NetFront to Power New Handspring Web Browser

Posted By: Ryan Wednesday, July 16, 2003 8:02:31 AM

ACCESS has announced it has will provide the core foundation for Handspring’s new Blazer 3.0 Web browser. The new browser,will be based on ACCESS’ NetFront® v3.0 technology, and will be available in Handspring’s recently announced Treo 600.

Blazer Browser for Palm OS"Handspring is a leader in the handheld and smart phone marketplace developing innovative, award-winning products such as the Treo series. We are honored to have partnered with Handspring to develop the new Blazer 3.0 browser," said Toru Arakawa, president and chief executive officer of ACCESS Co. Ltd.

The new Blazer Web Browser 3.0 uses Handspring technology to optimize Web pages for display on the Treo 600. The new browser supports a full range of content types, including HTML 4.0, XHTML Basic and Mobile Profile, WML 1.3, cHTML (i-mode), a variety of image formats, style sheets, JavaScript and more.

The browser also introduces new features such as saved pages, vertical and horizontal viewing modes, cross-application integration with email, phone and SMS and the ability to download ring tones, pictures, and applications over the air directly to the Treo 600.

Thanks to Gfunkmagic for the tip.

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No mention of PalmOS version?

jamesgood72 @ 7/16/2003 8:22:50 AM #
Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that there is no information about Netfront being available on the Palm platform on their website? They list support for just about every other OS, including all the flavours of PocketPC, Linux, even DTV. There is a news items for the Handspring release, but even that doesn't mention PalmOS.

http://www.access.co.jp/english/index.html
http://www.access-us-inc.com/products/cewb.asp

I run it on my Sony, and it's a decent browser, probably the best on PalmOS.

Strange...

-James.

RE: No mention of PalmOS version?
zampheer @ 7/16/2003 11:14:14 AM #
There are news posts in Japanese:

Treo600
http://www.access.co.jp/press/030714.html

CLIE
http://www.access.co.jp/press/021018.html

-Bra

Screen shots here...

gfunkmagic @ 7/16/2003 9:53:38 AM #
Infosync posted some screen shots here:

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3827.html

Visit http://goodthatway.com/
-better living through better technology.

RE: Screen shots here...
Tungstenman @ 7/16/2003 12:10:20 PM #
Its not high res, but it looks very good. Too bad its not compatible with tungstens, which have high resolution screens.

A Palm in one hand is worth 2 Pocket PC Bricks
: )
-Steve
RE: Screen shots here...
Edward Green @ 7/16/2003 2:11:30 PM #
Isn't the Tungsten C browser based on Netfront?

Edward Green
--
http://www.khite.co.uk
RE: Screen shots here...
Altema @ 7/16/2003 2:27:25 PM #
"Its not high res, but it looks very good."

Not surprising since none of their current devices have hi res. I emailed them about a hi res upgrade to Blazer and they would not respond.

RE: Screen shots here...
Tungsten @ 7/16/2003 5:09:53 PM #
Jeff Hawkins' obsession with 160x160 is unbelievable. Whatever he once stood for in the PDA industry is largely irrelevant today.

Netfront Uber Alles

mikecane @ 7/16/2003 6:38:11 PM #
Is anyone else disturbed by the seeming monopoly Netfront ACCESS has grabbed in the PDA/phone markets?

I wish Opera would get ported to PalmOS!

RE: Netfront ber Alles
Token User @ 7/16/2003 6:40:53 PM #
I really hate "me too" posts, but I second that. Opera is a well written, widely ported browser. If they can shoehorn it into cellphones, and Symbian devices, it *should* work under PalmOS...

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~
RE: Netfront Uber Alles
ocspub @ 7/16/2003 8:18:28 PM #
Did you ask them why they don't offer it?

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
jamesgood72 @ 7/16/2003 8:45:15 PM #
Has anyone here used Opera on a small device? I use it all the time on my desktop machine, but I wonder how well it functions in a small footprint. It may be smaller than IE, but the Opera for Windows is still a huge application in comparison to a PalmOS app.

-James.

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
epall @ 7/16/2003 9:43:55 PM #
I thought there was an Opera for PalmOS... I guess it's just for the P800.

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
mikecane @ 7/16/2003 10:00:02 PM #
The P800 is a smartphone that uses the Symbian OS.

Yes, there is Opera for a PDA: the original Sharp Zaurus with the hidden keyboard (5500, is it?). It's a fantastic browser -- Z owners love it. Which makes it all the more surprising that Sharp dumped it for -- you guessed it! -- Netfront ACCESS in the new models!

PalmOS needs Opera and should have Opera.

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
jamesgood72 @ 7/16/2003 10:42:24 PM #
Mike, any idea how large the Opera executable is for Symbian or Linux? Netfront weighs in at over 2MB on my Clie, so it's no light-weight really. Mozilla Firebird is only 6MB on Windows, which is amazing compared to IE's 60MB!

Blazer was tiny - but that had extremely limited capabilities.

-James.

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
abosco @ 7/16/2003 11:36:35 PM #
Guys, do you know why NetFront is gaining a monopoly? Because it's the best damn browser, PERIOD. It looks pretty strong on the PPC side, too. PalmSource based Palm Browser 2 off NetFront 3.0, Sony was the first to bundle NetFront 3.0 (v1.1.16, now up to v1.1.47), and now HandSpring.

Opera is a tiny file on Windows, but it's still huge on mobile devices. NetFront 3.0 is 2 MB, can now be run from the card, wants to make a deal with Macromedia to bring Flash content viewing in NetFront, plus support for plugins. Yes, soon we will be able to seemlessly watch a Quicktime video, scroll through a PDF file, and enjoy HomeStarRunner, all without leaving the comfort of NetFront.

I don't find it sickening at all since this product rules so much. Try it and see. Sites sometimes look even better than on the desktop. I wish I was kidding. Hey, I'm all for choices, so bring Opera to Palm OS. I'll still be using NetFront. And with a large dynamic heap (T|C, NX80v), there are no "Page Too Large" errors common in the original NX series. NetFront is approaching nirvana.

-Bosco

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
jamesgood72 @ 7/17/2003 9:15:58 AM #
Bosco,

Netfront is good, and sites do look good on it. However, Opera 7.11 on my Windows machine is 1.2MB, plus a few hundred K of DLL's. That's quite a bit smaller than Netfront on PalmOS, even. I'd love to see Opera for Palm. Maybe we (the PalmOS community) should petition them.

I wish Access would fix that 'scaling content but not frames' issue when using the zoomed out mode. It would be pretty close to perfect for me then, assumuing my TG50 had the larger heap too...

-James.


RE: Netfront Uber Alles
ganoe @ 7/17/2003 10:56:58 AM #
> Yes, there is Opera for a PDA: the original Sharp Zaurus with the
> hidden keyboard (5500, is it?). It's a fantastic browser -- Z owners
> love it. Which makes it all the more surprising that Sharp dumped it for
> -- you guessed it! -- Netfront ACCESS in the new models!

The new Zaurus sold in the US, the SL-5600, comes with a fairly recent version of Opera. It is a very nice browser.

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
mikecane @ 7/17/2003 11:08:39 AM #
>>>Guys, do you know why NetFront is gaining a monopoly? Because it's the best damn browser, PERIOD.

abosco is hallucinating again, I see.

Have you even TRIED Opera on the Z?! Have you even PLAYED with it in a store, offline? NetFront -- FEH!

I don't know the size of Opera for the Z offhand. But I see the ZIP for Psion is a wee over 1MB.

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
abosco @ 7/17/2003 11:41:47 AM #
Opera can't even get pages to display correctly on the desktop, and you want me to like those screwed up pages on a smaller screen?

NetFront needs a large heap. When it has that heap, it's the best browser. It's no hallucination, NetFront owns for a reason.

-Bosco

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
mikecane @ 7/17/2003 11:54:22 AM #
The wrong reason(s).

RE: Netfront Uber Alles
aardvarko @ 7/17/2003 9:26:26 PM #
Considering the length of time for which you deludedly claimed that NetFront was incapable of selecting and copying text, I'm not entirely sure you're qualified to comment, Mike.

(Awaiting the Shoe Treatment)

-aardvarko
webmaster at aardvarko dot com
http://aardvarko.com

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