Opera Mobile 9.7 beta is live, but it's no Safari
It's been quite a while since I used a Windows Mobile handset for an extended amount of time. Recently I got the chance to play with an HTC Touch Diamond, and it happened to coincide nicely with the preview release of Opera 9.7 beta.
Good as the new browser might be, I found it to be a step backward from Safari on my iPod Touch. I'm also in full agreement with CNet's Jessica Dalcourt, who said the new browser was "not what we expected." Opera's Turbo compression/acceleration feature is now built-in - a feature I can do without since I'm only browsing on nice, fast wifi connections. And although it was hinted at, there's still no Flash Lite support. That's an unfortunate omission.
The standalone Widget Manager definitely has some interesting possibilities and includes a selection of handy widgets like Twitter and Google Translator. If you're an Opera die-hard, being able to run your favorite widgets on your handset may be a big selling point. The Widget Manager can be installed separately, and I think it's a more compelling download right now.
After using Safari for half a year, however, Opera 9.7 mobile still feels like a desktop browser that has been mashed into a Pocket-PC form factor. It's a decent browser, but it just isn't nearly as intuitive to use or well-adapted to handheld browsing as Safari.
If you'd like to give the 9.7 Mobile beta a try and share your thoughts, you can download it now from Opera.
Good as the new browser might be, I found it to be a step backward from Safari on my iPod Touch. I'm also in full agreement with CNet's Jessica Dalcourt, who said the new browser was "not what we expected." Opera's Turbo compression/acceleration feature is now built-in - a feature I can do without since I'm only browsing on nice, fast wifi connections. And although it was hinted at, there's still no Flash Lite support. That's an unfortunate omission.
The standalone Widget Manager definitely has some interesting possibilities and includes a selection of handy widgets like Twitter and Google Translator. If you're an Opera die-hard, being able to run your favorite widgets on your handset may be a big selling point. The Widget Manager can be installed separately, and I think it's a more compelling download right now.
After using Safari for half a year, however, Opera 9.7 mobile still feels like a desktop browser that has been mashed into a Pocket-PC form factor. It's a decent browser, but it just isn't nearly as intuitive to use or well-adapted to handheld browsing as Safari.
If you'd like to give the 9.7 Mobile beta a try and share your thoughts, you can download it now from Opera.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
n3rd said 2:11PM on 6-08-2009
you would think a tech blogger would be smart enough to forget about opera on winmo, because the only acceptable browser for winmo is now skyfire..
99% as good as safari or the android browser....
Reply
Gavin said 4:37PM on 6-08-2009
Safari's lack of proper page caching and saving page location is a pain though, with pages refreshing when you go back to them. Opera Mobile is superior in that respect.
Reply