Access has announced a new version of its NetFront web browser for Windows Mobile devices. The "NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version" features faster page drawing and scrolling, easier-to-use zooming, better column rendering, and a "PageMap" thumbnail feature, according to the company.
The freely downloadable NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version is confusingly named, since the company already released a NetFront version 3.5 earlier this year. That release added widgets, better XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) compatibility, claimed faster performance, and the capability to scroll up and down pages under the guidance of a device's camera, similating "gesture" control without accelerometer hardware.
For the latest "concept version," Access touts further speed improvements. These include faster first drawing of a page, faster scrolling in any direction, and quicker rendering mode changes. Rendering mode changes (see below, left) also take place faster, according to the company.
NetFront now changes modes (left) faster and has a new PageMap feature (right)
NetFront now has a "PageMap" thumbnail feature (above, right) that pops up to provide an overall map of a web page, giving an indication as to what part of it is being viewed. Further, an enhanced column rendering mode is said to do a better job of keeping text within a device's screen width, while also preserving as much of a website's intended appearance as possible. Finally, users can now switch into an animated zoom mode simply by clicking twice on a device's screen.
Background
Hot on the heels of Opera Mobile 9.5, NetFront 3.5 became the second Windows Mobile browser to tout support for widgets. Widgets are small applications that use a browser's rendering engine to run, but not its standard border, menus, and other "chrome." As such, widgets can appear on part of a device's screen or take it over temporarily.
For the end user, widgets have the advantage of providing easy access to content such as updated weather information, news headlines, local maps, and photo feeds. For carriers and software developers, however, their significance is even greater. Widgets can easily be used to create branded user interfaces on a device, without the complicated process of modifying its ROM or compiled software applications.
Like Google's similar "gadget" technology, widgets are designed using web standards such as Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and Document Object Model (DOM). However, minor changes are apparently required in order to "port" widgets between NetFront, Opera, and Google implementations.
Access says version 3.5 of its browser is more compliant with web standards than previous releases. It includes support for: XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) MP (Mobile Profile) 1.2; CSS (Cascading Style Sheets 2.1 and 3 (partial); and the CANVAS HTML tag, which can be used to draw vector-based graphics using scripting.
As in previous versions, NetFront has a "highly modular and scalable software architecture [that] enables developers to pick and choose only needed components for their target devices," the company says. The two components that allow this portability are the SLIM interface (seen in the third row below), which encapsulates all dependencies on the target platform, and the Plate Windows System (PWS), a windowing API that generalizes and settles the differences in window manipulations from the underlying operating system.
The NetFront architecture (Click to enlarge)
Access says its browser can also incorporate low-level libraries including Wave, the company's own windowing system. This means that NetFront Browser "can run on the barest of operating systems." On operating systems that do provide window systems, such as those found on mobile handhelds, these libraries are simply stripped out so no unnecessary code is deployed.
In addition to Windows Mobile, there are versions of NetFront for Linux, QT Embedded, Symbian, Garnet OS, and other operating systems. It has shipped in over 1,349 PDAs, smartphones, and other devices, representing some 500 million deployments, says Access. The company also supplied a Linux version of NetFront to Amazon for its Linux-based Kindle eBook reader.
The NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version (click to play; video has no sound) Source: Access
Further information
NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version is downloadable now from the company's website, here. Listed system requirements are an ARM-compatible or PXA2xx CPU, Windows Mobile 5.0, about 5.8MB for data storage, and about 6MB for program execution.
Noted limitations of the free trial version are that it expires on Aug. 31, does not support plug-ins, and becomes unstable if it is installed on external storage and a device is turned off.
