Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Opera Mini 4 Released
Category: Opera
We just talked about how JavaScript and Ajax works in Opera Mini and today Opera released the full version.
Features
Opera Link
We’ve added support for Opera Link in Opera Mini 4. With Opera Link, you’re able to instantly synchronize and share your bookmarks and Speed Dial with the Opera browser for your computer.
Overview mode
Opera Mini 4 includes a new rendering architecture that allows you to view webpages just like you would on your computer. When you first load a webpage, Opera Mini will show you an overview snapshot of the page; using the new mouse cursor you can instantly zoom in to the selected region of the page.
Size of text fits width of screen
Opera Mini 4 dynamically changes the size of the text on webpages to fit the width of your phone’s screen, meaning you won’t have to scroll horizontally.
Context menu
A context menu is displayed when pressing the number 1 key. From the context menu you could change the viewing modes to ‘Mobile view’, reload the page, and show webpage information. When the mouse cursor is focused on a link, the Context menu will show you the link information (i.e. where the link points to, etc.).
Mouse cursor
With the mouse cursor you could scroll to any direction on the page and more easily click on links.
Scrolling shortcuts
Pressing these number key shortcuts will help you quickly navigate around the page.
- 2 – Page up
- 8 – Page down
- 4 – Go to the left one column
- 6 – Go to the right one column
- 5 – Zoom in and out
Create search
With this new feature, you could add any search engine of your choice to the Opera Mini start page. To add a new search engine, click on the search field, press the menu button and click on the ‘Create search’ option.
View pages in Landscape mode
By pressing the * and # shortcut keys, you could switch the page view to landscape mode.
New standards support
Support for HTML tables, CSS handheld stylesheets, and more advanced support for CSS have been added to Opera Mini.
Uh, awesome. The only thing I can’t figure out is why there’s such a great UI in Opera Mini, and Opera Mobile has a slow zoom and slow hold and drag. Opera Mini is fast. Overview mode + scrolling shortcuts is a great way to view a page that’s much larger than the screen. The mouse cursor is a very familiar tool, why not put that in Mobile?? Anyway kudos on another great release! So, your backend, it smells to a Rhino, or what?
Opera Mobile is a full browser on the mobile client. Opera mini is a viewer for a server-side desktop opera. That explains the performance differences. I think from a mobile perspective, the opera mini concept is a better fit. However, the privacy aspects involved in opera mini may force people onto opera mobile.
The next version of opera mobile is supposed to have these features also. However, it’s still not clear when it will be out.
Will it crash at least once a day like the PC version?