the Kindle Fire range of tablets. However, the PS Vita is in fact using a Webkit-based version of the NetFront browser. The PS Vita web browser project is called "The Hydra project" and there is another project called "The Silk Project" which is related to the core functionality of both the PS3 and the PS Vita's web browsers. This 'Silk project' is different to Amazon's Silk browser which is only available on Fire tablets and phones.
At 51Degrees we have an experienced team of device experts that are able to identify potential user agent problems before they occur. We research and implement solutions by using information from official sources and we are able to provide enough evidence so that we can confidently change the criteria used for detecting this browser. This means we are able to apply an additional level of detail to user agents to ensure that a greater accuracy of data is provided to our customers.
When all is said and done our device detection manages to identify the devices browser correctly, rejecting the false information in the user agent. This is an incredibly useful feature and allows our customers to give their clients the best User Experience available. This is just one of many reasons why our device detection remains the most accurate service in the world. You can see the full results on our user agent tester.