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Right now I'm Web surfing with a browser that's sleek and fast. It has Speed Dial thumbnails to quickly load a favorite Web page and preview thumbnails to help rotate through open Web pages by sight. The app I'm wielding sounds a lot like Opera 10, Opera's desktop browser (Mac | Windows), or even the recently released Opera Mini 5 beta for Java phones. But it's not.

I'm navigating the Internet from a 4.6x2.2-inch screen belonging to a Nokia N97 smartphone using a prerelease version of Opera Mobile 10 beta for Symbian Series 60 phones. Opera Mobile 10 beta is available as of Tuesday morning, Central European Time.

Opera Mobile 10 beta previews tabs in a flashy new design.

(Credit: Opera Software)

What's new? The tabbed browsing treatment and speed-dial thumbnails you see when you load the browser anew or launch a new page are the spotlight-grabbing features. The entire interface, in fact, gets a fresh coat of paint using the same brush that drew in Opera Mini 5 beta. The visual encore works. In looks alone, the inviting Opera Mobile 10 beta bowls over Opera Mobile 9.7 beta's design.

While the speed-dial thumbnails and multiple browser tabs were far more impressive in the comparatively resource-light Opera Mini 5 beta, a proxy browser, the design continuity we see in Opera Mobile 10 beta, a standalone Web browser, is a welcome refresh that also joins the two cell phone apps in a unified design philosophy.

Opera's 4MB version 10 beta browser retains many of the features from prior releases, like the password manager, and the abilities to zoom in and out, copy text, save images, download files, and open links in a new tab. Opera says it has improved the password manager in this 10 beta release, including better handling for multiple URLS for a single site, and easier management for deleting passwords.

From Opera Mobile 9.7 beta, the version 10 beta has carried over Opera Turbo, Opera's compression engine that uses Opera's servers to punch up performance (and deliver less detailed images) when the Internet connection is slow.

In addition, Opera claims that Opera Mobile 10 beta is twice as fast as its Symbian predecessor when it comes to downloads and zooming and panning.

Opera's Speed Dial and expandable search box make the jump to Opera Mobile 10 beta.

(Credit: Opera Software)

As a beta build, Opera Mobile 10 beta does have several bugs to work out. First, Opera Link, the bookmarks-syncing service available in Opera 10 desktop browser and in the stable builds of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini, is absent from this build (it's also missing from Opera Mini 5 beta.) Opera Link will return by the time Opera Mobile 10 leaves beta.

Other known issues include the virtual keyboard popping up even when you're using the physical keyboard, as it did in our tests on the Nokia N97. The beta browser is also known to freeze at times, and has only partial support for the IMEs (Input Method Editors) that make typing Asian languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean work. As a result, this beta build won't function on handsets with Asian language packs and won't render Asian fonts in this version, says Opera, but the input incompatibility should be fixed in the next release.

Opera Mobile 10 beta is available now for Symbian users on Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson smartphones running Symbian Series 60, 3rd and 5th editions. Try it by pointing the mobile browser to http://m.opera.com/mobile.

These days, Mozilla's Fennec and the Skyfire browser have been stealing all the thunder in the mobile browsing space. On Wednesday morning (that's Tuesday night for us in San Francisco), Opera yanked some of it back with the release of Opera Mini 5 beta for Java phones.

Introducing a graphically enriched layout topside and new features below decks, the new Opera Mini beta browser is snappier, more attractive, and more advanced than last year's predecessor, Opera Mini 4.2. Mini 5 beta brings over several features from Opera's desktop browser (Opera 10 for Windows | Mac.) Tabbed browsing is among them, as is a password manager. Each page opens with Speed Dial, a grid of nine thumbnail images and Opera Desktop mainstay, that you assign to favorite Web sites and can select among to quickly launch a Web page. The Speed Dial view replaces Opera Mini's previous landing page, a tangle of links capped with a search box and URL field. These thumbnail images make the landing page more meaningful, both in giving users a visual they can instantly recognize, and creating an easier target for users to accurately hit on touchscreen phones than a scrawny little link.

While the URL field and search bars haven't joined together in this beta as they have in other mobile browsers and in most desktop browsers out there, Opera has at least consolidated the two onto a single line. To address another long-overdue fix, Opera now lets you type directly into a text field. In previous versions, clicking a field opened up a blank page, where you were prompted to start typing before you could return to the main interface.

Opera Mini gets into Opera Desktop's Speed Dial start screen.

(Credit: Opera Software)

Opera Mini's navigation menu received another overhaul in Mini 5 beta. Opera moved it up to the top and made it completely icon-based. Press downward (on a D-pad for a keypad phone) to engage more items, like bookmarks, history, settings, and the Find in Page search tool, a new one for Opera Mini. Find in Page has previously been available in Opera Mini; it's nice to see it return.

The password manager that's new to Opera Mini works as expected, producing a dialog box the first time you log into a site asking if you'd like it to remember your credentials. You can turn this off in the Privacy portion of the Settings submenu.

Many additional features carry over from previous Opera Mini versions, including options to view the page as you would from the desktop versus a mobile view. There are also the usual shortcut keys and support for landscape mode on most phones (not on BlackBerrys, unfortunately, an ongoing omission). There are also additional options that pop up in response to long presses on the 'select' key or on the touchscreen, like for selecting and copying text, opening the image, and now, for opening content in a new tab.

We knew that Opera Mobile 9.7 beta was on its way (in fact, we expected it in May,) but the build released to Windows Mobile consumers on Monday morning isn't exactly what we had anticipated given certain hints in the business build that support for Flash video was on its way. We should say, the inclusion of Opera Turbo was dead on. What we hadn't expected was a separate widget gallery to replace the one built into Opera Mobile 9.5 beta, the previous version.

More on Turbo and widgets in just one moment, but first the answer to what we think you really want to know--should you upgrade? Based on our tests of the preview build Opera let us test the Friday before the release, here's our take: While it won't slow you down if you do upgrade to Opera 9.7 beta from Opera 9.5 beta, and while it may even help you in a pinch, those with reliable fast coverage who don't plan on using more than Opera Mobile's core browsing features won't have much cause to reinstall.

Turbo-charged Opera Mobile 9.7

Enable Opera Turbo when you've got a weak connection.

(Credit: CNET/Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt)

Now back to your regularly scheduled review. Opera Turbo is the by now much-touted compression and proxy engine used in Opera 10 beta (review), the desktop browser version released the first week of June. On Windows Mobile phones, Turbo also makes browsing faster for data connections below 3G speeds--in other words, EV-DO, EDGE, and other 2.5G connections. When Turbo's revved on the phone, it sends the page data to Opera's servers for proxy rendering. The servers then send a lighter version of the page back to the phone. While that makes Turbo much faster on data- and image-rich Web pages over slow connections, it also predictably slashes image quality.

Turbo's implementation in Opera Mobile 9.7 beta is (disappointingly) unchanged since we got a demo at CTIA in early April. Though automatic detection is enabled in Opera's version 10 beta desktop browser, beta testers will need to manually switch it on and off each time. It's easy enough to do in the Advanced portion of Opera Mobile's settings menu, but there is a detriment to letting Turbo slave away. If you're on Wi-Fi or 3G, you could experience more lag time while Turbo sends your data to Opera's servers and back. Also, your image quality will suffer. This will be the singlemost challenge for 9.7 beta testers.

Virgin Mobile

(Credit: Virgin Mobile)

Helio's influence on Virgin Mobile continues to grow, as Virgin Mobile just announced the availability of the "Connect" social-networking dashboard and Opera Mini 4.2 to its prepaid customers. These features were previously available on post-paid devices only, like the Helio handsets. They will launch later this month on devices like the Shuttle, the Jax, and the X-tc. Do note that you'll have to sign up for a monthly or prepaid data pack plan. The price ranges from $5 for 5MB of data on prepaid plans, to $10 for 50MB on a monthly plan.

The "Connect" social-networking dashboard is essentially a one-stop hub for many social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube. You log-in once and have access to all of these networks without needing to manage them separately. You can see things like status updates, new messages, new invitations, new photos and videos, and more. Virgin Mobile customers can also use Connect's integrated RSS reader to catch up on all their latest news feeds.

Opera Mini 4.2 might not be new to most of you, but it will be new for Virgin Mobile prepaid customers. It's a better browser than most standard proprietary ones, so we're glad to see this improvement. You can sync your bookmarks and view pages in landscape mode on certain devices.

The DSi lets you record and edit audio.

(Credit: Nintendo)

Two weeks ago, we gave you an exclusive hands-on First Look at the Nintendo DSi, the company's second refresh of the DS portable gaming system. While we had to hold back some juicy details about the DSi, we can now let you in on all the fun.

The DSi Shop, which will go live April 5, will offer downloadable games and applications via the DSi Shop that you can store on either the 256MB of internal storage or on an SD card. When Nintendo visited us a few weeks ago, we got to play some DSiWare titles like WarioWare Snapped!, a collection of mini-games designed for use with the DSi's cameras. Snapped! had us moving our heads to dodge objects and watched our mouth's movements to re-enact eating a sandwich. We imagine there will be dozens of more titles that make use of the unit's cameras in addition to the microphone capabilities.

We also got to see a title called Moving Memo that lets you create a sort of flipbook animation. There have even been rumors about a Virtual Console for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games on the DSi Shop (which would explain the absence of such games on the current Wii Virtual Console).

Games and applications on the DSi Shop will range in price from free to more than 2,000 points. 100 points will equal $1, so a 1,000-point game will run you $10. As a promotion, anyone who buys a DSi before October 5 of this year will get 1,000 free points to spend in the DSi Shop.

While a list of games and applications hasn't been finalized yet, you will be able to grab a free Web browser for your DSi right out of the gate. The Opera-developed software is reportedly more robust, offering a better experience over the cartridge-based software we saw in the past. We'll update this post with a list of launch DSiWare titles when Nintendo confirms them.

The Nintendo DSi will cost $170, and is available in either black or blue. Check CNET next week for our full review!

(Credit: Microsoft)

The enhanced usability features of Windows Mobile 6.5 (coverage) may not be available for a few months yet, but that doesn't mean you have to wait for Microsoft's newly announced mobile operating system to start sampling some of its new features. There are a couple of similar applications that are available now.

Instead of twiddling your thumbs over the new MyPhone service--which will back up your phone's contacts, photos, and texts--you can sign up for Dashwire (download). Dashwire's free service for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 uploads your calls, texts, contacts, photos, videos, and ringtones to an online dashboard. You'll be able to access and also interact with your phone's contents; for instance, reply to a text, e-mail a photo or video, and read visual voicemail.

Similarly, Microsoft's revamped Internet Explorer Mobile looks promising, with added support for Javascript and Flash, and some more sophisticated page navigation than in previous versions. Chances are, if you're using IE Mobile on a Windows Mobile 5 or Windows Mobile 6 phone, downloading Opera Mobile or Skyfire (beta) will give you some of those promised features today. The most recent version of Skyfire, for instance, comes with Flash 10, Silverlight 2.0, and the latest Quicktime, and can play media directly from the browser. Opera Mobile, on the other hand, has similar icon-based navigation to what Microsoft previewed in Barcelona this week, and some advanced features to highlight and search text. Opera Mobile's larger buttons already make version 9.5 beta 2 a finger-friendly option. In fact, some Windows Mobile phones, like the Samsung Omnia, come shipped with Opera as a browser option.

It will definitely be interesting to see how Microsoft's new features play out in the phone's ecosystem compared with the services that already exist. In the meantime, Dashwire and the alternative mobile browsers can give you a taste of what's to come.

Is the Archos 5 the Wi-Fi, touch screen, internet media juggernaut we hoped for?

(Credit: CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)

If you want a portable video player that can browse the Web over Wi-Fi, but the iPod Touch is just too puny, then the Archos 5 is worth a serious look. You get a luxurious 4.8-inch, 800x600 touch-screen display, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Opera Web browser, Flash 9 video and game support, up to 250GB of storage, and loads of video, audio, and photo format compatibility.

It's not all gumdrops and unicorns, though. Buggy applications, measly battery life, limited accessories, and a smudge-loving design make the Archos 5 hard to love unconditionally.

Read our full review of the Archos 5.

By default, all Windows Mobile PDA/phones come with Internet Explorer Mobile. Of late, some manufacturers have worked with Norway-based company Opera to bundle its Opera Mobile 9.5 with their handhelds. Some examples are the HTC Touch Diamond and Samsung Omnia, and now we can add another to that list--the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Opera Mobile 9.5 is currently in public beta, so anyone with a Windows Mobile PDA/phone can install a copy onto their device. But the versions that come pre-installed with devices aren't in beta. They have in fact been tested by the hardware manufacturer for compatibility--important if the handheld in question has unique specifications. That's good news because the X1 has a resolution of 800x480, which isn't exactly common for this class of devices.

We tried out the X1 briefly with the browser and the higher screen resolution is quite a boon for Web surfing. It does make text incredibly small though, which is why the easy zoom-in feature on Opera Mobile 9.5 is so important. According to Sony Ericsson, the X1 is still on track for an "early Q4" launch. Let's hope nothing disrupts that plan.

(Via Crave Asia)

Don't call it the Archos 606. The Archos 5 internet media tablet aims to hit the sweet spot between PVP, MID, and smartphone.

(Credit: Archos)

A year after releasing the 605 WiFi portable video player (a CNET Editors' Choice), Archos is announcing plans to release three new devices in the following months: the Archos 5, Archos 7, and Archos 5G.

Archos is quick to point out that these new "Internet media tablets" are not to be confused with the company's line of portable video players (such as the Archos 605 WiFi), which will continue to be manufactured and offered alongside the new tablets. That said, the new offerings clearly draw on many of their predecessor's features. Like the 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi, the Archos 5, Archos 7, and Archos 5G include video and music playback (MPEG4, AVI, WMV, MPEG2, h.264, MJPEG, DIVX, MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV), a photo viewer, touch-screen navigation, a Flash-enabled Web browser (Opera), DVR capabilities, games, and Mac/PC compatibility. Familiar hardware features such as a fold-out kickstand, integrated speaker, and 3.5mm headphone jack are also included on the new Archos tablets.

Archos is also updating its DVR Station accessory to include HDMI output, composite video input, and a more luxurious design.

(Credit: Archos)

Despite covering some familiar territory, there are major distinctions between the new Archos Internet media tablets and last year's line of portable video players. The Archos 5 includes a revamped, thinner design with fewer buttons, a larger screen (4.8 inches), higher capacity, a considerably faster processor (ARM Cortex), and support for 3G and 3.5G (HSDPA) cellular data connections.

You heard right: the new portable media players out of Archos can browse the Web over both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular connections, provided that you have existing 3G cellular service established. To get the Archos 5 and Archos 7 up and running over 3G, you'll need to acquire a 3G USB modem from your carrier, however, the Archos 5G model includes a built-in slot for your existing SIM card. If you prefer your Internet tablets dongle-free, the Archos 5G is the way to go.

A side view of the Archos 5 sitting in the new DVR Station. Using the $99 DVR Station accessory allows you to make scheduled recordings of your favorite shows, or use your TV as a giant screen for your Archos media player.

(Credit: Archos)

Bear in mind that Archos doesn't include a built-in microphone on any of the new media tablets, so the possibility of leveraging the 3G capabilities to place VoIP calls seems unlikely (but not impossible). No texting apps come bundled with the Archos 5, 5G, or 7, but with a full Web browser and large touch-screen keyboard at your disposal, it should be easy enough to maintain your presence on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Because of a redesigned dock connection, many of the accessories currently made for the Archos 605 WiFi will need to be be revised to work with the new Archos 5/5G and Archos 7 tablets, including the helmet cam, extended battery dock, and a DVR station which now offers HDMI output and composite video input. The recently reviewed GPS cradle is one of the only accessories made by Archos compatible with both the 605 WiFi and the new line of tablets.

On the software side, a new HiDef video software plug-in is now available ($20) that lets you playback 720p video resolution at 24 fps MPEG4 and WMV formats, which is ideal if you ever plan on connecting your player to a high-definition TV. After registering your Archos media tablet, two plug-ins will activate free of charge, including the Flash 9-enabled Opera Web browser, and a Web TV/Radio plug-in. Just like the iPhone and iPod Touch, Archos plug-ins can be downloaded and installed directly over Wi-Fi or 3G, without requiring a computer as an intermediary.

Archos will release the Archos 5 in September in 60GB, 120GB, and 250GB capacities, priced at $350, $400, and $450, respectively. The supersize Archos 7 will make its debut in October, priced at $450 (160GB) and $550 (320GB). Finally, the Archos 5G, with its built-in SIM card slot, will become available in December with a premium price tag of $550 (30GB).