The mobile internet has
acquired a new port of entry today with the announcement by software provider ACCESS CS.,
LTD., that its Linux Platform functionality now supports Mobile Internet
Devices (MIDs), as well as NetFront Browser Widgets for mobile handsets and
consumer electronics. This significantly
expands both the actual and potential range of applications available to
business people on the move.
Citing over 590 million
deployments worldwide, ACCESS claims that its NetFront technology, on which
NetFront Browser Widgets are based, is one of the most popular mobile software platforms
currently on the market. As an open web
technology resource, it provides not only widget players and content, but also
development tools that operators and device manufacturers can use to build
their own applications. Users can trade
experience and advice, as well as test mobile widgets for free, on a community
site recently launched by ACCESS and entirely dedicated to NetFront Browser
Widgets.
As from today, NetFront
will be accessible through MIDs running the ACCESS Linux Platform, so that licensed
MID manufacturers will benefit from the same services that previously were
available only for web-enabled mobile phone handsets. This provides with an opportunity to further
customise their service offer and thus strengthen their brand identity. UI innovations and support for larger
displays are part of the package.
The press release quotes ABI
Research principal analyst Philip Solis, who underlines that the new offering?s
advantages are not to be viewed from the professional?s point of view only, but
also from the perspective of the users who will be its direct
beneficiaries. Solis stresses the
potential for development that MID technology represents, commenting that, "Mobile
Internet Devices will allow people to browse the web better than they can on
today's smartphones. Some of these
devices will have support for full cellular voice and, in some cases, will
replace handsets. This market will begin later this year and grow to about 90
million devices in 2012."
ACCESS Linux Platform for MIDs is available to
licensees immediately.