Subscribe RSS icon
 

NetFront v3.5 “Concept Version” Available for Download

Posted on Friday, Feb 8, 2008 by Dieter Bohn
Filed Under: News; Tags: skyfire, opera, netfront, access

Img Prod Nfm Nf35 V34 Ccp06

Things are heating up right quick in the Windows Mobile Browser space, aren't they. We had our socks knocked off by SkyFire, only to wake up the next morning and wonder if maybe a complete server-side browser isn't necessarily such a good idea. Then Opera, our current fave, teased us with video of their upcoming 9.5 version. We loved it. Well, not to be outdone, Access has revealed that they're still working on their NetFront browser and that they are beating the others to the punch by letting you download a “Concept version” today.

“Concept version?” We're downloading it now, but no word yet on where “Concept” falls on the scale between “Ready-for-Primetime Beta” and “Ready-to-Melt-your-smartphone Beta.” They showed off a Technical Preview before, so who knows what will come after “Concept Version.” Our money is on “Unicorn Edition.”

In any case, the NetFront browser looks to have all the zooming and fast rending you could possibly want. But somebody needs to let Access know that showing Styli in your demo shots is a good way to make everybody want to run away.

Experience faster and smoother browsing with NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version. Leveraging the latest NetFront Browser core available for the Windows Mobile platform, NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version features improved key operation, stylus pen functionality and overall usability. The browser also features improvements in speed including first draw time, zooming speed and rendering mode selection.

NetFront™ Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version

 
 

Comments

Experience faster and smoother browsing with NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version. Leveraging the latest NetFront Browser core available for the Windows Mobile platform, NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version features improved key operation, stylus pen functionality and overall usability. The browser also features improvements in speed including first draw time, zooming speed and rendering mode selection.

ACCESS encourages you to download NetFront Browser v3.5 for Windows Mobile Concept Version and submit your feedback using the form listed at the bottom of this page.


http://www.access-company.com/vid/prod/nfm/nf35/movie04_s.wmv

As Modaco says, you wait all day for a bus, then suddenly 3 comes along.

The free preview version will be available for download on Monday 11/2/08 from this page.

http://www.access-company.com/products/netfrontmobile/browser/35_wm_tp.html

Surur
Submitted by surur (not verified) on Thu, 02/07/2008 - 13:02.
[COLOR="Navy">That's 2/11/08 for the US people, :D

Sometimes I get confused looking at UK form dates, LOL![/COLOR]
Submitted by The Phone Diva (not verified) on Thu, 02/07/2008 - 16:27.
NetFront might be the most over-rated app in the entire WM universe. I found previous (equally hyped) versions to be slow, unstable, bloated, and generally a very poor overall experience after about a week of using it. Let's hope 3.5 adds something of value.
Submitted by skfny (not verified) on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 05:55.
NetFront might be the most over-rated app in the entire WM universe. I found previous (equally hyped) versions to be slow, unstable, bloated, and generally a very poor overall experience after about a week of using it. Let's hope 3.5 adds something of value.


Ive always preferred netfront over for example Opera 8.5. I felt it did reflowing better than opera, and had more options, and also handled tabs better.

Lets just say I have paid for Netfront before, but could never get myself to spend any money on Opera.

Having said all that, while Netfront would seem to offer better page navigation, Opera seems to offer better AJAX support in their next version, so its going to be a toss-up to see which one I will prefer in the future. What is true however is that Netfront 3.5 is going to here well before Opera 9.5

Surur
Submitted by surur (not verified) on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 06:20.
I've been trying it out for a few hours now. While the scrolling is certainly smooth, and the pages well presented, and the on-screen mini-map useful, and zooming in and out very easy, it lacks polish in a way which would prevent it from being a serious safari competitor.

Some of the problems are inherent in the WM platform - most devices have small screens with low resolutions, so as zoomed-out page has very poor legibility in any case. However Netfront could have made is much easier to zoom in to intermediate levels of zoom, such as 75%, 25% etc, instead of hiding these options in a sub-menu.

Secondly the full page zoom should be the default on page loading, to reduce the disorientation of not knowing where you are on the page when it loads. Zooming out is pretty easy, (just a double tap on the screen), but its seems needed on every page load.

Lastly, the back button should not be hidden under a sub menu. This is one thing PIE has got right.

Also, javascript, while improved, is still not as good as it could be.

So, in short, a flawed diamond, but with a bit more polishing it could shine.

Surur
Submitted by surur (not verified) on Sat, 02/09/2008 - 06:31.
I agree with Surur's take. I'll add that another problem is that they need to either cut down the 3 or 4 different view types to just two or better explain what they are.
Submitted by Dieter Bohn on Mon, 02/11/2008 - 10:27.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

temp ad

New in the Forums

Follow WMExperts

 

Subscribe via RSS
   

 Add to Google Reader or Homepage


What is RSS?

Subscribe to the WMExperts Store Newsletter:

 
 
Creating smartphone communities
Android Central - Android reviews, news and forums Crackberry - Blackberry news, reviews and community TiPb - iPhone news, accessory reviews & forums
Pre Central - Palm Pre Review, News and Community Treo Central - Treo & Centro News and Forums WMExperts - Windows Mobile Reviews & News