msmobiles.com - Cellular News - France Télécom and ACCESS Partner to Develop Rich Media Solutions for Mobile Users

France Télécom and ACCESS Partner to Develop Rich Media Solutions for Mobile Users
May 11, 2005;
ACCESS produces also browser for Pocket PC...

ACCESS is the Japanese-listed company that developed compact HTML and the browser behind i-mode.

Mobile operators today are making a list of requirements and demands in order to deliver a branded, differentiated service. ACCESS' work with NTT DoCoMo paved the way for operators taking this approach.

As the established Japanese telco, DoCoMo laid down from the very beginning the specifications that handset manufacturers had to fulfil. ACCESS' modular technology sits on top of the handsets to provide the same user experience across a number of devices

ACCESS technology bridges the gap between the demands of the mobile operators and the technology offered by handset manufacturers

* * * * *

May 10, 2005 - Co., Ltd., (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813), a global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies, announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France Télécom for the joint development of a complete wireless Internet solution based on ACCESS' products and services. This R&D partnership will enable both companies to collaboratively design and deploy innovative, rich media mobile Internet technologies for France Télécom mobile customers.

The R&D department of France Télécom and ACCESS are committed to leveraging resources and sharing expertise to develop products based on the NetFront browser framework. The technologies that will be supported within the browser framework include SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), streaming video, SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language), and other rich media and animation technologies.

"France Telecom has been strongly involved for many years in the study of Rich Media technologies and the design of innovative services for our customers," said Jean-Marc Guillet, Rich Media project manager at France Télécom. "Teaming up with ACCESS through this common R&D process gives us the opportunity to leverage their global expertise to more quickly develop innovative and content-rich media capabilities that could directly benefit our mobile customers."

Widely recognized as one of the most advanced Internet browser technologies in the mobile market, ACCESS' NetFront browser provides end users with a comprehensive feature set that supports the latest Internet standards including OMA Browsing 2.2, WML, HTML 4.01, and cHTML as well as unique technologies that make mobile Internet browsing highly responsive and intuitive. Key among these technologies are Smart-Fit Rendering(tm), a technology that intelligently renders full Web pages to fit the screen width of mobile devices, eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling and Rapid-Render(tm), a progressive rendering technology that significantly accelerates the presentation of Web page data. NetFront browser also provides mobile professionals with unique business productivity features, like integrated support for Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files via Adobe® Reader(tm) LE software, a first for mobile browsers.

"This partnership is a key component in our goal for NetFront to deliver a seamless, content-rich Internet experience in tandem with sophisticated Web browsing technologies to mobile users worldwide," said Toru Arakawa, president and CEO of ACCESS. "Working hand-in-hand with the research and development units from a leading wireless operator, such as France Telecom, is an essential step in achieving this goal."

For more information: www.access.co.jp or www.access-us-inc.com.

Back to other news index