  We investigate the strong-field ionization of atomic hydrogen in a few-cycle
elliptically polarized infrared pulse by solving the time-dependent
Schr\"odinger equation. The dependence of the photoelectron momentum
distribution on the pulse intensity, ellipticity, length, envelope, and carrier
envelope phase is analyzed. In particular, we explain the variation of the
electron offset angle with asymptotic electron energy through the combined
action of the field and the Coulomb potential, and demonstrate that
low-ellipticity pulses make it possible to access the electron release time.
