Opera Mobile

Yesterday we released a new version of Opera Mobile 10 beta with multi-language support, as well as an updated version of the regular release.

The multi-language build includes a font package covering several Asian languages.

In addition to this, both builds contain some minor fixes:

• Font handling fix
  
• Cache size is calculated at a different point in the loading process
  
• Reduced frequency of error messages when out of memory occurs
  
• RTSP support is added to enable videos on m.youtube.com
  

I will explain this in a bit more detail.

The ability to render Asian characters in web pages depends on the system fonts installed on the device, and doesn't require the special multi-language version to be installed. However, rendering Asian characters in Opera UI elements such as history, page title, bookmarks, dropdowns, etc requires the extra font package in the multi-language version. Note also that the additional font package will only be used if the device locale matches one of the fonts included in the package.

The font handling fix ensures that Opera makes proper use of the installed system fonts for web page content. The first release did not use system fonts correctly, which caused some English language pages to display squares on devices with certain Asian locales.

The next two fixes in the list will reduce the frequency of out of memory (OOM) messages. We know that a lot of you have commented about high RAM consumption and frequent OOM messages, and these fixes should hopefully alleviate the problem somewhat.
We acknowledge that Opera requires a fair bit of memory - a full web browser will need resources to handle complex web pages. For this first beta we have focused a lot on smooth panning and UI transitions, but rest assured that we will work diligently to improve memory usage for the next release.

Finally, the updated builds have RTSP support. This enables RTSP content, such as videos from m.youtube.com and other mobile video sites, to be passed to and run in the default media player on the device.

Please visit www.opera.com/mobile/download from your desktop browser or m.opera.com/mobile from your mobile phone to download the new versions.

Thank you for testing Opera Mobile 10 beta, and for the comments so far - we look forward to more feedback!


Known issues:

• If RealPlayer is the default media player, you will need to set the access point in RealPlayer to the same access point Opera is using.
  
• The multi-language build does not cover all character sets. Please take a look at this forum comment for more details.
  
• Soft keyboard is shown even though hard keyboard is slid out and in use.
  
• Only partial IME support.
  
• Occasional freezes under stress conditions.
  
• Opera Link is not included in the beta.
  

Opera Mobile 9.7 beta is now available for download. We first showed Opera Mobile 9.7 at CTIA in late march, but we needed some time to stabilize and test the new Opera Presto 2.2 core version.

The big news in this release is Opera Turbo. Opera Turbo is a server-side compression technology that compresses data up to 80% before it is sent to the mobile phone. Opera Turbo speeds up your browsing experience significantly when you are on a low bandwidth network (like EDGE). You will however not notice such a big effect when you're connected through WiFi or a high-speed mobile network. You can turn on Opera Turbo in the advanced section in the browser settings. Opera Turbo for Opera Mobile is still a preview feature, and we appreciate all feedback.

Download the browser here.

Happy browsing!

Hi everyone,

I'm Helene, and I work as a project manager in the Windows Mobile team at Opera Software. We are a dedicated team working with developing the Opera Mobile browser for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices.

My group works with the consumer product and new feature development in particular, and we are excited about the opportunity to focus on new technology and our end users. We're happy to announce our upcoming release: Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices.



The Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta will include the following great features:

• Improved rendering engine
  Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta uses the Presto 2.2 rendering engine, which will also be used in the Opera 10 desktop browser. Presto 2.2 offers faster page loading, and we're excited to use this state-of-the-art rendering engine and be at the forefront of standards support with 100/100 on Acid 3.
  
• Opera Turbo
  Finally we can show you Opera Turbo on mobile! Opera Turbo accelerates the browsing experience by reducing bandwidth consumption up to 80%. Many of you will be familiar with Opera's compression technology from using Opera Mini, and with Opera Mobile 9.7 you'll get the best of both worlds - a full-fledged browser with extra Turbo capabilities. It's not the full version of Opera Turbo yet (yes, that's a Beta feature in a Beta release), but we couldn't wait to show you this cool feature.
  
• Improved Widget Manager
  Opera Widgets are small, handy Web applications that run locally on your mobile phone. Our new Widget Manager has improved usability and design, and runs independently from the browser.
  
• Gears
  Gears is a Google open source project that enables more powerful web applications, by adding new features to your web browser. Read more about Gears on Opera Labs.
  
• OpenGL ES
  Hardware acceleration with OpenGL ES support, ensuring smoother scrolling, panning and a more fluid user interface.
  

Also, we've tried to iron out some of the major issues with the 9.51 Beta, among other things:

• Installation on storage card is now possible, and the Beta happily coexists with preinstalled versions of Opera Mobile.
  
• Better IME support (although a lot of non-standard 3rd party IME applications still make this a difficult task).
  
• Better performance and feedback when clicking links.
  

We look forward to sharing this great product with you, so stay tuned

PS: If you're in Las Vegas during CTIA, make sure to drop by the Opera booth (6724 in Central Hall) to test out a preview of Opera Mobile 9.7.

We just made a build of Opera Mobile 9.5 beta2 with support for Gears. Head over to Opera Labs to read about it..

We have updated the beta1 with a fix for the (very annoying) bug that turned off the notification sounds. The notification bugfix was relatively trivial and had a low risk. We are aware of the other bugs and issues, but these aren't adressed in this update.

There have been reports of OOM (Out of Memory) problems on some devices. Phil Nickinson over at WMExperts.com have suggested a workaround to avoid this problem. By changing the location of the folder where Opera stores the cache-files, more memory is available for Opera.
Please note that depending on the speed of the memory card, Opera might perform slower and you will probably experience some delays when Opera reads and writes to the cache.

Edit: Please be sure to uninstall the previous beta-version before installing the new one. You can find more detailed instructions in this forum thread.