Article by George Norman

On 03 Apr 2009

Not too long ago, the Windows Mobile Team with Opera Software announced the upcoming release of Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices. Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta boasts a long and impressive list of features (which we’ll present further down the page), but the real question is why didn’t Opera release a final version of Opera 9.5 before putting out a 9.7 version out there?

An explanation has been provided by Product Manager Frode Hauge: “Our core department has released a new version of Opera Presto which contained support for Opera Turbo, more advanced web standards, Gears and several other improvements. We wanted to make this available to our users as soon as possible, and chose to upgrade the core version in Opera Mobile. Updating the browser core is a big step forward for us, and it felt natural to change the version number. We have to upgrade to a new browser core as often as possible.”


Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta, which is slated for release later this spring, has the following features to boast about:
- Presto 2.2 rendering engine allows for faster page loads.
- Opera Turbo compression, just as in Opera 10 Alpha (details here)
- Improved widget manager.
- Support for Google Gears.
- OpenGL ES support for smoother scrolling and panning. The hardware acceleration provided by OpenGL ES also allows for a more fluid UI (user interface).

In related news, Ford has announced that its F-series and E-series truck and work vans will feature Sprint 3G broadband, and the browser Ford selected to use for its in-dash Web experience is Opera. Senior Vice President Americas for Opera Software, Rod Hamlin explains: “Opera's vision has always been about giving people access to the full Web anytime, anywhere. No example showcases this better than delivering a fast, feature-rich Web browser to a vehicle. This solution will allow Ford truck and van owners to maintain a virtual work environment with access to all of the important files, information, and applications they need on a daily basis.”



Tags: Opera, Opera Mobile, Opera Turbo, Ford, Ford Work Solutions

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