A preview of Opera Mobile 9.5
Published March 13th, 2008 2:06 PM EDT By Daniel GoldmanThe folks over at the Brighthand blog got their hands on the upcoming Opera Mobile 9.5 browser (screenshots and video). Head over to their blog, and read their review of the browser (Hint: they loved it).
“All in all, my first impressions of Opera Mobile 9.5 are very positive. If the final version is even better, then this application is on the path to be a serious competitor to Apple’s Safari as the most powerful mobile web browser. I suspect that once again Opera Mobile will prove itself to be an indispensable asset to serious mobile web browsers.”
Read the Opera Mobile 9.5 review on Brighthand.com
If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed.
using
“screenshot and video” link isn’t working.
using
But what about Dragonfly
using
Yeah, still no news about dragonfly??
using
Please, any dragonfly info…
using
That dragonfly teaser was a complete disaster. It was one step to alienating users, successful one. Especialy when VERY enthusiastic reviews of FF3 are rumoring around. It is WAAAY faster than Opera. Yet, supposed Opera answer is: no new build last week, no reall progress in 9.5 front (no new features at all - tab behaviour was a missing feature, not new one) and suposedly something good (dragonfly) is a myth, that company can’t even explain to lots of lots of users that are waiting.
About the review, it is another reviever that found out ‘widgets’ to be, well, a bit flawed idea, pointing very well the major problems with them on the mobile.
using
Please develope opera mobile 9.5 for s40 phones.
using
As far as Linux support goes, will Opera Mobile 9.5 be available for Nokia’s internet tablets?
using
Nystor = w2?
Anyway, Nystor, you are right! No new features in two weeks is a disaster! That nullifies all the work that has been done on 9.5 so far! And obviously one single benchmark proves that Firefox is definitely faster than Opera at everything! Yes, it must be so!
BTW, the reviewer didn’t say that widgets are a flawed idea, he said that the desktop widgets didn’t fit on his mobile screen.
using
It’s kind of expected that trying to use desktop widgets on a mobile would be unsuccessful, since non-Opera-Software-made widgets can’t have been tested yet!
Unless Opera were to pre-release a build of 9.5 for us loyal widget devs to try out…..
using
I have a hunch that the release of Dragonfly is tied to the release of Opera Mobile 9.5 and that Dragonfly will contain tools to debug widgets on the mobile
using
Sorry about the delay in the Dragonfly details. We’re working really hard on it; I promise. David is planning on blogging a bit more Dragonfly details soon.
using
Soon being what? Hours, days, weeks?
using
All this secrecy is getting annoying…
using
To whom it may concern: My purpose is to gain higher rankings for specific keywords at google, I need your help for backlink, in order to achieve my goals, it is my humble request for you to help me in this matter. Thank you.
using
I just don’t get all this hush-hush, it’s not like this Dragonfly thing is the cure for cancer, for christ’s sake. I guess that all the secrecy nonsense is what pisses people off and it has clearly backfired. Dragonfly is on the road to be OperaMan 2.0 …
I sometimes think that ditching the PR/Marketing department is the best thing Opera could do, just focus all the effort on the development process and then cross fingers, because at this point is quite clear that this is not the way of doing things.
using
Just waiting for UQI 3 version of Opera Mobile. Posting this from P1i…
Shure I’m waiting for Dragonfly also!
using
“has clearly backfired”
How?
using
Dragonfly is nothing but Vaporware.
I has begun to backfire ‘coz opera ppl treating us like ****,either don’t announce the news so early that loyal suporters will begin to get pissed off at the lack of information thereafter.And then offer an apology which means something got messed up, nothing else.
Sad really.
using
How has it backfired?
The teaser site was set up two or three weeks ago. Announced early? You don’t even know what it is. How can you say that it’s been announced early?
Vaporware? How do you even know that it’s a piece of software?
And besides:
using
@eh How come no one who knows about it blogged about it? If such info was said at SXSW what harm is it making not making any info public?
using
I think Opera, possibly more so now than at any time in the past, has to be mindful that when they announce a new feature or idea, that it will be stolen immediately by the Mozilla team and implemented in the next nightly or a plug-in will be written to try to emulate it.
For the desktop browser, it was announced in June of 2007 that an alpha would be forthcoming. We finally received said alpha in September. They obviously did not account for some major bugs cropping up, otherwise, it would have been released soon after they first announced it.
I think, in light of both the experience with the Alpha release, and the mozilla team waiting to steal another new idea, they are being more cautious about Mobile 9.5 and Dragonfly. Trying to keep people interested, but not giving away too much is a tricky thing.
I myself have been very happy with Opera being so open as of late and hope the trend continues. We just have to remember that with them being so open, we are having a glimse at their internal development time tables that most companies would rather keep secret until a final version is released.
using
Mozilla finished copying Opera stuff. All Opera has, and is deemed important is ‘in’ already, esp. the Full-Page Zoom (with an option to do “text-only Zoom” that I miss each time I use Opera). Mozilla is way ahead implementing its own ideas and solutions, to be bothered stealing something from Opera.
And btw. Opera could do the same - copy features as fast as they come out - IF extensions were present. They are not. It backfires now, Opera feature set development is now the slowest on market. What is good, is that it is quite wide set of features, but lack of on-time adaptation starts to hurt (PicLens anyone?). And with each day it is going to hurt more.
And btw. it backfired by simply upsetting and annoying the most loyal userbase Opera has. Userbase Opera cant afford to loose if it want to survive when FF3 hits the market.
BTW Secrecy in development is so 20th century. Even Microsoft is more open with IE8 than Opera is with it’s current develpoments. Firefox 4 pre-alphas are open to d/l, with full, open, set of planned changes/features. You can’t ask for more. It is Opera that is closed (for no good reason) not ‘most companies’.
using
We can conclude that Nystor == w2/whatever2
It’s always nice to see how he always polutes and diverts discussions with all the drivel about his beloved Firefox. Yet another discussion that goes to the toilet just because the Troll wants to let off steam.
using
Im opera user for 4 years and will continue to use it,but i agree witn Nystor on some points.
If they did say it in sxsw,i mean be a little open minded and not be fanboys for a moment,arent we supposed to know,why keep it a secret,FF could surely steal an idea if they already said it at sxsw,so that particular argument is invalid really.
using
WTF you are talking about? This thread was about Opera mobile for about 2 posts, then dragonfly pop in, then secrecy and then firefox as an comparison. It is all connected. If you are so strict and want to obey this ’stick to the thread rule’ please refrain from off-topic comments yourself.
BTW. Why Opera previews are first released to press, not to community members (well-know ones)? I think that press reviews are rather shallow and tend to be rather loss of time instead of being real review and feature summary. But it is Opera’ choice it seems.
using
Actually, this latest topic is slightly germane to the main thread as we are discussing Opera’s general willingness or unwillingness to keep the public abreast of new updates about their products.
Again, I’ve been very happy that Opera has become more open, and again i hope it continues. The population that bothers with beta testing and trying nightly/weekly releases is probably a small minority in the grand scheme of things.
And don’t use Microsoft as an example of being open. Although they, like Opera, have become more open as of late, there was zero word about IE8 until a few months ago. That was about a full year after IE7 was released to the masses. And they only released a beta we could play with this month, almost 1.5 years after IE7 was made available.
There simply is no comparison outside the OSS world to Firefox’s openness in development. Maybe, in order to compete with Firefox, they should be even more open, as you contend. But I still believe that the actual user-base that cares for such things is rather small. Unlike the typical firefox user, Opera users don’t want to have to deal with extension compatibility issues or quirks. They prefer to download a 4-5mb download that includes a browser, mail, newsgroup, irc, bittorrent, rss feed reader, download manager, client that includes features of all seamlessly connected into an elegant solution. Beta testing is for us geeks who love to be on the cutting edge.
As for Opera Mobile 9.5, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. When it is released, there will simply be no comparison to it, even within the OSS world. Opera Mini is an amazing browser, but I look forward to a more fully featured browser for my smart phone. These mini reviews have only wetted my appetite and the second it is released for beta testing, I will start trying it out. Can’t wait. (yes, I’m in the minority of those Opera users that like to beta test.
)
using
Im in that minority as you say it too,in fact i have used beta build more than i have used stable ones.And i love opera for this fact that aren’t like other companies,being closed source is not an issue for me,just dont dissappoint me from your word ,thats all i ask.
using
Nystor = w2.
w2 = Opera hater and troll.
w2 is imaginging that because Opera’s isn’t telling everyone what Dragonfly is withing two weeks, it has “backfired”
w2 is also a self-contradictory troll:
“Why Opera previews are first released to press”
Wasn’t w2 the one whining about Opera’s marketing? Releasing to the press” is marketing! They are getting press! That’s what w2 allegedly wanted Opera to do.
But apparently not!
This is not the first time w2 has been caught lying and contradicting himself.
using
I don’t think Opera releases info to the press and then to the users. Over on my.opera.com/desktopteam they have weekly builds where new features are announced usually before they reach the press (Opera Link, for instance).
And at SXSW they had a new flyer that was similar to the image found at dragonfly.opera.com, only it had another teaser on the back. It pretty much tells you exactly what it is…if it is what I think it is
using
I would like to see some screenshots of the Series 60 version and some concrete info on a beta release date and some indications of upgrade policy.
using
What we really want is a public beta of Opera Mobile and some firm information on pricing, upgrades, compayibility etc.
Opera seem to love the top-secret stuff, but businesses stopped doing that in the 90s. You either announce something properly or keep quiet until you are ready.
using
If you really want to see some screenshots of Opera Mobile 9.5 please try to use OperaMini 4, it almost resembles the Opera Mobile 9.5. Try it! Thank you.