Android/Symbian: Firefox 4 is the big browser release of the day, but it’s not the only one. Opera released a new version of their mobile browser for Android and Symbian devices. New features include:
- Faster … panning and zooming
- No checkerboard, ever
- Text stays sharp during zooming
- Improved text-wrap on zoom
- Buttons for jumping to the top/bottom of the page
- Haptic feedback (if supported in hardware)
- Share URL on social networks, email etc
- Improved Geolocation support
- Session restore
Or, more briefly, it’s got a lot of really nice features and is certainly worth a look if you’re not happy with your current mobile browser. After playing around with it for a bit, the best feature may be the buttons that allow you to quickly jump to the top or bottom of a long page. On iOS, you can tap the top of the screen to move quickly to the top; on Android, touching the top of the screen pulls down the notification bar. The notification tradeoff is a win for Android users, but Opera Mobile introduces the jump to top/bottom feature in a clever way: When you scroll up or down with a fast enough flick, it displays a button on the screen (see image) pointing in the corresponding direction. Tap the button and Opera Mobile will quickly whisk you to the top or bottom of the page. Handy. That alone is a feature I’d like to see in almost every Android app that includes content scrolling.
Opera Mobile is a free download for Android and Symbian/S60 devices.
Opera Mobile [Android Market]