| Mobile browser features widgets technology |
Feb. 05, 2008
 Opera has announced an enhanced version of its web browser for Windows Mobile devices. Opera Mobile 9.5 offers mini-applications called Opera Widgets, improved performance, a fullscreen mode with enhanced panning and zooming, and support for Flash Lite, according to the company.
(Click here for a larger view of Opera Mobile 9.5)
The new browser version uses Opera's "Presto" rendering engine, which, the company claims, achieves page load speeds comparable to a desktop browser. The Presto engine also dramatically improves page responsiveness on pages with heavy use of languages such as JavaScript and AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML), according to Opera.
Opera Mobile 9.5 is also the first Windows Mobile browser to support Widgets, small applications that run inside Opera, but without its standard border, menus and other "chrome." Since their introduction in June 2007, Widgets have run on desktop editions of Opera 9, and on Opera 9 for Devices, which targets Linux-based set-top boxes, portable media players, game consoles, and other devices.
Opera says Widgets can be used by any web developer or even end-user, thanks to their support for web standards such as Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and Document Object Model (DOM). In addition, they can run full-screen (left, below) or can be overlaid on a device's home screen (right, below)
 
Opera Widgets can run full-screen (left) or be overlaid on a device's home screen (right)
Other notable features in Opera Mobile 9.5 include its ability to display an entire web page on the screen of a mobile device. Users can zoom in on any portion of this by double-tapping with a stylus, and pan around it by holding the stylus on the screen and using it to drag the page around. When in full-screen mode, the browser provides access to menus via a translucent arrow at the lower right (visible in the right-hand photo below).
Other user interface features include tabbed browsing (leftmost photo, below), landscape mode, improved text wrapping, popup menus, and the ability to send any links or images as SMS/MMS messages (right-hand photo, below). The browser now also can save web pages to a device in their entirety, for future access offline. The included Flash Lite technology will "provide access to the full web, including the ability to watch videos on YouTube effortlessly," the company says.
 
Opera Mobile 9.5 supports tabbed browsing and can send images or links via SMS/MMS
Windows Mobile web browsers were once a comparative rarity, leaving most users to stick with Internet Explorer, but the new Opera version now joins a passel of alternatives. In addition to a forthcoming product based on Firefox, these include IbisBrowserDX, NetFront, Opera Mini, and the most recently introduced, Skyfire.
Further information
Today's "commercial release" of Opera Mobile 9.5 is targeted at phone manufacturers and network operators. Touted benefits for carriers include increased data revenue -- said to be likely because content is easier to access -- and the fact that operators can use the Widgets technology to brand a device easily.
The product is not yet available to end users, though a public beta was made available in October 2007. A video demonstration of the browser is available on Opera's website, here.
Opera Mobile 9.5 will be available on all major platforms including Windows Mobile, Linux, and Symbian, according to the company, which added that its release will be announced shortly.
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(Click here for further information)
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