Topic: Access to Provide 3DS Internet Browser

[NWR_Karlie]

The new handheld will not be using Opera's browser as the Nintendo DS did.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/25530

Access, a company who develops embedded software, will be providing a version of the NetFront browser for the Nintendo 3DS. The Internet browser will be available for download through a software update in May.

The Internet browser is currently in use in over one billion devices including mobile phones. Notable versions are those produced for Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

The Nintendo DS initially used an Opera provided and named Internet browser, which later lost the Opera name and was known simply as the Nintendo DS/DSi Browser.

[TurdFurgy]

So am I going to be able to watch YouTube vids on my 3DS?

[Mop it up]

You will as long as it has at least Flash 8 like the Wii browser.

[yoshi1001]

Interesting. This switchover may explain why it wasn't ready for launch.

[TJ Spyke]

Is it too much to hope that it will support Flash Mobile 10.1?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Is it too much to hope that it will support Flash Mobile 10.1?

No. infact we should all expect it to.

[AV]

Never heard of Access, but whatever as long as its fast and smooth and has up to date flash I'll be happy

[MegaByte]

This is really disappointing. I don't know whether it was technical reasons, licensing, or something else that led to the change, but Opera's browser is far superior. Unless Access steps up their game, this will make developing for 3DS compatibility a huge headache. I almost wonder if it was done to discourage HTML5-based games. I also wouldn't count on Flash since the 3DS has a fairly low-power processor.

[TJ Spyke]

MB, do you really see people making Internet games with the 3DS Internet browser in mind? Because from what I can tell, this will have no impact on 3DS or 3DSWare games.

[MegaByte]

Yes. HTML5 gaming is just starting to get big. There were a few simple games for the DS browser, but it was simply too underpowered to do anything interesting.
However, I'm more worried about just browsing regular sites in this browser. Things might work okay now, but I worry about future advancement. Perhaps somebody with more experience with the PlayStation browsers can comment.

[Mop it up]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that they would have to pay a licencing fee to use the latest version of Flash, but they could use an older version without paying a fee. I believe this was the reason the Wii browser had Flash 7 originally, and upgraded to Flash 8 once it became free of licencing. But I may be recalling incorrectly.

[MegaByte]

Regardless, full Flash is only available for ARM Cortex-A8 and above (600MHz+), which is out of range of the 3DS. There's a possibility for Flash Lite.

[Mop it up]

Can Flash Lite (lol puns) be used to view YouTube, as the member above wanted to know?

I'd at least think the mobile version of YouTube would work on the 3DS, but I guess that doesn't matter much since it wouldn't be different than viewing it on your phone.

[MegaByte]

The lower-quality streams should work. They'd probably kill the battery.

[only1gameguru]

From my experience with browsing the internet with the wii, there was a lot of room for improvement on how a browser works with a console, in truth i ended up uninstalling internet channel... Though when I can actually get a 3DS I would hope it'd atleast access .mobile sites faster then my Wii did google searches.

[NintendoFanboy]

If they allow streaming of h.264 video, oh say like the ipod touch, it can stream youtube.
i go to the youtube mobile site with my old 1st gen silverback iphone and watch
youtube videos, as long as they allow streaming. You dont need flash, would be nice but
 if i have netflix(check) and youtube( ? ) im fine with no flash.