On Tuesday, Opera sewed up a short beta run of Opera Mini 4.1. After a mere month and a half, the Norwegian software company declared the cell phone browser build stable enough to institute as the latest product standard.
Opera Mini 4.1, like Opera 9.5 Beta 2, can now guess the URL you want when you enter a search term in the address bar, a praiseworthy ability. It can also highlight terms on a Web page to let you zero in on most-wanted data bites. You'll use this Find feature, common to desktop browsers, by hitting the Menu button and selecting Find in Page.
While everyone can save entire Web pages for offline viewing and enjoy Opera Mini 4.1's improved compression speeds (Opera claims it's 50 percent faster,) only Java-enabled cell phones supporting JSR-75 will be able to take advantage of uploading and downloading any file via Opera's mobile Web. The good news is this will apply to most phones released in the last few years. BlackBerry devices older than 4.2, for instance, won't be able to support this promised windfall of a feature. Users will still need to equip the phone with the right media players and readers to view the downloaded files.
The wide world of Opera browser products can admittedly get a little confusing. As a refresher, Opera Mini 4.1 works well on most Java handsets, including BlackBerry, and on Palm phones running a Java environment. Those who download Opera's browser to Windows Mobile and Symbian phones will get Opera Mobile, a more advanced, commercial browser with a 30-day trial.
Today Opera announced the full release of Opera Mini 4, after three beta releases. I tested the second beta version of this powerful mobile browser on a BlackBerry Pearl back in August (read review) and was eager to reproduce my experience today on the same phone, particularly to see for myself that the landscape view that never worked for BlackBerry still isn't ready. It's not.
The first thing I should point out is that in the complex dance between manufacturer, carrier, and third-party software, some toes get smashed. Before you download Opera Mini 4 over the air, via SMS, or by PC-to-phone push, it's best to input your phone details and read up on any instructions to make Opera Mini 4 compatible with your particular phone. Here's an example: North American users of BREW phones (e.g., anything on Verizon) are out of luck with Opera, and T-Mobile and AT&T users may have extra steps before they can get Opera Mini 4 going.... Read more
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