CANNES, France-Japanese wireless browser company Access Co. Ltd. announced a series of new products and agreements the company hopes will increase sales to carriers and handset manufacturers.
On the handset side, Access announced its new NetFront Mobile Client Suite, which combines a WAP browser with a customizable user interface, messaging client, personal information management client, Java virtual machine and other technologies. The offering is an effort to simplify mobile-phone development by combining all the necessary data components into one product. Access is looking to take on rival browser company Openwave Systems Inc., which last year introduced its similar V7 Phone Tools product.
“With NetFront Mobile Client Suite, Access is redefining what operators and handset manufacturers can expect from phoneware. NetFront Mobile Client Suite offers the most comprehensive package of advanced mobile technologies in the market-it is truly a powerful global solution,” said Toru Arakawa, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “Our technologies helped propel DoCoMo’s i-mode service to its well-known success. Now, as mobile multimedia and the mobile Internet are rapidly evolving into global consumer must-haves, Access is again delivering the solutions that will help the industry achieve its next major growth phase. NetFront Mobile Client Suite is our most significant mobile technology to date.”
The company’s WAP browser has shipped in more than 100 million devices.
Access also announced a new resale agreement with Linux operating system company MontaVista Software Inc. Under the deal, the two companies agreed to develop a Linux OS for mobile phones that includes Access’ WAP browser, a product that would be built on Texas Instruments’ OMAP chipset. The companies said the move would speed phone makers’ development times.
