RSSOpera Mini 5 beta for mobile closely follows Opera 10 in design
By Tim Conneally | Published September 16, 2009, 5:08 PM
Opera software is really on a roll. On the first day of September, the final version of Opera 10 Web browser was released. Today, the Opera Mini 5 beta has been released, porting all the successful design elements down from Opera 10 to even the most sluggish Java phone.
The latest Opera Mini 5 features tabbed browsing, the "speed dial" homescreen with thumbnails of the user's top six most visited sites, support for both touchscreen and keypad-based devices, a password manager, and an interface that is by far the best design work the company has done in the Mini format.
Users of Opera Mini 4.2 are in for a bit of a shock with this improved layout, and the change in function for menu buttons seems to have already thrown some users off. Several users today in Opera's forums were puzzled by the lack of a settings menu. It's not that there is no settings control, it's just that the menu button now pulls up the improved navigation bar, where a small pull-down menu lets the user access bookmarks, history, settings, inline text search, and help menu.
From here, the user can alter settings for image quality, inline text editing, font size, speed dial, landscape/portrait view, shortcut keys, full screen view, password manager, and more.
Opera Mini 5 uses the Presto 2.2 rendering engine, which supports the majority of JavaScript functions, except those that require asynchronous operations. It still lacks the rich content support (Flash, Silverlight, Etc.) that makes third party cross-platform browsers like Skyfire and Bolt stand out from the pack, but at a paltry 221k, Opera 5.0 beta still brings a fast and enjoyable experience to resource-constrained devices. Pages viewed in Opera Mini are rendered and compressed on Opera's servers, shrinking them as much as 90% for faster, easier consumption.
"The idea of navigating the vastness of the Web from such a small screen can be a daunting leap, which is why we have long committed to make the browsing experience you are familiar with from your PC, easy to do on your mobile phone," said Opera's CEO Jon von Tetzchner today.
To download the Opera Mini 5 beta for J2ME JAD/JAR-enabled phones, you can point your current mobile browser to m.opera.com/next. BlackBerry users running OS versions 4.2x, 4.3x, and 4.7x can go to the PC download site and transfer Opera Mini 5 to their devices. Device support for Android and iPhone is not yet complete.
Tried it in my BlackBerry Curve 8320 but didn't work well. Waiting for a release that supports my device. I know I have to change it but none of the updated BlackBerries fit my expectations. Maybe the Onyx.
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|Just buy an iphone and get it over with ;)
Score: -8
|oh yeah great idea when you have no choice but to sign up with AT&T, sorry iphone is nice but not worth dealing with THAT company!
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|What does buying an iPhone have to do with Opera Mini?
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|Too bad it isn't supported on PalmOS. My Centro has 5 or 6 months before I'm eligible for a subsidized replacement. It sucks when you get a viable phone at the time and then can't make it through the contract before it's already considered "old" and no longer seeing new software development.
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|Downloaded the Beta earlier today, and been playing with it off an on. Much better then 4.X browser. And the new design and layout is actually quite nice.
I played with Bolt, but this seems far more polished then Bolt is.
Flash would be nice to have though.
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|Its VERY NICE! looks a lot nicer and more "iStylized", it connects much more reliably, and loads pages much faster!
My "BETA" complains would be that it doesn't say anymore the size in KB of the site, the Mobile View doesn't allow scrolling with the left and right keys, you cant clear the speed dial frames, * and # shortcuts don't appear on screen when you press those keys and wait, and trying to save bookmarks in a different folder than default *closes* the program (not a crash).
But... It's a beta, so nothing to say. Just looking forward to it!
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|So who thinks Apple will once again reject Opera from the App Store? (Put it lightly, more like flat out deny access because Apple is afraid of competition and wants to lock out any competing products to their own).
So why does Microsoft get hit with using monopolistic practices? Apple isn't far behind...
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|Can you say misinformation? An Opera spokesman went so far as to say that they didn't submit it for approval.
Besides, Trend Micro did submit and have approved (quite a while ago) an anti-phishing-equipped web browser.
I'm glad to see version 5 of Opera Mini coming along. I hope that it handles web sites better with the zoom in/zoom out. I still find that version 3 was easier with some large web sites.
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|nice to see Opera 5 Mini coming along, will be downloading and trying it out later today on my Pearl. Just CAN'T STAND the Blackberry Browser! i noticed you just HAD to post that image ACTUAL BETA NEWS. I'm guessing this is due to the increased flaming of Betanews writers as of late in the comment sections lately?
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