The Opera Nintendo DS browser made its debut yesterday in Japan.
Josh Zimmerman created a couple of YouTube video reviews of the new browser, which he posted on his site. Those videos are very informative and worth watching.
The Nintendo DS browser is scheduled to be released in Europe on October 6th.
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Q: What is Opera?
A: Opera is one of the most powerful Web browsers around. A Web browser is the program that allows you to view Web pages. Opera is well known for innovation for PC browsers and bringing the full web to mobile phones and devices.
Q: Is Opera free?
A: Absolutely free.
Q: Why should I download a browser? Doesn't my computer already come with one for free?
A: It's about getting more out of the time you spend on the internet. Opera is designed to be much faster than these browsers and gives you powerful features that the default browser lacks. Default browsers like Internet Explorer are also more likely to be subjected to dangerous software such as viruses and spyware.
Q: Will Opera keep me safe from fraudulent websites and malicious hackers?
A: According to Secunia, a respected firm that tracks security in browsers, Opera has the best reputation and track record when it comes to browser security. Keeping our users safe from security vulnerabilities, fraudulent websites, and malicious hackers is a top priority for Opera. Opera is maintained by hundreds of engineers, developers and security experts who are constantly looking to make the browser even safer.
Q: Doesn't Opera copy all of their features from other browsers?
A: Absolutely not. In fact, many of the features that are popular in other browsers today were invented and pioneered by Opera a long time ago. Opera invented the precursor to tabs (in 1994), Page Zoom (1994), was the first browser to block pop-up ads (2000), first to add a Search field in the browser toolbar (2000), Sessions (1996), deleting private data (2000), Mouse Gestures (2000), User JavaScript (2005), BitTorrent support (2005), Widgets (2006), Speed Dial (2007), and much more.
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A: Much of the functionality provided through Firefox extensions is already built directly into Opera, so you don't have to download additional extensions in Opera. In addition, Opera is highly customizable and supports all standard plug-ins.
Q: Can I also use Opera on my mobile phone?
A: Yes. And your Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS or almost any connected device and mobile phones. Opera Mobile oftens comes preinstalled from the manufacturers, but if it doesn't you can install Opera Mini which runs on nearly all phones.
Q: This all sounds great, so how do I download Opera?
A: -- Opera on your computer
-- Opera Mini on your phone
-- Opera Mobile on your phone
-- or learn more about Opera at www.opera.com
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1.5-3 minutes to load Slashdot… Is it actually rendering time or loading or both?
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I guess its his connection, even my Symbian based phone with Opera works faster.
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I think so too. Because Nintendo DS should has faster CPU than most of smart phones have these days.
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I remember that JPEGs weren’t loading instantly on 60Mhz computers, but that loading time issue is worrying.
Slashdot has ~200kb, so that means a little more than 1kb/s transfer. Ouch
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It does? Got some numbers to back up that claim?
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Hm, it seems very slow. It would be interesting how it performs with pages that are optimized for PDAs. The PSP browser is also not the fastest one but it’s perfectly usable on such sites.
The lack of Flash is a major drawback too. I’m writing this on Linux on a Power PC where no Flash plugin exists for. You need that more often than you would think…
But on the other hand the DS would not be capable of rendering SWFs at decent speed anyway. It’s already nearly unusable slow on the much faster PSP.
Another big disadvantage is the missing WPA encryption for wifi on the DS. If your home network is set to WPA you have to downgrade to the much more unsecure WEP encryption or buy a seperate AP (only witched on when needed of course…) for it. Bad.