Back, in October, I wrote a blog post detailing how to shorten URLs using the Opera address bar. I use Twitter, and most of the time I use the Twitter Opera widget to do it. (Here is the newer version of the widget.) The widget will shorten URLs for you, but you have to be inside of the 140 character max or the “tweet” button is grayed out.

In that case, you must shorten the URL yourself before tweeting, which is a pain. Your next step will be to browse to a site like tinyurl.com, shorten your URL, then paste it back into your Twitter client. This can be a pain. And now there’s a better way!

Method 1: Shorten URLs via the Opera address bar using custom search

It’s easy to create a custom search in Opera. But here I prove you can use it for more than searching! Create a custom search that posts to http://is.gd/create.php using URL=%s as your query string. Click OK, and you can now create a shortened URL directly from the Opera address bar by typing u <URL> and hitting Enter, assuming you used “u” as the shortcut key.

Here is my original blog post with more detailed instructions:

http://my.opera.com/BAMAToNE/blog/2009/10/04/how-to-shorten-urls-from-the-opera-address-bar

Method 2: Shorten URLs via custom Opera button

After my blog post became famous (thanks, Espen!), Opera Community member mistressEVIL furthered my idea and showed us a way to shorten URLs using a custom button. I think it’s a great idea because not everyone is comfortable customizing Opera the way I have shown. But using a custom button is easy because it just takes a click.

Here is mistressEVIL’s blog post with more detailed instructions on how to create custom buttons:

http://my.opera.com/missevilat/blog/2010/01/15/shorten-url-with-a-button

On its Core blog, Opera posted some of the details of its new JavaScript engine, called Carakan.

The new engine, which likely won’t be available in the upcoming Opera 10 release, is 2.5 times faster than the Opera 10 alpha engine, according to Opera.

All the details are up on the Core blog and the short Carakan FAQ they posted.

My observation:
My guess is that Opera decided to put much effort into making its JavaScript engine faster not for bragging purposes, but rather for its increasingly popular embedded browser and SDKs in devices and mobile phones.

Opera, of course, is going full force in promoting Opera Widgets for devices and mobile phones as a way to build web applications that are platform independent and that are cheap to build (using plain old HTML and JavaScript). By improving its JavaScript engine, it is directly improving the performance of Opera Widgets.

Since we first added support for Opera Widgets in Opera 9, hundreds of useful widgets were created by developers around the world.

There are a few that I use all the time, but I wanted to take a moment and highlight my top and most useful Opera Widget (drum roll…): The touchTheSky weather widget.

This weather widget is always open on my desktop. I find myself usually glancing at the temperature reading before heading outside. Hey, this Opera Widget even saved me some money. Without it, I’d have to go out to the store, buy a thermometer, and place it outside my window.

Apparently I’m not alone. It’s the highest rated and the most downloaded widget over at widgets.opera.com

What’s your top Opera Widget?
I’m curious to know which one is your top widget. Is it the Facebook widget? Twitter widget? SimAquarium? touchTheSky weather widget? Or is it the Circular tetris widget?

Widget developer competition
Btw, we’re running a weekly competition for the top new widgets created. (Read more about it)

Related links: 

• Opera Widgets now on mobile phones too
• 5 security widgets for the Opera browser
• My most useful Opera Widgets
• 9 Coolest Opera Widgets

(touchTheSky weather widget)

Last month we announced a deal with a company called Verifone. Verifone makes kiosk systems (like the one pictured on the right) for retail banking, ticketing, etc. They’ll embed the Opera browser into some of their kiosks.

Putting a Web browser on these kiosks means the application interface could be written as a simple web application with the familiar HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and even canvas and SVG.

With the abundance of web development tools, it’s much easier, cheaper, and quicker to develop the user interface in the form of a webpage, rather than in some other proprietary computer language. In addition, making updates to the interface is as simple as loading the new webpage.

In addition, devices with an embedded Opera browser also have the capability of running Opera Widgets. This means, you could conceivably create the entire application as an Opera Widget. (I’m not sure, though, whether Verifone plans to use Opera Widgets on their kiosks)

Joost, the service that distributes TV shows and other video, added support for W3C packaging of widgets, which means that Opera Widgets might work well in Joost.

Opera Widgets also follows this W3C widget standard. In fact, Opera was the one who proposed this widget standard based on its own Opera Widgets implementation.

I wasn’t, however, able to test it out, since I couldn’t figure out how to run widgets within the Joost application.

(Via Vetle)

For the first time now, Opera Widgets will run on mobile phones too, in addition to on the Opera desktop browser.

Japan’s KDDI mobile phone carrier will ship 3 new phones, the Toshiba W56T, Sony Ericsson W54S and Sanyo W54SA, which are capable of running Opera Widgets.

When Opera first released Opera Widgets, many were wondering why the need for yet another widget platform. Our strategy with Opera Widgets is becoming much clearer now. We’ve always intended for widgets to be a platform to develop Web applications that aren’t dependent on proprietary or platform specific environments. Opera Widgets can run on virtually any device, ranging from PCs to mobile phones and other embedded devices. Pretty cool, no?

KDDI is branding these Opera Widgets as ‘au one Gadget’.

(Opera Widget on a mobile phone)

HelpNetSecurity posted today a list of 5 security Opera Widgets which you can use.

In addition to those security widgets, you may also want to check out my most useful Opera Widgets.

Hint: If you browse the Web a lot at work, you may want to check out the Panic Button widget.

The Register published an interview with Opera’s founder CEO Jon von Tetzchner. The interview covers many areas of interest to Opera users: desktop, Opera Mini, Opera Mobile, Firefox, Opera Widgets, Mobile browsing, security and site compatibility.

Reactions in the blogosphere:

“I believe that the future of browsers is in open source based engines, just because the nature of browser engines suiting perfectly for open source development, but Opera keeps proving me wrong along side the massive IE.”
(Source: Northern Dialogue)

“Great interview”
(Source: Open Gardens)

(Read the interview)

Update: Here’s a Slashdot discussion on this interview.

Opera Widgets are small web applications that run outside the browser. Under the hood they’re just a plain simple webpage, written in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Opera Widgets, whose specification was submitted to the W3C, are capable of running on any Opera browser, regardless of platform (desktop, mobile, or devices).

Developing an application as an Opera Widget, especially a mobile application, has multiple advantages. Since they’re really just a webpage (under the hood), development time is often shorter. In addition, once the widget has been developed it should work on all platforms. Our hope is for the W3C to accept our widget specification as a Web standard, which means these widgets won’t be tied down to Opera.

Since Opera first added support for widgets a year ago, more than 1,200 widgets were created by Opera users. So which ones are the useful ones? And which ones are worth while keeping on your desktop? Here’s my take.

Note: I’ve included a screenshot of each widget. Some RSS readers don’t display images.

Social Networks  

Facebook widget — With this widget you can view and search your friends, show their statuses, receive notifications of messages, pokes etc. The animations and live AJAX search adds a nice usability touch to the widget. (See a diagram outlining the features).

Twitter widget — If you’re hooked on to Twitter, this widget is a must. It will show you the recent twits, or messages, of your friends. The widget also has an option to auto refresh. You could also post messages to your own Twitter account. This widget, called Twippera, is available in the following languages: English, Japanese, and Spanish.

My Opera Community widget — This widget lets you see who of your friends are online, and allows you to send them messages. The widget also keeps track of your watched items (i.e. comments to blog posts and photos) and forum threads you’ve subscribed to. Similar to the Facebook widget, the animations adds an elegant touch.

Developer/Designer Tools

Desktop ruler — A simple ruler for your screen or desktop.

Screen ruler — A more powerful ruler than the above mentioned Desktop ruler, this widget displays a grid over your screen, allowing you to click on two points, which in turn shows you the distance between the two points.

Artist’s Sketchbook — Photoshop in a widget (not really). With artist tools such as pencils, charcoal, paint brushes, calligraphy pen and more, you could draw a masterpiece. Take a look at some of the pictures drawn with this widget.

Shopping tools

eBay watcher — This widget allows you to watch up to 10 eBay auctions, giving you details such as: current bid amount, highest bidder, number of bids, and the auction’s end time.

Games

SimAquarium — This widget is one of the more popular ones. In short, SimAquarium is an aquarium simulation game, where you can buy and sell fish, aquarium sceneries (plants, rocks etc), lighting and other things for your aquarium. Warning: This game is addictive.

Circular Tetris — Another very popular widget. Complete a ring to clear the row.

Blackjack — Play Blackjack without losing money.

Snake — The cult game from cell phones.

Chess — This chess widget has 3 difficulty levels with the ability to switch which side of the board you are on, and you can even take back your move.

Tools and stuff

Torrent PowerSearch — This widget searches from many torrent sites at once. It display search results in tabs simultaneously for all sites, showing all the key information: name, download link, size, seeders, and leechers.

VideoDownloader — This widget allows you to download videos directly from most video sites (Google Video, Putfile, YouTube… etc).

Calendar — A Multilingual Calender.

Weather widget — This weather widget, called touchTheSky, is an excellent one for your desktop. It features: international weather coverage, temperature, wind speed, satellite images, air quality (including humidity, pollen levels, and UV levels), moon phases, 5-day forecast, and more. This is one of the most downloaded Opera Widgets.

Scientific Calculator — A scientific calculator with the look and feel of a real calculator.

Live traffic — View live traffic data overlaid onto Google Maps. Currently only available in the UK.

Earthquakes Map — This widget displays locations of earthquakes from the past 7 days. Even though you may not care about earthquakes, this widget is worth while checking out – it’s very sophisticated.

Bug Me Not — Widget to help you bypass registration on web sites. It will provide your with publicly available usernames and passwords.

RSS etc.

Bloglines notifier — Shows the number of unread feeds on your bloglines account.

Latest del.icio.us bookmarks — Quick access to your delicious bookmarks on your desktop.

The Opera India office is at it again. After successfully completing their extreme ‘Open the Web’ project a few weeks ago, they’re at it now with Opera Widgets. They’ve accepted upon themselves to make countless number of Opera Widgets ‘at break-neck speed’ and they’re soliciting your ideas for new kind of widgets.

I have a couple Opera Widgets that run on startup (I did it by saving a session with the widgets running) — the calendar and weather widgets. I would love to see the following widgets:

• An IM chat widget (similar to Meebo)
• A nice widget with MLB scores (real time), standings, and news (same for the NFL, NBA and NHL)

Here’s an opportunity for those of you who’ve been craving for a new kind of widget, but didn’t have the necessary developing skills. Let them know of the widgets you’re dreaming. Head over to their blog and add your quest in the comments.

P.S. It seems like the team in the Opera India office is full of energy; I’ll have to visit the office one day.

Over at the Guardian blog there’s a nice and short article explaining Opera Widgets. It mentions some of the precautions Opera took with implementing widgets in the browser so that they won’t compromise on security.

From the post:

“Opera is the grandfather of alternative browsers. It’s fast and standards compliant but has always fought an uphill battle to displace browsers like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or Netscape before it. However, it has found a niche in people who liked the speed and compliance. They also have a foothold on mobile devices and other platforms like the Nintendo Wii or the set top boxes.”

Opera is running a new contest for developers to see what kind of travel-related widgets the developer community can create using Opera Widgets.

From the announcement:

“We are looking for the best new widgets that will be useful for travelers. Whether it’s travel for work, vacation, or something in between, we want widgets that are great tools for anyone traveling out of town – whether by car, plane, boat, train, or other means of conveyance. From widgets that help you keep track of travel expenses to widgets that pull useful information from travel-related sites to whatever else you can think of, we’d love to see it.”

Opera Widgets created for the desktop will also run on mobile phones, making travel-related widgets a perfect application for mobile phones.

The top prizes include a free Windows Mobile phone (that runs Opera, of course) and a free Nintendo DS Lite with the Opera browser for DS.

Submission deadline for the contest is June 4th, midnight (your time). Read the official announcement for more details.

What kind of travel widgets would you like to see?

A few months ago Opera announced that the upcoming edition of Opera Mobile, based on the Opera 9 browser, will support Opera Widgets.

These Opera Widgets are small web applications that run outside of the browser and will be instantly accessible on the phone without having to launch the Web browser.

Opera Widgets are based on the same technologies used to create webpages – HTML, CSS, SVG, JavaScript (and AJAX) – so you could easily create a weather, traffic, news or email widget that gets its data by using AJAX, for example. No longer do you need to program your mobile applications in JME, etc – now, it’s as simple as developing webpage.

Opera Widgets is certainly an exciting technology platform for developers to build applications for mobile phones. There are far more developers that are able to program using web technologies than any other development technology for mobile. In addition, this will allow for user-generated mobile widgets to be easily developed and deployed.

I thought it would be beneficial for you guys and gals to get more information about widgets on mobile phones. I’ve invited a couple of Product Managers at Opera Software working on the mobile side to answer the questions you may have on mobile widgets.

Post your questions about Opera Widgets support on mobile phones to the comments. I’ll post the answers here on Opera Watch in the coming weeks.

Got any questions about Opera Widgets on mobile phones? Ask.

I got an email from a tipster the other day telling me about a blog post listing the 9 coolest Opera Widgets.

There are two Opera Widgets that I use all the time, in fact they load automatically at startup using an Opera session. I like having the Calendar and Weather widgets on my desktop for quick reference. There are more than 1,000 user generated Opera Widgets available for download.

In addition to the regular Opera Widgets, you could easily make a widget out of your blog posts, Flickr or My.Opera photos, and YouTube videos using the Opera Widget Generator. There are a slew of designs to choose from.

When I visited Opera’s headquarters a few weeks ago, I spoke with some of those building the Opera Widgets platform. Opera Widgets run on the desktop browser, mobile phones, and even devices running the Opera browser. They’re working on some pretty interesting stuff. I’m looking forward to the time when Opera Widgets become a more powerful a web applications platform.

It’s been a short 8 months since Opera added support for widgets in the browser, and today Opera passed the 1,000th mark of user-created widgets uploaded to widgets.opera.com.

Widgets are still a touchy subject for many hardcore Opera users. Many still don’t see the need or even benefit of including it in the browser. There was even a short discussion about this last week in the comments to one of my previous posts.

As Lawrence pointed out, the focus of Opera Widgets has always been to provide cross-platform capabilities and convenience for end users. The same Opera Widget that runs on your desktop will also run on this wall pad and many other Opera-powered devices. Opera Widgets should work wherever there’s an Opera browser. Recently Opera announced that the Opera Mobile browser will also support widgets.

There are a couple widgets that I usually have floating around on my desktop, the calendar and weather forecast widgets. I find them useful.

3DLabs has successfully ported the Opera browser onto a multimedia chip.

The chip uses Opera 9 (for devices), which means it can run Opera Widgets, and thus allow developers and manufactures to create small programs (I.e. Opera Widgets) to run on the chip. In other words, this chip can be used with a device that has a screen, so instead of creating the screen menu, etc. in the traditional computer code, it can be written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as an Opera Widget. Pretty cool. The Opera browser is truly everywhere.