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Opera Mobile 9.5 First Impression

Posted by Ryan on July 3, 2008 – 11:02 pm  Share
closeThis post was published 1 year 4 months 20 days ago.
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Screenshot_17 In case you missed it, there is a copy of Opera Mobile 9.5 on xda-developers.com.  Having heard about the new HTC Touch Diamond’s Opera Mobile 9.5, which comes with Opera Mobile 9.5 pre-installed, I have been anxiously awaiting a release of Opera Mobile 9.5.  Obviously this is not the official release; its merely a copy and paste (with a few edits) of the software that comes with the HTC Touch Diamond.  It is great to test it out, but you must keep in mind this was made for a specific device (which isn’t the one we are using) and it is quite unstable for the tilt at this point.  Having said that, I now have a good idea what Opera Mobile will be like when it is officially released.

At last we see a true browser for the Windows Mobile platform.  First off, zooming is similar to all those darn iPhone commercials you see, double tap to zoom in, again to zoom closer, and again to zoom out.  Just like the iPhone, full websites can be viewed properly, no ugly “mobile versions”.  As pictured below,  NY Times and iGoogle both display properly unlike most (if not all) other mobile browsers I have tried.  Also, tabbed browsing has been perfected to the way it should be on a mobile device.  The menu bars, both top and bottom disappear after about 3 seconds to give a full screen view and optimize webpage viewing space on the small screen.  To bring back the menu just tap the little button in the lower right hand corner and poof they are back, no noticeable lag.


Officially 9.5 has full flash and java support but that is a bit limited at this time.  Most of the iGoogle java script stuff worked fine with the exception of dragging objects (but I wouldn’t expect that from a mobile browser).  Just for kicks I gave Gmail a shot and as anticipated the full fledged webmail client didnt load and I was forwarded to the basic HTML page.  For flash support… well its a bit harder to explain, Opera Mobile 9.5 works with FlashLite 3.0.  What is wrong with that? FlashLite3.0 is not available for Windows Mobile yet.  The current FlashLite2.1 does not work with Opera mobile; the page loads but leaves a blank spot where the flash object should be.  So in theory, flash support worked the way it should (…I think).  There are rumors saying that a copy of FlashLite3.0 may be available with the official Opera release.  Finally Opera Mobile 9.5 will be supporting Widgets, this should be a great feature.  I can imagine thousands of uses for mobile browser widgets.

As mentioned in previous posts, the official Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta will be available on July 15.  Until then I would just stick to Opera Mini if you want to get anything done (I didnt go into detail on the cons, but the tilt keyboard doesnt work right) otherwise you will be wasting your time.

Screenshot_25

a WinMo browser at the same level as Safari Mobile, finally

Screenshot_19 Screenshot_17
full NY Times, no toolbars full NY Times, with toolbars
Screenshot_23 Screenshot_21
iGoogle, no toolbars iGoogle full, with toolbars
Screenshot_24  
iGoogle zoomed, no toolbars  

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  • ADR
    Vikas,

    You are right about Skyfire that processing occurs on their servers. I am not certain that this model will continue through to the final product. Opera Mobile 9.5 would not rely on back-end servers. Let's not forget that Microsoft will be releasing their own Pocket IE version which would also render full pages. In theory, the new PIE was promised for WinMo 6.1 but it has not appeared as yet. My guess (and relevant info), has it making an appearance in Q4 2008. It is derived from a project called "Deepfish" (there was an open beta on this for a period of time). If it is indeed based on Deepfish, it may actually outdistance both Skyfire and Opera Mobile.

    In any case, users of the Tilt can and should download and use Opera Mini 4.1. In many ways, except for support for flash, it is superior to everything else out there and it is amazingly speedy.
  • Vikas
    I have been using Skyfire beta and I have to say it's the best of mobile browsers I have used ( except the flash video playback is not as good as you will get with TCPMP )..

    What I am concerned about is the security of data - it seems that the way it works is they do all processing at their servers, meaning all data that we enter will be transmitted to their servers. Does it get transmitted in a secur way to their servers ? And have they said anything about how secure the data is at their servers ?

    Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

    I assume Opera 9.5 doesn't rely on back-end servers, just the above may be a deciding point between opera 9.5 and Skyfire.

    Regards,
  • This looks like what I've been waiting for... can't wait for the public beta on the 15th
  • ADR
    Ryan,

    I thought I differentiated between Opera Mobile and Opera mini quite clearly.

    In a phone sans keyboard but with a good bluetooth configuration (this would exclude all versions of the iPhone), a bluetooth keyboard may be added. As a primary phone, I always have a phone with a QWERTY keyboard (either WinMo or Blackberry). I currently own both a Tilt and Blackberry Curve and the Tilt is by far my preferred devise for many a reason.
  • ADR:

    First, are you talking about Opera Mobile or Opera Mini?

    This is completely different than skyfire. Skyfire renders the pages on the skyfire servers (which I assume are very fast). Opera Mobile (not to be confused with opera mini which works similar to skyfire) is a modified version of the Opera desktop browser and it does all the rendering on your device.

    Oh, and what are you using for a keyboard if not phone sans keyboard?
  • ADR
    It does not compare well with skyfire currently, although it is faster in rendering when scrolling. Skyfire has flash support and loads pages faster. opera mini on ocaasions defaults to the mobile version of a site and it is diifficult to get it to the normal page. But I will wait for the public beta before forming a final opinion. Opera mobile has tabs that Skyfire currently does not support. None is nearly as fast as Opera mini. By the way, I am entering this using the Tilt and Skyfire. It would have taken me ages to do this in a phone sans keyboard.
  • KCMatt
    Nonetheless, great article. I can't wait for the official release (hopefully with FlashLite 3.0!)
  • JD
    How does this compare to Skyfire??
  • But will it help make popcorn on the Tilt? LOL
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