Slightly ajar

While we wait for CSS3 support in browsers, the new Opera Mini 4, which will be released tomorrow, is taking the mobile web to another level. Since Mini 4 has been upgraded to the Kestrel codepath of Core-2, the same engine found in The Internet Channel for Wii, our standards advancement can also be found in your Java enabled mobile phone. This doesn't require a modern smart phone running Windows Mobile, Symbian or OS X.

As part of these improvements, we've increased our compatibility with CSS3 Selectors. When running the selectors test from CSS3.info on just a regular fashion phone, I get 36 selectors that pass, 0 buggy and 7 that are unsupported, passing 464 out of 578 tests. This is a slight improvement from when I originally reported Kestrel's upgraded support and better than the current release of Opera for desktop. The seven failed selectors are still implemented but disabled. It also beats out popular desktop browsers such as Firefox (32 have passed, 4 are buggy and 7 are unsupported (Passed 369 out of 578 tests) in the latest Minefield build) and Safari 3 (25 have passed, 9 are buggy and 9 are unsupported (Passed 346 out of 578 tests)). This shows how powerful Opera Mini and mobile browsing is becoming. The next step is improving the rest of our CSS3 support.

Remember to check out Opera Mini 4 Beta when it launches tomorrow (the 19^th).