an ordinary blog — andr3.net

Access, a global provider of Internet technologies to the mobile and beyond-PC markets, has announced (press release) that their world-renowned browser NetFront has been deployed on more than 200 million devices worldwide. This is spread over 720 different products on various platforms (Palm®OS, Symbian, BREW^TM, Windows Mobile family, REX OS, etc.)

What is it?

Netfront is a browser made for mobile devices that on top of its support for all the platforms mentioned above, includes support for a respectable pack of standards that would make some desktop browsers weep. That pack includes HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.1 (and XHTML-MP) , Javascript 1.5, CSS 1 and 2 (partially), graphic formats (jpeg, png, gif, etc.), HTTP cookies, HTTP 1.1, SSL3, IPv4 and IPv6, etc. Their last version even supports ATOM/RSS feeds! Have a look at their page about Netfront or view the animated gif.

The Numbers

These numbers are quite impressive. Even though they are worldwide numbers, 200 million on 192 countries makes a distorted average of ~1million per country. I'd really like to see – and i bet i'm not the only one – these numbers broken down by country. It would definitely help us webdevelopers to evaluate the actual state of the mobile web in each country. I'm aware that Vodafone in Portugal is selling some Symbian phones that include Netfront and that can be an answer to the incredible numbers they're reporting. The fact that providers are including the browser in their products doesn't necessarily mean that their clients are using it. Also, Netfront is popular in devices other than mobile phones. It's widely used in set-top boxes, digital televisions, car navigation systems, and dedicated Internet terminals.

Also relevant is the fact that it's the browser's own company releasing these numbers. These numbers are just as plausible as the ones of Firefox downloads on spreadfirefox.com. This can very well be a mere marketing strategy.

Is it worth it?

Honestly, I've tried the browser on my father's Nokia and overlooking Netfront's tendency to ignore the media attribute in the style element, i'd say it's a very robust and capable browser to have on your mobile device. I still need to try Opera Mini before recommending it as the ultimate mobile browser, but for now, i'll just say give it a try.