A First-Class Mobile Web Experience

OviPublisherSuccesses | 30 April, 2011 03:44

With an increasing number of mobile devices connected to the Internet, Opera Software seized the opportunity to design an app that delivers a first-class mobile web experience. Since the first release of its mobile web browser as a pilot program in 2005, the company has successfully created a globally recognized brand, the Opera web browser. Today, Opera's mobile web browser apps, including the latest versions Opera Mini 4.3 and Opera Mobile 11, have been collectively downloaded over 13 million times in Ovi Store from more than 190 markets.

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The early stages of Opera Software began in 1994 as a research project within one of Norway's largest telecom companies. Within a year’s time, Opera branched out and was established as an independent development company called Opera Software ASA, headquartered in Norway. Even though the company sprang from small beginnings, Opera has grown into a global and multi-platform product, available on a wide range of consumer devices including personal computers, mobile devices and game consoles.

Opera Mini 4.2 and Opera Mobile 10 are two apps that embody the global prominence Opera has received for giving users a faster, safer and more dynamic web browsing experience.

"We are the maker of the most widely used cellphone browser," said Dag Olav Norem, VP Product Management, Opera Software. "We are a huge supporter of initiatives that lower the barriers so all people can access the Internet. With Nokia as the largest handset maker in the world, and Ovi Store’s open distribution, we are able to reach a wide, global audience."

When creating a mobile web browser app, Opera Software pinpointed three areas in mobile web browsing which needed improvement – speed, easy browsing and data consumption. Opera Mini 4.2 and Opera Mobile 10, the latest versions of Opera’s mobile web browser app for Nokia devices, provide solid solutions for all three of these issues.

Opera Mobile 10

Opera Mobile 10 is a full Internet browser for mobile devices that can display websites in their entirety, enabling consumers to easily browse the web on their mobile devices. Opera Mobile’s web-rendering engine, called Opera Presto, runs on a consumer's device using the device's hardware to download and display web content. Thanks to Opera Presto coupled with Opera Mobile's Adobe Flash Lite support, mobile content like animations and graphics are smoother and more visually appealing.

Tackling speed and data consumption issues simultaneously, Opera created Opera Turbo, a unique compression feature available on Opera Mobile 10. Using this technology to compress websites up to 80% on Opera’s servers, Opera Turbo vastly improves mobile web browsing speeds so consumers can browse more than 2x faster than on any other mobile browser  . Consumers can also choose to disable Opera Turbo if they want to view full websites as they would on a PC. 

Key UI features and novel elements in Opera Mobile 10 include:

  • Next Generation UI (only available for Opera Mobile 10) – the UI sports easy-to-read buttons and is optimized for keypad devices and touchscreen devices (in both landscape and portrait mode). It also features Back, Forward, Refresh, Tabbed browsing and Settings buttons.
  • Full Page and Zoom – Consumers can view a preview of a full page and zoom into areas of interest.
  • Tabs (only available for Opera Mobile 10) – Consumers can keep several pages open at the same time and easily switch between them using this feature. For touchscreen devices, visual tabs allow consumers to see a preview of the open pages and then choose which website they want to view.
  • Password manager (only available for Opera Mobile 10) – This tool saved logins and passwords. It also allows consumers to swiftly delete this saved information if necessary. 
  • Save Page option – Consumers can use this feature to save their favorite page and access it without the need for an Internet connection.
  • Speed Dial and Bookmarks – Consumers can save, edit and organize their bookmarks in folders, allowing them easy and quick access to their favorite sites while Speed Dial instantly launches designated favorite sites with a single click.
  • Opera’s Downloads – This feature is built into the app and allows consumers to conveniently pause and resume downloads.
  • Opera Link – This feature synchronizes bookmarks, Speed Dials and other info between computers and mobile devices.
Check out this video of Opera Mobile 10:



Opera Mini 4.2

Similar to Opera Mobile 10, Opera Mini 4.2 supports a variety of user-friendly features.

Key features in Opera Mini 4.2 include:
  • Full Page and Zoom – Consumers can view a preview of a full page and zoom into areas of interest.
  • Save Page option – Consumers can use this feature to save their favorite page and access it without the need for an Internet connection.
  • Speed Dial and Bookmarks – Consumers can save, edit and organize their bookmarks in folders, allowing them easy and quick access to their favorite sites while Speed Dial instantly launches designated favorite sites with a single click.
  • Opera's Downloads – This feature is built into the app and allows consumers to conveniently pause and resume downloads.
  • Opera Link – This feature synchronizes bookmarks, Speed Dials and other info between computers and mobile devices.

However, unlike Opera Mobile 10, Opera Mini's web rendering engine is Opera's server and is designed to constantly utilize Opera's advanced server compression technology to compress web content before it gets to a device. This server compression technology strips out all unnecessary elements on a website before it is downloaded onto the device.  The end result – Opera Mini compresses websites on Opera’s servers up to 90% and ultimately uses only a tenth of the bandwidth of other browsers.

Opera's server compression technologies for both Opera Mobile 10 and Opera Mini 4.2 benefit both mobile operators and consumers. By decreasing the amount of data consumed while browsing the web, these compression features help to alleviate the impact of data usage on an operator’s data network and also reduce data charges on a consumer’s bill.  This greatly benefits consumers who rely solely on their mobile phones to access the Internet, specifically those located in regions where data traffic is costly and not available as bundled unlimited plans, such as in the United States.

These features clearly help Opera Web Browser to stand out from the competition. As one reviewer on NokNok.tv wrote, "Opera has become our favorite browser by far, with an intuitive and effortlessly smooth operation, making it a pleasure to use." 

You can view a full list of features and a comparison between the various versions of Opera's mobile web browsers here.
        
Opera Mini 4.2 and Opera Mobile 10, created with Symbian and Java, also feature full HTML access which allows consumers to view nearly any website on their mobile device.

Various app versions of Opera's mobile web browser are available for free on over 280 Nokia devices including Nokia Symbian devices like the N8. To see a full list of compatible phones, visit this site.

For a complete overview of Opera Software's apps, visit Ovi Store.

 

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Want to distribute your applications globally to millions of Nokia users via Ovi Store?  Visit our Ovi Publish page on how you can get started.

 

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