| Opera spins new mobile browser beta |
Oct. 20, 2008
 Opera Software has released a new beta version of its web browser for Windows Mobile devices. Opera Mobile, version 9.51 beta 2, now loads web pages faster and includes support for small software applications known as widgets, the company says.
(Click here for a larger view of Opera Mobile 9.5)
Opera Mobile 9.5 first shipped in February with HTC's Touch Diamond phone, and was offered in a downloadable public beta in July. Featuring a proprietary core rendering engine called Presto 2.1, the browser lets users pan and zoom around the screen with their fingers or with a stylus, and open context-sensitive menus (below right) by tapping and holding on the screen.
 
Opera Mobile 9.5 opens pages in full-screen mode, with available context-sensitive menus
(Click either to enlarge)
Last month, Opera Software and Nvidia announced plans to collaborate on a version of Opera Mobile 9.5 the companies claim will deliver higher performance and lower battery consumption on devices using the chipmaker's ARM11-based SoCs. Devices using the Tegra processors and an "optimized" Opera Mobile are expected to ship next year.
Meanwhile, today's Opera Mobile version 9.51 beta 2 for Windows Mobile primarily adds compatibility with Opera's "widgets" architecture for creating small, portable software applications. Similar to though apparently not completely compatible with widgets implementations being promoted by Access, Google, and Yahoo!, the technology is touted as an easy way for carriers to add branded software to devices quickly.
 
Opera's widgets currently look like standard Windows Mobile applications (left) and run fullscreen (right
(Click to enlarge)
On desktop versions of the Opera web browser, widgets pop up over other applications a user may be running. In the company's initial mobile implementation, as tested this morning by WindowsForDevices, widgets appear in a Windows Mobile device's standard list of applications (above left), and take over the screen when run (above right). As we found, users can visit a website maintained by Opera (below left) and install widgets OTA (over the air).
 
Opera's widgets site (left) allows users to download applications to a phone directly
(Click to enlarge)
Noting that as of today's beta, its mobile widgets architecture also supports smartphones based on Symbian's UIQ and S60 architectures, Opera Software said it also recently updated its widget SDK (software development kit) with two new features. First, a device manager for S60, UIQ, and Windows Mobile now allows testing widgets that are under development on a mobile device directly. Second, the "Dragonfly" debugging tool suports JavaScript, CSS (cascading style sheets), and the DOM (document object model), the company says.
Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, of Opera Software, stated, "Opera has built its second Opera Mobile 9.5 beta based on user-generated feedback following its first public release earlier this year. In addition to Opera Widgets, this new test version promises to be a smoother ride than the previous version, as we have improved page loading times and increased our focus on end-user productivity."
The fox marches on
In a related development, Mozilla Labs' Mobile Firefox ("Fennec") has come that much closer to release. Mozilla developer Mark Finkle, who blogged earlier this month that "we should be getting some Fennec builds for Windows Mobile soon," has now announced the "first alpha" of Fennec.
The "Fennec" alpha now runs on Windows desktops
(Click to enlarge)
Known as "milestone 9," the new version once more initially targets Nokia's N800/810 tablet, which runs Linux. This time around, Windows users can play with it too, however, because Mozilla has released Fennec builds for Windows (shown above), OS X, and Linux desktop computers. "We want you to be able to experiment, provide feedback, write add-ons, and generally get involved with the Mozilla Mobile project, even if you don’t have a device," writes Finkle.
Tested by WindowsForDevices on a standard notebook computer, the Windows version was subjectively very speedy, and allowed accessing tabs and controls by dragging the mouse from left to right. For further information on Fennec, including additional screenshots, see our prior coverage, starting here.
Further information
Opera Mobile 9.5 version 9.51 beta 2 is downloadable now from the company's website, here. The Opera Widgets SDK is also available, here.
Mark Finkle's blog posting about Fennec milestone 9 is available here. Windows, OS X, and Linux builds of the web browser are downloadable at the Mozilla Labs website, here.
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