Opera Intros New Version of Mini Web Browser

By NewsFactor Network | November 28, 2006

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox might vie for dominion in desktop browsing, but Opera, makers of an eponymous browser that comes in desktop, smartphone, and cell phone versions, wants to control the mobile space.

On Tuesday, the Norwegian firm released version 3.0 of Opera Mini, a Web browser for mobile phones. Among its claims to fame is a feature that lets bloggers and users of social-networking sites such as Facebook, Flickr, and MySpace quickly upload photos from their phone’s on-board camera.

Opera Mini will launch the camera, let users snap a photo, then send it to the site in question. The net result is fewer buttons to push, always a plus on phones whose small size can make them hard to use, even for teens and tweens who text as much as they talk.

Features Galore

The new version of Opera Mini also boasts enhanced security for shopping, banking, and Web mail. Like prior versions, it includes Opera’s data-compression feature, which filters Web sites through Opera’s servers to condense them, making them download more quickly.

The compression feature can save users money if their cell phone providers charge them by the amount of data they download, as opposed to a flat rate for all-you-can-eat service.

And, as with all things Opera — the company’s software is known to be dense with user-friendly features — the new Mini includes several other tools that hyperconnected users might like.

Among these are a built-in RSS reader to grab news, blogs, and syndicated content, and a “content folding” feature in which the browser rolls up long menus into a single button that users can expand at will, making it simpler to view Web sites on a cell phone’s tiny screen.

The browser also includes a set of skins that let users customize its look and feel, and options to…

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