Slightly ajar

All systems have been go, getting ready for the beta/alpha releases of our two flagship products. While Kestrel will spread its wings on Tuesday, I got a birthday present today with the launch of the second beta (if we were Web 2.0 that would be Gamma) release of Opera Mini 4. Many bugs have been fixed, including better integration with the Blackberry for all you crack(berry) addicts. As Mini 4 was a full re-write, many popular features were left out of the first beta. These are starting to return with today's release. Secure connections are back so it is safe to use your bank again. Content folding, and search engine customisation are also back. There are also more view options available, with landscape and full screen mode.

If you want to check out how much the standards support has improved since Mini 3 then download the beta then check out Cameron Moll's Markup test pages If you don't have a phone that supports Mini (that'll mostly be you Verizon customers) then you can check it out on the Mini 4 beta simulator. Note that ordered lists (ol) are supported, unlike what the test suggests. This seems to be a obscure bug with that particular page. If you are interested in designing for mobile then the first part in a series of guides about Opera Mini and mobile web design will be published by yours truly very soon on Dev Opera It will cover Opera Mini basics, how it differs from the desktop browser, and an introduction to handheld stylesheets and media queries. A more in-depth look into the specifications, particularly the JavaScript support, and an article focused on handheld and media queries will come at a later date.

I can also highly recommend Cameron Moll's hotly anticipated Mobile Web Design book that has just been released. This is the one book you should buy above others if you are interested in this field. It is well worth the $19 cover price. If you need to justify why you should create a mobile web strategy then this book should convince you that it is worthwhile. It is also one of the few texts on the topic of mobile recently, that doesn't preach designing for one device and one browsers. It is good to see the standards movement doesn't all have blinkers on.