opera-mini
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Opera Mini 4 turns a bright, shiny shade of gold
Seems like these cats are on a nice, predictable annual schedule, yeah? Just a little under a year after the release of Opera Mini 3, version 4 has gone gold following several months in beta. It seems that Opera's big focus for this version has been to make Mini seem more like a full-fledged desktop browser, shoehorning in features like a true mouse pointer, landscape mode (to give sites that 4:3 feel), and zoom capability. It's free and it's available now, so we might recommend you give it a shot before you spend even another moment hobbling along on whatever two-bit integrated browser -- if you can even call it a browser -- that you're using now, k?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Enthusiasts bring 3rd party apps to the Helio Ocean, too
The iPhone isn't the only handset whose software innards are getting lovingly torn apart in the name of science this week. It turns out some intrepid users of the Helio Ocean (a device occasionally compared to the iPhone, coincidentally) have been slaving away on a method for adding extra applications outside of the carrier's walled garden. Their first success is a doozy, too: Opera Mini 3, one of the most prized jewels in the world of mobile software. The developers aren't claiming it's bug-free -- landscape mode and the QWERTY keyboard don't work, for example -- but it's a huge step in the right direction and they're continuing to work out the kinks. More custom apps are said to be on the way, and don't worry, Drift and Heat users -- support's said to be on the way for you guys, too.
Opera Mini 4 goes beta
We thought Opera Mini was pretty good as it was, but the company has taken its smallest, lightest browser through a "complete redesign" for its fourth major release. Codenamed "Dimension," the new version features a Wii browser-like zoom that moves immediately to content -- a good idea when your screen's less than a quarter the resolution of the display the average full-fledged website was designed for. It's still in beta, but they seem to like what they've got going on; they're even putting it head-to-head with the iPhone's supposedly brilliant browser. Adventurous users can check it out straight from their handsets by browsing over to mini.opera.com/beta (manual Palm and BlackBerry installs are available directly from Opera's site).[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Pre-installed Opera to come on some WM6 devices?
We never thought we would live to see the day that Pocket IE was pushed aside hastily by some Windows Mobile users in favor of the Opera browser. In the "fat lady sings" department that is in rumorland at the moment, the CEO of Opera has flat-out stated that some WM6 handsets will have the Opera browser pre-installed. Eek, say it isn't so! Until we can confirm this, we're on pins and needles along with every other Opera-lovin' WM customer on the planet. How about specific devices? Those beans have no been spilled yet, although the Motorola Q was alluded to along with some unspecified HTC, Toshiba and Asus units. If you're still on PIE (Pocket IE) and have not downloaded Opera already (or some other browser), having that beauty pre-installed is next to foolproof for a better browsing experience for many of us. We're counting the seconds until confirmation of this rumor.
Opera Mini 3.0 unleashed
For those of us still using dumbphones (and even some of us with the smart variety), Opera Mini is just about the best thing out there for doing us some web surfin' on the road. Version 2.0 of the Java-based browser is pretty darn good, but 3.0 has just hit the streets and it's offering up some key improvements. Top on the list are comprehensive support for RSS feeds, inline uploading of pictures snapped using the phone's camera, and streamlined connection handling that should lead to faster browsing. Perhaps the most intriguing new feature, though, is something Opera calls "content folding" whereby long content on a page is automatically collapsed with a "plus" sign -- great for long-winded sites not necessarily designed with a phone browser in mind.[Via jkOnTheRun]
Streamlined Opera Mini browser headed to BlackBerry and Treo
While Firefox is still basting in its 2.0 goodness, Opera is doing its own thang to amp up popularity. Besides being the browser-of-choice on Nintendo's forthcoming Wii, the tried and true Opera Mini browser is streamlining itself for use on BlackBerry and Treo handhelds. Unlike other browsers, this revamped version "downloads websites after they've been passed through Opera's servers, where they're compressed to download more quickly." Opera's technology -- while not substantially different in nature than renditions from Ascentive and Propel -- has been dubbed "Small Screen Rendering," and can even change the colors of backgrounds and text to improve visibility on mobile displays. The auto-compression features should trim download times and save on kilobyte usage (should you not already have an unlimited data plan), which can be particularly helpful for sites (unlike this one) that aren't tailored to fit your cellphone's display automatically. So, scurry on and hit the read link to give Opera's latest gig a try, cool?[Via Yahoo]
Pantech releases PG-6200 securityphone in Taiwan
Pantech has just released a new handset for the security-conscious Taiwanese citizen who also wants some pretty capable multimedia features in his/her cellphone. To keep sensitive data out of the wrong hands, the tri-band PG-6200 features a fingerprint scanner rather curiously placed right above the smudge-prone two megapixel camera lens, along with a music player that handles MP3 and AAC files from either the 20MB internal memory or a microSD card. Other nice touches include Bluetooth (no word on A2DP compatibility, though) and JAVA 2.0 so you can get your Opera Mini-on, along with the obligatory email, SMS, and MMS functionality. [Via textually]
Opera Mini 2.0 released
We just love us that Opera Mini, especially when we're constrained to a non smartphone and/or a slow mobile connection, but the Opera peeps aren't just sitting on their hands while we enjoy the mobile web, and have just announced version 2.0 of the browser. They seem bent on making Opera the go-to mobile platform, and have added SMS functionality for mobile commerce so that you can buy via the browser and have ringtones, games or other content delivered via SMS without a lot of hassle. The browser also now supports file downloads, skinning, multiple search engines, "speed dial" bookmark shortcuts, and the vaguely defined "visual navigation." Not quite earth shattering, but content providers might take note of the fact that just about anybody can have access to a browser that can actual do something with the content they provide.[Via All About Symbian]