Guest Beezer Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 (edited) Hi Paul. Access have just opened a new beta for version 3.4 of their Netfront browser I know you are a big fan of Opera but give it a spin. I find the virtual canvas option it provides is very good for websites that otherwise refuse to render on a pda. It's a bit like using logmein to control a remote PC. Netfront tells the web page it has 1024 x 768 (or whatever) to draw in and then lets you glide around it. I think it also jiggers the fonts a bit to keep them legible within that overall concept. http://www.access-company.com/products/net...r/34_wm_tp.html It also has an advanced column mode renderer as per the picture below (though personally I prefer to switch on the canvas options): As for their bookmark browser - well that's 100% brilliant. You can see the inspiration from Apple's work with Album covers on the iPod. There are some images of this thumbnail merrygoround on their page as follows: I won't rant on. Try it and see what you think. It's free for a bit on beta but I suspect they will charge later. Dang these beta peddlars and their ever so hooking wares. I'll have to wean myself off again if the final price is too high. :( Edited January 8, 2008 by Beezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul (MVP) Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 When did this come out? Is it a new preview build? P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Panthro Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 When did this come out? Is it a new preview build? P IS this ONLY for Windows Mobile 6 Professional, Smartphone editions not supported? Strange because within the platform it specifically and seperately mentions Smartphone & PPC Phone Edition. Its in the schematic of tech diagram. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Menneisyys Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 IS this ONLY for Windows Mobile 6 Professional, Smartphone editions not supported? Strange because within the platform it specifically and seperately mentions Smartphone & PPC Phone Edition. Its in the schematic of tech diagram. It lso runs on the MS Smartphone with some manual hacking. See my MS Smartphone Web Browsing Bible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Beezer Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 When did this come out? Is it a new preview build? P I looked at a "web browsing bible" on the net and it mentioned that 3.4 might be cool / a return to form so I guess this preview has come out since that was last updated. Plus it has a "new" blurb next to the link on the menu of their own site. Yes it is a technology preview / beta. I am unsure of its release date. It's set to expire end of February by the look of it. I searched Modaco before I posted it as news. There did not seem to be much on Netfront at all. One problem I have spotted is that the browser, particularly in canvas mode is actually too good at fooling sites into thinking it is a desktop PC. Whatever flag the servers expect (screen res maybe) does not toggle on all sites and you sometimes getthe desktop implementation whereas the PDA version would have been better had your use of a PDA been properly detected. Logmein is a particular example. I still like the beta for it's ability to render sites that give two fingers to any attempt to render them on a PDA by other means. With this you really can surf the whole web no matter how unhelpful the server is. Were I to give Access some advice on pre launch fixes it would be to look at the PDA recognition issue and also to do something about navigating the large canvas pages once they are rendered. I know from personal use that MS RDP and Logmein have good solutions as reputedly does Safari. So why Netfront still relies on scoll bars is a (possibly patent related) mystery. The rendering is great but the navigation round it aint. In summary - an interesting WM capable browser that has some tricks the other options don't and can open up the whole internet rather than just the PDA friendly parts, but with some faults of its own that may send you back to IE on occasion. Useful but ideosynchratic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Menneisyys Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 One problem I have spotted is that the browser, particularly in canvas mode is actually too good at fooling sites into thinking it is a desktop PC. Whatever flag the servers expect (screen res maybe) does not toggle on all sites and you sometimes getthe desktop implementation whereas the PDA version would have been better had your use of a PDA been properly detected. Logmein is a particular example. This has also been explained in the Bible (the non-Smartphone, previous one) - in there, I've explained what User-Agent string you need to enter into NetFront so that it reports itself as the built-in IEM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Menneisyys Posted January 19, 2008 Report Share Posted January 19, 2008 Yes it is a technology preview / beta. I am unsure of its release date. It's set to expire end of February by the look of it. Given that NF 3.4 has been a TP for more than a year, while few things have been changed / added in the meantime, I don't have high hopes about a close release... sometime in 2008, I'd assume :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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