The last time I looked at a concept version of Netfront, they were playing with UI enhancements. This new version still maintains a lot of the enhancements introduced in the last update, but seems to focus on simplification and speed.
A lot of the old features are there, and some a of the chintz has been dropped. Also the settings have been simply negated, there is only two settings options… so it’s all rather cryptic
The browser settings are incredibly simple, and certificate support is not included, as per the beta use agreement. Encoding, History, Page properties and about are all functional.
The view settings have been modified to integrate with the current range of higher screen resolution Windows Mobile devices, and intuitively, those choices are only one level down. I do think though, that it renders very well, and runs scripts incredibly well. The script that runs the feature box at the top right of the page here, looks better on my phone than on my PC.
Access have reverted to a favourites/bookmark menu, that is stylus dependant. which breaks the back of this release. Though it also reins in one of the memory hog factors of the last Beta version.
In all. this version of Netfront offers a vast improvement in rendering speed, and runs a lot more embedded code on sites, than the last Beta. It’s still rather fluid, and recreates most desktop versions of sites I like, faithfully. It is not flash enabled. It will import your MIE bookmarks automatically, but no bookmarks from other browsers. The url input, the whole interface that requires you to input text is… screwed up. There is no gSensor support apparent, and I’m proof that it works with Windows Mobile 6.5. I should probably turn off HTC’s shell and see how it performs as well.
This is a solid release from Access, if not a bit confusing, they have taken out the bling, and suped up the motor. It’s like driving a classic car, with a rocket motor.
Quick Look: Netfront Browser 4.0, Concept Version!
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