Developer(s) Access Co., Ltd. Development status Active | Initial release 1995 (1995) | |
 | ||
Stable release 4.3 / February 1, 2012; 5 years ago (2012-02-01) Operating system Engine NetFront, WebKit (some versions) | ||
NetFront Browser is a mobile Web browser for embedded devices, developed by Access Co. Ltd. of Japan, and was designed to function as an embedded Web browser.
Contents
Mainly deployed on mobile phones, NetFront Browser is available for multiple platforms (see right info box) and has been deployed in multifunction printers (MFP), digital TVs, set-top boxes (STB), PDAs, web phones, game consoles, e-mail terminals, automobile telematics systems and other device types.
The browser converts tables in a Web page into a vertical display, eliminating the need to scroll horizontally. This allows the user to zoom in and out on Web pages from 25% to 100%, and can select or scroll anywhere on a page with the stylus on Pocket PC devices.
Access has also released NetFront Life Browser for Android and iOS smartphones and NetFront Browser NX for other embedded devices such as tablets and set-top boxes. Both these browsers are based on WebKit and run on most mobile operating systems including Linux, Android, Unix, and Windows CE. NX can also run HTML5 content.
Platforms
The Nintendo 3DS Internet browser uses the WebKit-based NetFront Browser NX according to the documentation included with the browser. The PlayStation 3 Internet web browser received a major upgrade with firmware version 4.10, upgrading to a custom version of the NetFront browser, adding limited HTML5 support and improved JavaScript speeds. The Wii U console is also equipped with NetFront NX, and GPL source code is available. The Amazon Kindle e-reader uses NetFront as its web browser. Nintendo's latest console, the Nintendo Switch, is also using NetFront NX.
Performance
Netfront 3.5 had an Acid3 score of 11/100 and NetFront Browser NX v1.0 had an Acid3 score of 92/100.