diff --git a/src/demo-app/demo-app-module.ts b/src/demo-app/demo-app-module.ts
index ec35c947b74..afcc8e6d738 100644
--- a/src/demo-app/demo-app-module.ts
+++ b/src/demo-app/demo-app-module.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import {PortalDemo, ScienceJoke} from './portal/portal-demo';
 import {MenuDemo} from './menu/menu-demo';
 import {TabsDemo, SunnyTabContent, RainyTabContent, FoggyTabContent} from './tabs/tabs-demo';
 import {ProjectionDemo, ProjectionTestComponent} from './projection/projection-demo';
+import {PlatformDemo} from './platform/platform-demo';
 
 @NgModule({
   imports: [
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ import {ProjectionDemo, ProjectionTestComponent} from './projection/projection-d
     SunnyTabContent,
     RainyTabContent,
     FoggyTabContent,
+    PlatformDemo
   ],
   entryComponents: [
     DemoApp,
diff --git a/src/demo-app/demo-app/demo-app.ts b/src/demo-app/demo-app/demo-app.ts
index 2b229a41405..005564a13c0 100644
--- a/src/demo-app/demo-app/demo-app.ts
+++ b/src/demo-app/demo-app/demo-app.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ export class DemoApp {
     {name: 'Snack Bar', route: 'snack-bar'},
     {name: 'Tabs', route: 'tabs'},
     {name: 'Toolbar', route: 'toolbar'},
-    {name: 'Tooltip', route: 'tooltip'}
+    {name: 'Tooltip', route: 'tooltip'},
+    {name: 'Platform', route: 'platform'}
   ];
 }
diff --git a/src/demo-app/demo-app/routes.ts b/src/demo-app/demo-app/routes.ts
index 285be668b89..7cc7685eb22 100644
--- a/src/demo-app/demo-app/routes.ts
+++ b/src/demo-app/demo-app/routes.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import {TooltipDemo} from '../tooltip/tooltip-demo';
 import {SnackBarDemo} from '../snack-bar/snack-bar-demo';
 import {ProjectionDemo} from '../projection/projection-demo';
 import {TABS_DEMO_ROUTES} from '../tabs/routes';
+import {PlatformDemo} from '../platform/platform-demo';
 
 export const DEMO_APP_ROUTES: Routes = [
   {path: '', component: Home},
@@ -62,4 +63,5 @@ export const DEMO_APP_ROUTES: Routes = [
   {path: 'dialog', component: DialogDemo},
   {path: 'tooltip', component: TooltipDemo},
   {path: 'snack-bar', component: SnackBarDemo},
+  {path: 'platform', component: PlatformDemo}
 ];
diff --git a/src/demo-app/platform/platform-demo.ts b/src/demo-app/platform/platform-demo.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c5b746a70fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/demo-app/platform/platform-demo.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import {Component} from '@angular/core';
+import {MdPlatform} from '@angular/material';
+
+@Component({
+  template: `
+    <p>Is Android: {{ platform.ANDROID }}</p>
+    <p>Is iOS: {{ platform.IOS }}</p>
+    <p>Is Firefox: {{ platform.FIREFOX }}</p>
+    <p>Is Blink: {{ platform.BLINK }}</p>
+    <p>Is Webkit: {{ platform.WEBKIT }}</p>
+    <p>Is Trident: {{ platform.TRIDENT }}</p>
+    <p>Is Edge: {{ platform.EDGE }}</p>
+  `
+})
+export class PlatformDemo {
+  constructor(public platform: MdPlatform) {}
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/core/a11y/focus-trap.spec.ts b/src/lib/core/a11y/focus-trap.spec.ts
index 0e225d8b665..86357817dfe 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/a11y/focus-trap.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/core/a11y/focus-trap.spec.ts
@@ -3,17 +3,21 @@ import {By} from '@angular/platform-browser';
 import {Component} from '@angular/core';
 import {FocusTrap} from './focus-trap';
 import {InteractivityChecker} from './interactivity-checker';
+import {MdPlatform} from '../platform/platform';
 
 
 describe('FocusTrap', () => {
+
   describe('with default element', () => {
+
     let fixture: ComponentFixture<FocusTrapTestApp>;
     let focusTrapInstance: FocusTrap;
+    let platform: MdPlatform = new MdPlatform();
 
     beforeEach(async(() => {
       TestBed.configureTestingModule({
         declarations: [FocusTrap, FocusTrapTestApp],
-        providers: [InteractivityChecker]
+        providers: [InteractivityChecker, MdPlatform]
       });
 
       TestBed.compileComponents();
@@ -38,8 +42,11 @@ describe('FocusTrap', () => {
       // focus event handler directly.
       focusTrapInstance.focusLastTabbableElement();
 
+      // In iOS button elements are never tabbable, so the last element will be the input.
+      let lastElement = platform.IOS ? 'input' : 'button';
+
       expect(document.activeElement.nodeName.toLowerCase())
-          .toBe('button', 'Expected button element to be focused');
+          .toBe(lastElement, `Expected ${lastElement} element to be focused`);
     });
   });
 
@@ -50,7 +57,7 @@ describe('FocusTrap', () => {
     beforeEach(async(() => {
       TestBed.configureTestingModule({
         declarations: [FocusTrap, FocusTrapTargetTestApp],
-        providers: [InteractivityChecker]
+        providers: [InteractivityChecker, MdPlatform]
       });
 
       TestBed.compileComponents();
diff --git a/src/lib/core/a11y/index.ts b/src/lib/core/a11y/index.ts
index 70621bb45e9..0e285f77d60 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/a11y/index.ts
+++ b/src/lib/core/a11y/index.ts
@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ import {NgModule, ModuleWithProviders} from '@angular/core';
 import {FocusTrap} from './focus-trap';
 import {MdLiveAnnouncer} from './live-announcer';
 import {InteractivityChecker} from './interactivity-checker';
+import {PlatformModule} from '../platform/platform';
 
 export const A11Y_PROVIDERS = [MdLiveAnnouncer, InteractivityChecker];
 
 @NgModule({
+  imports: [PlatformModule],
   declarations: [FocusTrap],
   exports: [FocusTrap],
 })
diff --git a/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.spec.ts b/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.spec.ts
index 648499781ae..ab707d66515 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.spec.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
 import {InteractivityChecker} from './interactivity-checker';
+import {MdPlatform} from '../platform/platform';
+import {async} from '@angular/core/testing';
 
 describe('InteractivityChecker', () => {
   let testContainerElement: HTMLElement;
   let checker: InteractivityChecker;
+  let platform: MdPlatform = new MdPlatform();
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     testContainerElement = document.createElement('div');
     document.body.appendChild(testContainerElement);
 
-    checker = new InteractivityChecker();
+    checker = new InteractivityChecker(platform);
   });
 
   afterEach(() => {
@@ -234,52 +237,237 @@ describe('InteractivityChecker', () => {
       });
     });
 
-    it('should return true for div and span with tabindex == 0', () => {
-      let elements = createElements('div', 'span');
 
-      elements.forEach(el => el.setAttribute('tabindex', '0'));
-      appendElements(elements);
-
-      elements.forEach(el => {
-        expect(checker.isFocusable(el))
-            .toBe(true, `Expected <${el.nodeName} tabindex="0"> to be focusable`);
-      });
-    });
   });
 
   describe('isTabbable', () => {
-    it('should return true for native form controls and anchor without tabindex attribute', () => {
-      let elements = createElements('input', 'textarea', 'select', 'button', 'a');
-      appendElements(elements);
 
-      elements.forEach(el => {
-        expect(checker.isTabbable(el)).toBe(true, `Expected <${el.nodeName}> to be tabbable`);
+    it('should respect the tabindex for video elements with controls',
+      // Do not run for Blink, Firefox and iOS because those treat video elements
+      // with controls different and are covered in other tests.
+      runIf(!platform.BLINK && !platform.FIREFOX && !platform.IOS, () => {
+        let video = createFromTemplate('<video controls>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(video)).toBe(true);
+
+        video.tabIndex = -1;
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(video)).toBe(false);
+      })
+    );
+
+    it('should always mark video elements with controls as tabbable (BLINK & FIREFOX)',
+      // Only run this spec for Blink and Firefox, because those always treat video
+      // elements with controls as tabbable.
+      runIf(platform.BLINK || platform.FIREFOX, () => {
+        let video = createFromTemplate('<video controls>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(video)).toBe(true);
+
+        video.tabIndex = -1;
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(video)).toBe(true);
+      })
+    );
+
+    // Some tests should not run inside of iOS browsers, because those only allow specific
+    // elements to be tabbable and cause the tests to always fail.
+    describe('for non-iOS browsers', runIf(!platform.IOS, () => {
+
+      it('should mark form controls and anchors without tabindex attribute as tabbable', () => {
+        let elements = createElements('input', 'textarea', 'select', 'button', 'a');
+        appendElements(elements);
+
+        elements.forEach(el => {
+          expect(checker.isTabbable(el)).toBe(true, `Expected <${el.nodeName}> to be tabbable`);
+        });
       });
-    });
 
-    it('should return false for native form controls and anchor with tabindex == -1', () => {
-      let elements = createElements('input', 'textarea', 'select', 'button', 'a');
+      it('should return true for div and span with tabindex == 0', () => {
+        let elements = createElements('div', 'span');
 
-      elements.forEach(el => el.setAttribute('tabindex', '-1'));
-      appendElements(elements);
+        elements.forEach(el => el.setAttribute('tabindex', '0'));
+        appendElements(elements);
 
-      elements.forEach(el => {
-        expect(checker.isTabbable(el))
+        elements.forEach(el => {
+          expect(checker.isFocusable(el))
+            .toBe(true, `Expected <${el.nodeName} tabindex="0"> to be focusable`);
+        });
+      });
+
+      it('should return false for native form controls and anchor with tabindex == -1', () => {
+        let elements = createElements('input', 'textarea', 'select', 'button', 'a');
+
+        elements.forEach(el => el.setAttribute('tabindex', '-1'));
+        appendElements(elements);
+
+        elements.forEach(el => {
+          expect(checker.isTabbable(el))
             .toBe(false, `Expected <${el.nodeName} tabindex="-1"> not to be tabbable`);
+        });
       });
-    });
 
-    it('should return true for div and span with tabindex == 0', () => {
-      let elements = createElements('div', 'span');
+      it('should return true for div and span with tabindex == 0', () => {
+        let elements = createElements('div', 'span');
 
-      elements.forEach(el => el.setAttribute('tabindex', '0'));
-      appendElements(elements);
+        elements.forEach(el => el.setAttribute('tabindex', '0'));
+        appendElements(elements);
 
-      elements.forEach(el => {
-        expect(checker.isTabbable(el))
+        elements.forEach(el => {
+          expect(checker.isTabbable(el))
             .toBe(true, `Expected <${el.nodeName} tabindex="0"> to be tabbable`);
+        });
       });
-    });
+
+      it('should respect the inherited tabindex inside of frame elements', () => {
+        let iframe = createFromTemplate('<iframe>', true) as HTMLFrameElement;
+        let button = createFromTemplate('<button tabindex="0">Not Tabbable</button>');
+
+        appendElements([iframe]);
+
+        iframe.tabIndex = -1;
+        iframe.contentDocument.body.appendChild(button);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(iframe)).toBe(false);
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(button)).toBe(false);
+
+        iframe.tabIndex = null;
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(iframe)).toBe(false);
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(button)).toBe(true);
+      });
+
+      it('should mark elements which are contentEditable as tabbable', async(() => {
+        let editableEl = createFromTemplate('<div contenteditable="true">', true);
+
+        // Wait one tick, because the browser takes some time to update the tabIndex
+        // according to the contentEditable attribute.
+        setTimeout(() => {
+
+          expect(checker.isTabbable(editableEl)).toBe(true);
+
+          editableEl.tabIndex = -1;
+
+          expect(checker.isTabbable(editableEl)).toBe(false);
+
+        }, 0);
+
+      }));
+
+      it('should never mark iframe elements as tabbable', () => {
+        let iframe = createFromTemplate('<iframe>', true);
+
+        // iFrame elements will be never marked as tabbable, because it depends on the content
+        // which is mostly not detectable due to CORS and also the checks will be not reliable.
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(iframe)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should always mark audio elements without controls as not tabbable', () => {
+        let audio = createFromTemplate('<audio>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(audio)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+    }));
+
+    describe('for Blink and Webkit browsers', runIf(platform.BLINK || platform.WEBKIT, () => {
+
+      it('should not mark elements inside of object frames as tabbable', () => {
+        let objectEl = createFromTemplate('<object>', true) as HTMLObjectElement;
+        let button = createFromTemplate('<button tabindex="0">Not Tabbable</button>');
+
+        appendElements([objectEl]);
+
+        // This is a hack to create an empty contentDocument for the frame element.
+        objectEl.type = 'text/html';
+        objectEl.contentDocument.body.appendChild(button);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(objectEl)).toBe(false);
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(button)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should not mark elements inside of invisible frames as tabbable', () => {
+        let iframe = createFromTemplate('<iframe>', true) as HTMLFrameElement;
+        let button = createFromTemplate('<button tabindex="0">Not Tabbable</button>');
+
+        appendElements([iframe]);
+
+        iframe.style.display = 'none';
+        iframe.contentDocument.body.appendChild(button);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(iframe)).toBe(false);
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(button)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should never mark object frame elements as tabbable', () => {
+        let objectEl = createFromTemplate('<object>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(objectEl)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+    }));
+
+    describe('for Blink browsers', runIf(platform.BLINK, () => {
+
+      it('should always mark audio elements with controls as tabbable', () => {
+        let audio = createFromTemplate('<audio controls>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(audio)).toBe(true);
+
+        audio.tabIndex = -1;
+
+        // The audio element will be still tabbable because Blink always
+        // considers them as tabbable.
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(audio)).toBe(true);
+      });
+
+    }));
+
+    describe('for Internet Explorer', runIf(platform.TRIDENT, () => {
+
+      it('should never mark video elements without controls as tabbable', () => {
+        // In Internet Explorer video elements without controls are never tabbable.
+        let video = createFromTemplate('<video>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(video)).toBe(false);
+
+        video.tabIndex = 0;
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(video)).toBe(false);
+
+      });
+
+    }));
+
+    describe('for iOS browsers', runIf(platform.IOS && platform.WEBKIT, () => {
+
+      it('should never allow div elements to be tabbable', () => {
+        let divEl = createFromTemplate('<div tabindex="0">', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(divEl)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should never allow span elements to be tabbable', () => {
+        let spanEl = createFromTemplate('<span tabindex="0">Text</span>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(spanEl)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should never allow button elements to be tabbable', () => {
+        let buttonEl = createFromTemplate('<button tabindex="0">', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(buttonEl)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+      it('should never allow anchor elements to be tabbable', () => {
+        let anchorEl = createFromTemplate('<a tabindex="0">Link</a>', true);
+
+        expect(checker.isTabbable(anchorEl)).toBe(false);
+      });
+
+    }));
+
+
   });
 
   /** Creates an array of elements with the given node names. */
@@ -287,10 +475,34 @@ describe('InteractivityChecker', () => {
     return nodeNames.map(name => document.createElement(name));
   }
 
+  function createFromTemplate(template: string, append = false) {
+    let tmpRoot = document.createElement('div');
+    tmpRoot.innerHTML = template;
+
+    let element = tmpRoot.firstElementChild;
+
+    tmpRoot.removeChild(element);
+
+    if (append) {
+      appendElements([element]);
+    }
+
+    return element as HTMLElement;
+  }
+
   /** Appends elements to the testContainerElement. */
   function appendElements(elements: Element[]) {
     for (let e of elements) {
       testContainerElement.appendChild(e);
     }
   }
+
+  function runIf(condition: boolean, runFn: Function): () => void {
+    return (...args: any[]) => {
+      if (condition) {
+        runFn.apply(this, args);
+      }
+    };
+  }
+
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.ts b/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.ts
index 91f7c29c2c5..ed475d6f92e 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.ts
+++ b/src/lib/core/a11y/interactivity-checker.ts
@@ -1,21 +1,20 @@
 import {Injectable} from '@angular/core';
+import {MdPlatform} from '../platform/platform';
+
+/* The InteractivityChecker leans heavily on the ally.js accessibility utilities.
+ * Methods like `isTabbable` are only covering specific edge-cases for the browsers which are
+ * supported.
+ */
 
 /**
  * Utility for checking the interactivity of an element, such as whether is is focusable or
  * tabbable.
- *
- * NOTE: Currently does not capture any special element behaviors, browser quirks, or edge cases.
- * This is a basic/naive starting point onto which further behavior will be added.
- *
- * This class uses instance methods instead of static functions so that alternate implementations
- * can be injected.
- *
- * TODO(jelbourn): explore using ally.js directly for its significantly more robust
- * checks (need to evaluate payload size, performance, and compatibility with tree-shaking).
  */
 @Injectable()
 export class InteractivityChecker {
 
+  constructor(private _platform: MdPlatform) {}
+
   /** Gets whether an element is disabled. */
   isDisabled(element: HTMLElement) {
     // This does not capture some cases, such as a non-form control with a disabled attribute or
@@ -30,18 +29,7 @@ export class InteractivityChecker {
    * being clipped by an `overflow: hidden` parent or being outside the viewport.
    */
   isVisible(element: HTMLElement) {
-    // There are additional special cases that this does not capture, but this will work for
-    // the most common cases.
-
-    // Use logic from jQuery to check for `display: none`.
-    // See https://github.com/jquery/jquery/blob/master/src/css/hiddenVisibleSelectors.js#L12
-    if (!(element.offsetWidth || element.offsetHeight || element.getClientRects().length)) {
-      return false;
-    }
-
-    // Check for css `visibility` property.
-    // TODO(jelbourn): do any browsers we support return an empty string instead of 'visible'?
-    return getComputedStyle(element).getPropertyValue('visibility') == 'visible';
+    return hasGeometry(element) && getComputedStyle(element).visibility === 'visible';
   }
 
   /**
@@ -49,7 +37,73 @@ export class InteractivityChecker {
    * Assumes that the element has already been checked with isFocusable.
    */
   isTabbable(element: HTMLElement) {
-    // Again, naive approach that does not capture many special cases and browser quirks.
+
+    let frameElement = getWindow(element).frameElement as HTMLElement;
+
+    if (frameElement) {
+
+      let frameType = frameElement && frameElement.nodeName.toLowerCase();
+
+      // Frame elements inherit their tabindex onto all child elements.
+      if (getTabIndexValue(frameElement) === -1) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      // Webkit and Blink consider anything inside of an <object> element as non-tabbable.
+      if ((this._platform.BLINK || this._platform.WEBKIT) && frameType === 'object') {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      // Webkit and Blink disable tabbing to an element inside of an invisible frame.
+      if ((this._platform.BLINK || this._platform.WEBKIT) && !this.isVisible(frameElement)) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+    }
+
+    let nodeName = element.nodeName.toLowerCase();
+    let tabIndexValue = getTabIndexValue(element);
+
+    if (element.hasAttribute('contenteditable')) {
+      return tabIndexValue !== -1;
+    }
+
+    if (nodeName === 'iframe') {
+      // The frames may be tabbable depending on content, but it's not possibly to reliably
+      // investigate the content of the frames.
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    if (nodeName === 'audio') {
+      if (!element.hasAttribute('controls')) {
+        // By default an <audio> element without the controls enabled is not tabbable.
+        return false;
+      } else if (this._platform.BLINK) {
+        // In Blink <audio controls> elements are always tabbable.
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (nodeName === 'video') {
+      if (!element.hasAttribute('controls') && this._platform.TRIDENT) {
+        // In Trident a <video> element without the controls enabled is not tabbable.
+        return false;
+      } else if (this._platform.BLINK || this._platform.FIREFOX) {
+        // In Chrome and Firefox <video controls> elements are always tabbable.
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (nodeName === 'object' && (this._platform.BLINK || this._platform.WEBKIT)) {
+      // In all Blink and WebKit based browsers <object> elements are never tabbable.
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    // In iOS the browser only considers some specific elements as tabbable.
+    if (this._platform.WEBKIT && this._platform.IOS && !isPotentiallyTabbableIOS(element)) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
     return element.tabIndex >= 0;
   }
 
@@ -59,6 +113,14 @@ export class InteractivityChecker {
     // Again, naive approach that does not capture many edge cases and browser quirks.
     return isPotentiallyFocusable(element) && !this.isDisabled(element) && this.isVisible(element);
   }
+
+}
+
+/** Checks whether the specified element has any geometry / rectangles. */
+function hasGeometry(element: HTMLElement): boolean {
+  // Use logic from jQuery to check for an invisible element.
+  // See https://github.com/jquery/jquery/blob/master/src/css/hiddenVisibleSelectors.js#L12
+  return !!(element.offsetWidth || element.offsetHeight || element.getClientRects().length);
 }
 
 /** Gets whether an element's  */
@@ -106,6 +168,32 @@ function hasValidTabIndex(element: HTMLElement): boolean {
   return !!(tabIndex && !isNaN(parseInt(tabIndex, 10)));
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns the parsed tabindex from the element attributes instead of returning the
+ * evaluated tabindex from the browsers defaults.
+ */
+function getTabIndexValue(element: HTMLElement): number {
+  if (!hasValidTabIndex(element)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  // See browser issue in Gecko https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1128054
+  const tabIndex = parseInt(element.getAttribute('tabindex'), 10);
+
+  return isNaN(tabIndex) ? -1 : tabIndex;
+}
+
+/** Checks whether the specified element is potentially tabbable on iOS */
+function isPotentiallyTabbableIOS(element: HTMLElement): boolean {
+  let nodeName = element.nodeName.toLowerCase();
+  let inputType = nodeName === 'input' && (element as HTMLInputElement).type;
+
+  return inputType === 'text'
+      || inputType === 'password'
+      || nodeName === 'select'
+      || nodeName === 'textarea';
+}
+
 /**
  * Gets whether an element is potentially focusable without taking current visible/disabled state
  * into account.
@@ -122,3 +210,7 @@ function isPotentiallyFocusable(element: HTMLElement): boolean {
       hasValidTabIndex(element);
 }
 
+/** Gets the parent window of a DOM node with regards of being inside of an iframe. */
+function getWindow(node: HTMLElement): Window {
+  return node.ownerDocument.defaultView || window;
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/core/core.ts b/src/lib/core/core.ts
index d75aaafdcc8..79e84e73c76 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/core.ts
+++ b/src/lib/core/core.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ export {DomPortalHost} from './portal/dom-portal-host';
 // Projection
 export * from './projection/projection';
 
+// Platform
+export * from './platform/platform';
+
 // Overlay
 export {Overlay, OVERLAY_PROVIDERS} from './overlay/overlay';
 export {OverlayContainer} from './overlay/overlay-container';
diff --git a/src/lib/core/platform/platform.ts b/src/lib/core/platform/platform.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..44477046e4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/core/platform/platform.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import {Injectable, NgModule, ModuleWithProviders} from '@angular/core';
+
+declare const window: any;
+
+// Whether the current platform supports the V8 Break Iterator. The V8 check
+// is necessary to detect all Blink based browsers.
+const hasV8BreakIterator = (window.Intl && (window.Intl as any).v8BreakIterator);
+
+/**
+ * Service to detect the current platform by comparing the userAgent strings and
+ * checking browser-specific global properties.
+ */
+@Injectable()
+export class MdPlatform {
+
+  /** Layout Engines */
+  EDGE = /(edge)/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
+  TRIDENT = /(msie|trident)/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
+
+  // EdgeHTML and Trident mock Blink specific things and need to excluded from this check.
+  BLINK = !!(window.chrome || hasV8BreakIterator) && !!CSS && !this.EDGE && !this.TRIDENT;
+
+  // Webkit is part of the userAgent in EdgeHTML Blink and Trident, so we need to
+  // ensure that Webkit runs standalone and is not use as another engines base.
+  WEBKIT = /AppleWebKit/i.test(navigator.userAgent) && !this.BLINK && !this.EDGE && !this.TRIDENT;
+
+  /** Browsers and Platform Types */
+  IOS = /iPad|iPhone|iPod/.test(navigator.userAgent) && !window.MSStream;
+
+  // It's difficult to detect the plain Gecko engine, because most of the browsers identify
+  // them self as Gecko-like browsers and modify the userAgent's according to that.
+  // Since we only cover one explicit Firefox case, we can simply check for Firefox
+  // instead of having an unstable check for Gecko.
+  FIREFOX = /(firefox|minefield)/i.test(navigator.userAgent);
+
+  // Trident on mobile adds the android platform to the userAgent to trick detections.
+  ANDROID = /android/i.test(navigator.userAgent) && !this.TRIDENT;
+
+}
+
+@NgModule({})
+export class PlatformModule {
+  static forRoot(): ModuleWithProviders {
+    return {
+      ngModule: PlatformModule,
+      providers: [MdPlatform],
+    };
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts
index 87a30befe8a..24cb25b8533 100644
--- a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts
+++ b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts
@@ -13,9 +13,8 @@ import {MdDialogConfig} from './dialog-config';
 import {MdDialogRef} from './dialog-ref';
 import {DialogInjector} from './dialog-injector';
 import {MdDialogContainer} from './dialog-container';
-import {A11yModule, InteractivityChecker} from '../core';
+import {A11yModule, InteractivityChecker, MdPlatform} from '../core';
 import {extendObject} from '../core/util/object-extend';
-
 export {MdDialogConfig} from './dialog-config';
 export {MdDialogRef} from './dialog-ref';
 
@@ -161,7 +160,7 @@ export class MdDialogModule {
   static forRoot(): ModuleWithProviders {
     return {
       ngModule: MdDialogModule,
-      providers: [MdDialog, OVERLAY_PROVIDERS, InteractivityChecker],
+      providers: [MdDialog, OVERLAY_PROVIDERS, InteractivityChecker, MdPlatform],
     };
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/module.ts b/src/lib/module.ts
index 1a5d835c1ba..598f6f9b927 100644
--- a/src/lib/module.ts
+++ b/src/lib/module.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import {MdToolbarModule} from './toolbar/index';
 import {MdTooltipModule} from './tooltip/index';
 import {MdMenuModule} from './menu/index';
 import {MdDialogModule} from './dialog/index';
+import {PlatformModule} from './core/platform/platform';
 
 
 const MATERIAL_MODULES = [
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ const MATERIAL_MODULES = [
   PortalModule,
   RtlModule,
   A11yModule,
+  PlatformModule,
   ProjectionModule,
   StyleCompatibilityModule,
 ];
@@ -97,6 +99,7 @@ const MATERIAL_MODULES = [
     MdSlideToggleModule.forRoot(),
     MdSnackBarModule.forRoot(),
     MdTooltipModule.forRoot(),
+    PlatformModule.forRoot(),
     OverlayModule.forRoot(),
     StyleCompatibilityModule.forRoot(),
   ],