The Download Blog

These days, Mozilla's Fennec and the Skyfire browser have been stealing all the thunder in the mobile browsing space. On Wednesday morning (that's Tuesday night for us in San Francisco), Opera yanked some of it back with the release of Opera Mini 5 beta for Java phones.

Introducing a graphically enriched layout topside and new features below decks, the new Opera Mini beta browser is snappier, more attractive, and more advanced than last year's predecessor, Opera Mini 4.2. Mini 5 beta brings over several features from Opera's desktop browser (Opera 10 for Windows | Mac.) Tabbed browsing is among them, as is a password manager. Each page opens with Speed Dial, a grid of nine thumbnail images and Opera Desktop mainstay, that you assign to favorite Web sites and can select among to quickly launch a Web page. The Speed Dial view replaces Opera Mini's previous landing page, a tangle of links capped with a search box and URL field. These thumbnail images make the landing page more meaningful, both in giving users a visual they can instantly recognize, and creating an easier target for users to accurately hit on touchscreen phones than a scrawny little link.

While the URL field and search bars haven't joined together in this beta as they have in other mobile browsers and in most desktop browsers out there, Opera has at least consolidated the two onto a single line. To address another long-overdue fix, Opera now lets you type directly into a text field. In previous versions, clicking a field opened up a blank page, where you were prompted to start typing before you could return to the main interface.

Opera Mini gets into Opera Desktop's Speed Dial start screen.

(Credit: Opera Software)

Opera Mini's navigation menu received another overhaul in Mini 5 beta. Opera moved it up to the top and made it completely icon-based. Press downward (on a D-pad for a keypad phone) to engage more items, like bookmarks, history, settings, and the Find in Page search tool, a new one for Opera Mini. Find in Page has previously been available in Opera Mini; it's nice to see it return.

The password manager that's new to Opera Mini works as expected, producing a dialog box the first time you log into a site asking if you'd like it to remember your credentials. You can turn this off in the Privacy portion of the Settings submenu.

Many additional features carry over from previous Opera Mini versions, including options to view the page as you would from the desktop versus a mobile view. There are also the usual shortcut keys and support for landscape mode on most phones (not on BlackBerrys, unfortunately, an ongoing omission). There are also additional options that pop up in response to long presses on the 'select' key or on the touchscreen, like for selecting and copying text, opening the image, and now, for opening content in a new tab.

If you're one of the Opera Mini users who had noticed some mildly strange behavior in the Opera Mini 4.2 browser for Java phones, you'll be happy to know that Opera quietly fixed the bug.

Users reported a problem, Opera said in a blog post, that reverted sites to Desktop mode even if the preferences were marked for Mobile view. The display error occurred after users had accessed their RSS feeds.

Opera Software rolled out a minor server upgrade on Wednesday--version 4.10.422--that resolves the issue.

You may now resume browsing with abandon in Mobile view.

Opera Mini 4.2 enables standard features absent in the beta.

(Credit: Opera Software)

The final release of Opera Mini 4.2 for Google Android adds regular features of the Java browser that were disabled in its November beta version. Think more of a mechanic tightening up loose nuts and bolts, rather than operating on engine guts, and you've got the premise.

Available starting Wednesday in the Android Market, Opera Mini 4.2 for Google Android now lets you upload and download files, save pages, and zoom in and out in response to a double tap.

You'll also be able to enter URLs directly into the address bar--instead of having to go through the phone's native input system--and, as with Opera Mini on other mobile platforms, launching a video from a Web page links up to your media player. Video playback had not been supported in Opera Mini 4.2 beta.

Opera has also dispatched some bugs in this final version, including one that displayed the characters of your password when you typed it in, and another that caused upheaval when you closed the app via the Back button. Opera Mini 4.2 also boasts a speedier response to the trackball and a slightly larger font size on most pages to improve readability.

Bringing the Mini browser up to snuff does improve the surfing experience for owners and future owners of Android phones. But for Opera, getting its browser first to Google's mobile platform, and maintaining a dominant presence on all the mobile platforms, is the company's big win.

(Credit: Opera Software)

Only yesterday Opera Mini 4.2 beta joined Google's Android Market. On Tuesday, the mini update to Opera's mobile browser for Java phones became the app's new benchmark.

The version 4.2 release appears identical to the beta version (review), made available for download just two weeks before. It boasts speeds up to 30 percent faster, a modified video playback that triggers a media player to stream a video, greater multilingual support, and the reintroduction of skins, a visual extra that had made a short hiatus when Opera upgraded Mini to version 4.0.

In addition, Opera's release of Mini 4.2 coincides with Sprint's upgrade to version MR-4 of its firmware, a bug fixing release that will let Opera users download the mobile browser to Samsung Instinct phones.

Download Opera Mini 4.2 for Java phones.

Opera Mini 4.2 beta, a test version released for Java phones just two weeks ago, on Monday became the first third-party browser available for Google Android.

Opera Mini 4.2 is the first browsing alternative for Google's Android mobile operating system.

(Credit: Opera Software)

Opera Mini for Android, which was previewed in April, includes most of the familiar Mini 4.2 features: zooming, saving, bookmarking, and searching for in-line text has stayed intact, as has syncing via Opera Link and swapping skins.

We couldn't make the video playback workaround that debuted on other Java phones work in this build, though T-Mobile's USA's G1 phone does support video playback (see our review on TuneWiki.) We hear that Opera will address this issue when the mobile browser comes out of beta.

What's distinctive and commendable of the Android-optimized build: fast speeds over T-Mobile's 3G network, a very crisp display, and quality that approaches the iPhone when it comes to viewing a zoomed-out Web page, thanks to both screen size and image clarity. The G1's two menu keys also enhance the experience, making Opera Mini's controls easy to access and navigate.

Google Android was low-hanging fruit for Opera. It would have been better, of course, if the browser had been available when the G1 began selling, but of all third-party developers, Opera still managed to bring its free browser first to Android's market--and a very able version at that.

We're hoping that Opera will port its more robust Mobile version to Android next, and as always, that Opera will release a version that lets users type directly into a text field without pulling up an intermediary screen.

Skins are reinstated in version 4.2.

(Credit: Opera Software)

With so much energy and progress in the mobile browser space these past two months (see here and here), you would expect the makers of the venerable Opera Mini browser to release an update that makes real progress on its free browser for Java phones.

Instead, on Tuesday, Norway-based Opera Software pushed a mini update (download) that tacks on one syncing function, an assortment of skins worthy of Apple's iPod bonanza, and a wobbly kluge for introducing video playback.

Opera Mini's video playback is the biggest news here. It's in such high demand in the mobile world, it's little wonder why Opera wanted to give users some ability to get to videos using Opera Mini as the conduit. The new system slaps on a patch, but still passes you off to your native browser or media player to play a video when you click the link.

Opera reports that in Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones, for instance, Opera Mini will activate the media player when you click a video like YouTube. It will either close on its own and toss you back to Opera Mini, or you'll shut down and be passed back to the browser.

Competitor Skyfire's in-browser video streaming is far from ideal, but it manages to keep users from taking their eyes off the application. Considering that Skyfire's technology is similar to Opera Mini's and that Skyfire just barely opened its beta, it's a little disappointing that this bridge is all the mighty Opera can muster. Of course, Skyfire has a much smaller operation to maintain in terms of bandwidth costs and it's not certain they can continue to offer video to all interested users. However, Skyfire has gained enough ground to make Opera's added functionality look like a missed mark.

Nothing new here except the color.

(Credit: Opera Software)

Opera Link, rainbow skins

In another tiny tweak, Opera Link gains the ability to sync notes to the Mini browser. The syncing feature shares up-to-date bookmarks and Speed Dial with any other Opera browser when you sign in. The minuscule addition makes you wonder why they didn't go ahead and throw in the ability to sync history, too.

The return of candy-colored skins is Opera's final front-end change. Skinning was slashed after version 3 as Opera's developers rewrote only the most essential code. The six skins--which you switch among by hitting Settings, then Appearance--include green, yellow, pink, silver, black, and a red not dissimilar to Opera Mini's original hue.

The final addition is worth pointing out is wholly back-end. Opera has added a server park in the U.S. that will speed performance for Opera Mini in the U.S. and Asia. The extra servers will disperse the load of users demanding resources; they will also keep those requests more centralized to the source, rather than routing data through Norway and back.

On Tuesday, Opera sewed up a short beta run of Opera Mini 4.1. After a mere month and a half, the Norwegian software company declared the cell phone browser build stable enough to institute as the latest product standard.

Opera Mini 4.1, like Opera 9.5 Beta 2, can now guess the URL you want when you enter a search term in the address bar, a praiseworthy ability. It can also highlight terms on a Web page to let you zero in on most-wanted data bites. You'll use this Find feature, common to desktop browsers, by hitting the Menu button and selecting Find in Page.

While everyone can save entire Web pages for offline viewing and enjoy Opera Mini 4.1's improved compression speeds (Opera claims it's 50 percent faster,) only Java-enabled cell phones supporting JSR-75 will be able to take advantage of uploading and downloading any file via Opera's mobile Web. The good news is this will apply to most phones released in the last few years. BlackBerry devices older than 4.2, for instance, won't be able to support this promised windfall of a feature. Users will still need to equip the phone with the right media players and readers to view the downloaded files.

The wide world of Opera browser products can admittedly get a little confusing. As a refresher, Opera Mini 4.1 works well on most Java handsets, including BlackBerry, and on Palm phones running a Java environment. Those who download Opera's browser to Windows Mobile and Symbian phones will get Opera Mobile, a more advanced, commercial browser with a 30-day trial.

The drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window is indispensable for information hounds who regularly narrow their searches to specific databases. Some queries will yield more precise results if bounced around Amazon or Wikipedia instead of Yahoo or Google. CNET producer Randall Bennett demonstrates how you can achieve the same in Opera Mini 4 by adding custom search engines.

While Google's mobile phone platform, Android, and its Open Handset Alliance have been on the brink of significantly changing the mobile landscape since mid-November 2007, little has come out of the young software developer kit with its still-developing community and code.

On Thursday, Opera Labs announced a technical preview release of the Norwegian company's popular Opera Mini mobile browser for the Android platform. Not only are developers encouraged to scoop up the just-released app, Opera is itching for programmers' feedback to help smooth over any rough edges for an upcoming beta release.

Opera's Chris Mills provides a technical back story in his introductory article, in addition to links to the latest build of Google's Android SDK and a direct download link to the Android-Mini preview. Mills is quick to note that Opera Mini for Android is a compound neophyte in the Android universe--the method of running Opera Mini's code base within Android is still experimental, and as Android itself is far from completion, layers of back-end change are inevitable.