Access says NetFront v3.4 aims to provide high performance in resource-constrained environments such as those with limited memory or CPU capabilities, making it a good match for mobile phones and other consumer electronics.
Somewhat confusingly, the company
first announced version 3.4 in February of last year, describing it as a "versatile service platform, on which multiple applications can seemlessly combine online and offline content." It followed that up last January with its
first technical preview release of NetFront v3.4.
Though sharing its name with this earlier edition, the new version adds support for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), according to the company. It also includes
Camellia (RFC4312), a high-security, high-performance international standard cipher jointly developed by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
As in January's version, the new technical preview includes a "Page Pilot" feature aimed at letting users quickly zoom in on a portion of a Web page. Another key feature is "Visual Bookmark," which lets users select a bookmark via a thumbnail image. Version 3.4 is also said to run faster, thanks to optimized communications processing and a redesigned module structure, the company says.
NetFront 3.4's "Page Pilot" zoom feature
(Click image for larger view)Both English and Japanese versions of the technical preview are available for free download, here:
English version;
Japanese version.
According to Access, NetFront has shipped in over 1,200 PDAs, smartphones, and other devices, representing some 440 million deployments. Most recently, Access supplied a
Linux version of NetFront to Amazon for its Linux-based
Kindle eBook reader.
Previously best-known for the NetFront browser, Access
acquired PalmSource in 2005, and gave the name
Garnet OS to the operating system previously known as Palm OS. It has demonstrated a
Linux-based platform for mobile phones, and recently created virtual machine (VM) software that allows Palm OS applications to run on Nokia's
Linux-based Web tablets.
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