BETA: Opera Mobile 9.5 beta 2 includes widgets

Remo Knops — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:45:44 +0000

On Windows Mobile devices Opera Mobile is the best choice Internet Browser in my opinion. HTC teamed up with Opera and bundled Opera Mobile 9.5 with their HTC Touch Diamond and HTC Touch Pro devices. Opera is nicely integrated with the TouchFLO 3D software. For the larger public Opera already has made Opera Mobile 9.5 beta1 available to the public, and that version would expire today.

“Opera has built its second Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta based on user-generated feedback following its first public release earlier this year,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “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.” [ref01]

The feedback from the first beta is put back in the development cycle, and the result is the addition of widgets, which enable one-click access of web content. Furthermore this Opera Mobile 9.5 beta2 is also made available for the Symbian operating system.

“Several Opera Widgets are now pre-installed in the Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta builds, including Twitter, AccuWeather and a Shopping List. Additionally, Opera offers downloadable widgets at widgets.opera.com.” [ref01]

Furthermore the widgets can be interesting for mobile operators to access their own services. According to the::unwired T-Mobile and Opera are working on a widget for the Web ‘n Walk service. Also Opera Mobile profits from the widgets-experience of the desktop version of Opera.

“Opera has kept developer needs at the heart of this Beta release,” said Håkon Wium Lie, Chief Technology Officer, Opera Software. “All great developers need great tools to work with. Opera is an industry leader in making the Web a developer-friendly place by constantly innovating within the confines of Web standards. We will continue to create with developers in mind, as we intend to continue to grow our developer toolkit with each consecutive release.” [ref01]

Therefore Opera is keeping close contact with the developers-community launching several developer-tools as well as organizing a prize-contest. However have a quick click to the download link and get your copy of the beta now !!

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THOUGHTS: Opera Mobile 9.5 browsing experience

Remo Knops — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:00:12 +0000

After a short delay Opera made this morning the first public beta available of their Opera Mobile 9.5 browser, which we already have seen on the HTC Touch Diamond device. However it now becomes available, in beta ofcourse, for the wide public.

I first saw this browser working on the HTC Touch Diamond launch event, since it is in my opinion one of the unique selling points of the device. My description of the Oper Mobile 9.5 browser can be read below:

I will focus on Opera 9.5 and some additional (multimedia) features. In a live demon with HSDPA coverage the “Top Gear” page is used as an example. With a tab-and-hold on the page one can simple drag the page to the right position (compared to the pan view in some graphical applications). A double tap on the picture of an article immediately forces the zoom in on the article, including text wrap of the content. No left right scrolling anymore.

On the HTC Touch Diamond, the Opera browser was closely tied to the TouchFLO 3D interface, and we see in this general version a new button with finger friendly shortcuts to the most important options of the browser. These shortcuts open pop-up menu’s which make navigation through the software extremely fast. As described above, the major browsing-, manipulate- and zoom-functions are very intuitive, which in crease the usability of the software.

Arne Hess from the::unwired has shot a real nice video review [ref03], which provides a nice overview of the different options of this great browser. He tested it on both a Sony Xperia and his HTC Shift !! Matthew Miller from ZDNet has also a very nice image gallery [ref02], which are worth checking out !! Have a look, and download yourself to enjoy the browsing experience. This comes very very close to the iPhone browsing experience, and is really clever designed, so well done Opera !!

Reference list:

remo-knops.com » Beta

BETA: Opera Mobile 9.5 beta 2 includes widgets

THOUGHTS: Opera Mobile 9.5 browsing experience