Opera Mobile
Encyclopedia
Opera Mobile is a web browser
for smartphones and PDA's developed by the Opera Software
company. The first version was released in 2000 for the Psion Series 7 and netBook
. Today, it is available for a variety of devices that run on Android, S60
, Windows Mobile
, Maemo (labs)
, and MeeGo (labs)
. Opera Mobile 10 was released to operators
and OEM
s on December 10, 2009, as a direct-to-distributor version and was made available on the Opera website on March 16, 2010. It is available on Android, BREW, Windows Mobile, and Symbian/S60 smartphones, and it is in development for Maemo
devices.
. They ran Opera Mobile 3.6, released in 2000.
Opera Mobile was ported to the Windows Mobile
operating system in 2003.
. As of version 9.7, it can use Opera Turbo that compresses web pages via Opera Software
's "Turbo" servers, thus reducing download size. Because web pages are compressed, page loading times are improved, and bandwidth consumption is reduced by up to 80%.
The browser can dynamically reformat web page
s for small screen, using Opera's Small Screen Rendering (SSR) technology and text-wrapping
.
Opera Mobile 10 includes a "Speed Dial" feature, which allows the user to add links shown as thumbnail images in a page displayed when a new tab is opened. Once set up, this feature allows the user to more easily navigate to the selected web pages, and visual tabs
, that allow the browsing multiple Web sites at one time. It also includes a password manager
and pop-up handler
, and it supports copy and paste, address auto-complete
, zooming
, history, and bookmarks.
The browser can be used by either using finger-touch or stylus on a touchscreen or with a keypad and can be displayed in portrait and landscape mode.
Opera Mobile comes pre-installed on some devices, and often, a special build is made for the particular device. Some devices that feature Opera Mobile pre-installed are:
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
for smartphones and PDA's developed by the Opera Software
Opera Software
Opera Software ASA is a Norwegian software company, primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers with over 220 million users worldwide. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is...
company. The first version was released in 2000 for the Psion Series 7 and netBook
Psion Netbook
The Psion netBook is a small subnotebook type computer developed by Psion. Released in 1999, it was aimed at the mobile enterprise market.-Description:...
. Today, it is available for a variety of devices that run on Android, S60
S60 platform
The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
, Maemo (labs)
Maemo
Maemo is a software platform developed by the Maemo community for smartphones and Internet tablets. It is based on the Debian Linux distribution, but has no relation to it...
, and MeeGo (labs)
MeeGo
MeeGo is a Linux-based open source mobile operating system project. Primarily targeted at mobile devices and information appliances in the consumer electronics market, MeeGo is designed to act as an operating system for hardware platforms such as netbooks, entry-level desktops, nettops, tablet...
. Opera Mobile 10 was released to operators
Mobile network operator
A mobile network operator , also known as mobile phone operator , carrier service provider , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, or cellular company, or mobile network carrier is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers.One essential...
and OEM
OEM
OEM means the original manufacturer of a component for a product, which may be resold by another company.OEM may also refer to:-Computing:* OEM font, or OEM-US, the original character set of the IBM PC, circa 1981...
s on December 10, 2009, as a direct-to-distributor version and was made available on the Opera website on March 16, 2010. It is available on Android, BREW, Windows Mobile, and Symbian/S60 smartphones, and it is in development for Maemo
Maemo
Maemo is a software platform developed by the Maemo community for smartphones and Internet tablets. It is based on the Debian Linux distribution, but has no relation to it...
devices.
History
The first devices to run a mobile edition of Opera were the Psion Series 5, Psion Series 5mx, Psion Series 7, and then Psion netBookPsion Netbook
The Psion netBook is a small subnotebook type computer developed by Psion. Released in 1999, it was aimed at the mobile enterprise market.-Description:...
. They ran Opera Mobile 3.6, released in 2000.
Opera Mobile was ported to the Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
operating system in 2003.
- Version 6.0 was the initial release.
- On June 25, 2003, the first update came in the form of version 6.01, which was a minor update, mainly correcting bugs.
- Version 6.10, released on October 27, 2003, introduced several user interface and usability improvements, considerably optimized performance, and slightly improved page rendering. It was also the first version to support proxy serverProxy serverIn computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...
s, WAPWireless Application ProtocolWireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
pages, and the first one to be released in localized versions for 9 different languages. - On July 13, 2005, almost two years after the previous iteration, version 8.0 was launched. This version was the first to require Symbian OS 7 (previous ones could function in Symbian 6.1). This version introduced the Opera Mobile Accelerator, a technology that used an Opera-run external server to slim-down the pages' content to reduce the traffic to the phones. This was also the first version to support dynamic HTMLDynamic HTMLDynamic HTML, or DHTML, is an umbrella term for a collection of technologies used together to create interactive and animated web sites by using a combination of a static markup language , a client-side scripting language , a presentation definition language , and the Document Object Model.DHTML...
, and greatly improved compatibility with several web standards. - On November 14, 2005, version 8.5 was introduced. This version introduced password management and form auto-filling functionality, added some more languages for localized versions, and made some improvements to stability and reduced-screen rendering quality.
- On April 5, 2006, version 8.6 was released and was also the first version to support Symbian OS 9. New to this version is the ability to support multiple browsing windows, support for Scalable Vector GraphicsScalable Vector GraphicsScalable Vector Graphics is a family of specifications of an XML-based file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and dynamic . The SVG specification is an open standard that has been under development by the World Wide Web Consortium since 1999.SVG images and their...
, introduction of URL autocompletion as well several changes in the customization aspect. It was also the first version of Opera Mobile that allowed for the possibility to configure it as the device's default browser, allowing for it to be launched whenever a web page was requested to be opened. - Version 8.65 was released on August 29, 2006, which was mostly a welcome makeover and optimization to the then considered mature 8.60.
- Opera Mobile 9.0 was announced in February 2007 with a planned feature list, "coming soon" banners in the official Opera Mobile website, and official announcements in Opera's Community Forum. With no reason given, version 9.0 was cancelled, all references to it swept from Opera's site and 8.65 went back to being the latest version, being given a very slight refresh in the form of a new build that offered a handful of hardly-noticeable features, some of them platform-dependent.
- On February 5, 2008, Opera Mobile 9.5 was announced and has been given several estimated release timeframes, each of which has been silently ignored with a new one being set after it. An initial beta version of Opera Mobile 9.5 was released on July 17, 2008, although the only platform supported by this version was Windows Mobile.
- A second beta release of Opera Mobile 9.50 was made on October 20, 2008, including support for Opera Widgets, and adding Symbian UIQ3 as a further platform. With this release, the newest version of Opera Mobile for Symbian S60 remains 8.65.
- On March 26, 2009, Opera announced that there won't be any final version of Opera mobile 9.5. Instead they would flip over to developing 9.7 because of changes in the Presto layout engine.
- On June 8, 2009, Opera Mobile 9.7 beta was made available for download. It introduced the new rendering engine Presto 2.2 and Opera Turbo. Other features planned for 9.7 are an improved Widget manager, Google Gears, and OpenGL ES support.
- On November 2, 2009, Opera Mobile 10 beta for Symbian S60 was made available for download, sporting a revamped user interface and performance enhancements.
- On December 10, 2009, Opera Mobile 10 was released to operators and OEMs. It includes Opera's new, cross-platform UI framework that unifies the look and feel of the browser across all platforms running Opera Mobile or Opera MiniOpera MiniOpera Mini is a web browser designed primarily for mobile phones, smartphones and personal digital assistants. Until version 4 it used the Java ME platform, requiring the mobile device to run Java ME applications. From version 5 it is also available as a native application for Android, iOS, Symbian...
. - On February 12, 2010, Opera Mobile 10 beta 3 was publicly released for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices. It includes support for Flash Lite 3.1 as well as better recognition for third party input solutions in Windows Mobile. It also adds support for Windows Mobile Standard (non-touchscreen) handsets.
- On March 16, 2010, Opera Software released the final versions of Opera Mobile 10.
- On May 11, 2010, Opera labs released a preview build of Opera Mobile 10 for MaemoMaemoMaemo is a software platform developed by the Maemo community for smartphones and Internet tablets. It is based on the Debian Linux distribution, but has no relation to it...
. The preview build has the same features available in Opera Mobile 10 for other platforms but uses Opera's new JavaScript engine (codenamed Carakan), as well as the new vector graphics library (codenamed Vega). - On October 15, 2010, Opera Software released Opera Mobile 10.1 Beta for Android to the Android Market, the first public build for Android.
- On March 22, 2011, Opera Software released Opera Mobile 11 for Android, Symbian S60, Maemo, MeeGo, and Windows.
Features
Opera Mobile uses the Presto layout engine and supports many web standards, as well as AjaxAjax (programming)
Ajax is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications...
. As of version 9.7, it can use Opera Turbo that compresses web pages via Opera Software
Opera Software
Opera Software ASA is a Norwegian software company, primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers with over 220 million users worldwide. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is...
's "Turbo" servers, thus reducing download size. Because web pages are compressed, page loading times are improved, and bandwidth consumption is reduced by up to 80%.
The browser can dynamically reformat web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
s for small screen, using Opera's Small Screen Rendering (SSR) technology and text-wrapping
Word wrap
In text display, line wrap is the feature of continuing on a new line when a line is full, such that each line fits in the viewable window, allowing text to be read from top to bottom without any horizontal scrolling....
.
Opera Mobile 10 includes a "Speed Dial" feature, which allows the user to add links shown as thumbnail images in a page displayed when a new tab is opened. Once set up, this feature allows the user to more easily navigate to the selected web pages, and visual tabs
Tab (GUI)
In the area of graphical user interfaces , a tabbed document interface is one that allows multiple documents to be contained within a single window, using tabs as a navigational widget for switching between sets of documents...
, that allow the browsing multiple Web sites at one time. It also includes a password manager
Password manager
A password manager is software that helps a user organize passwords and PIN codes. The software typically has a local database or a file that holds the encrypted password data for secure logon onto computers, networks, web sites and application data files. Many password managers also work as a form...
and pop-up handler
Pop-up ad
Pop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses. Pop-ups are generally new web browser windows to display advertisements...
, and it supports copy and paste, address auto-complete
Autocomplete
Autocomplete is a feature provided by many web browsers, e-mail programs, search engine interfaces, source code editors, database query tools, word processors, and command line interpreters. Autocomplete involves the program predicting a word or phrase that the user wants to type in without the...
, zooming
Page zooming
In computing, page zooming is the ability to zoom in and out a document or image at page level. It is usually found in applications related to document layout and publishing, e.g...
, history, and bookmarks.
The browser can be used by either using finger-touch or stylus on a touchscreen or with a keypad and can be displayed in portrait and landscape mode.
Awards
- Smartphone and PocketPC Magazine "Best mobile browser for both Windows-based Pocket PC and Smartphones" 2007
- Mobile Gala "Best program for mobile phones" 2004
- Mobile Gala "Best program for handheld computers" 2004
- Tietokone magazine "Best Software Product of the Year" 2003
Devices
- Nokia N90Nokia N90The Nokia N90 multimedia is a smartphone with two displays and Carl Zeiss optics . It has a 2 megapixel built-in digital camera with autofocus, 20× digital zoom, integrated flash, macro mode and the ability to record high quality video . The phone has no vibration feature...
- Sony Ericsson P1Sony Ericsson P1The Sony Ericsson P1 is a smartphone and the successor of the P990. It integrates many of the hardware features of the P990 in the form factor of the M600. It was announced on 8 May 2007. There is a Chinese version of P1 called P1c...
- Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1The Xperia X1 is a high-end smartphone from Sony Ericsson, and is the first in the manufacturer's Xperia series. The X1 was first presented at the 2008 Mobile World Congress.- Basics :...
- HTC Touch VivaHTC Touch VivaThe HTC Touch Viva is a windows mobile smartphone developed by the High Tech Computer Corporation of Taiwan. Part of the HTC Touch Family, it incorporates quad band GSM, as well as the proprietary TouchFLO 3D user interface developed by HTC....
- HTC Touch DiamondHTC Touch DiamondThe HTC Touch Diamond, also known as the HTC P3700 or its codename the HTC Diamond, is a Windows Mobile 6.1-powered Pocket PC designed and manufactured by HTC. It is the first device to feature TouchFLO 3D - a new version of the TouchFLO interface, unique to the Touch family. The HTC Touch Diamond...
- HTC Touch Diamond2HTC Touch Diamond2The HTC Touch Diamond2, a mobile phone designed by the HTC Corporation, is the successor to the popular HTC Touch Diamond. It is also known by its codename, the HTC Topaz. It is released with Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1, but can be upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.5...
- HTC Touch ProHTC Touch ProThe HTC Touch Pro is a smart phone from the Touch series of Internet-enabled Windows Mobile Pocket PC smartphones designed and marketed by HTC Corporation of Taiwan...
- HTC Touch Pro 2
- HTC Touch HDHTC Touch HDThe HTC Touch HD, also known as the HTC T828X or its codename the HTC Blackstone, is a Windows Mobile 6.1 -powered luxury Pocket PC designed and manufactured by HTC...
- HTC HD2HTC HD2The HTC HD2 , is a smartphone belonging to the HTC Touch family, manufactured by HTC and running the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. The phone was designed and manufactured by HTC, and was released in Europe in November 2009, and in December 2009 in Hong Kong...
- Meizu M8
- Creative ZiiCreative ZiiThe Creative Zii is an upcoming Portable Media Player as a followup to the Creative ZEN product family by Creative Technology. The device was revealed by U.S. Federal Communications Commission filings in July 2009.-History:...
- Samsung i900 Omnia
- Samsung i8000 Omnia II
- Motorola ROKR E6
See also
- Opera MiniOpera MiniOpera Mini is a web browser designed primarily for mobile phones, smartphones and personal digital assistants. Until version 4 it used the Java ME platform, requiring the mobile device to run Java ME applications. From version 5 it is also available as a native application for Android, iOS, Symbian...
- Opera (web browser)Opera (web browser)Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...
- Mobile browser
- Firefox for mobile