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Software Browses Web Sans Connection

A Seattle startup Monday launched software that lets users search and view Web sites stored on smart phones or laptops without connecting to the Internet.

Webaroo debuted a beta version of its namesake software Monday, and made it available for free download.

Essentially a caching application, Webaroo -- which works only on Windows XP or 2000 and can store sites only on Pocket PC-powered PDAs and phones -- grabs user-selected sites and the content of their links when the hardware is online. The process is similar to the pre-fetching that dial-up Internet connection accelerators use.

Offline, users can then view those sites and/or search through the content of those sites using a bundled search engine.

Webaroo also debuted what it called "'web packs," pre-defined collections of content subjects such as news, sports and information on major cities, including New York, London, and Amsterdam.

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