Opera Mini: Better and More Popular

Opera Mini has been downloaded more than 25 million times from the GetJar mobile application store, the companies said.

The mobile browser is one of the most popular in the world because it is available on a variety of devices including Java, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and other handsets. It is also able to run on relatively low-end hardware because it uses server-side compression technology to minimize the processing and bandwidth requirements.

Opera is bringing multipage browsing to its popular Mini browser, with a beta rolling out today. Mini 5.0 also gets a slick visual makeover, and touch support on devices that accept touch input.

Underneath it's the familiar Opera 4 Mini engine with a few tweaks, and existing users will be relieved that key shortcuts have been retained. But the proliferating screens of settings, bookmarks etc are now accessible by a pulldown menu. The address bar and search bar are integrated into the page view, almost exactly in the manner of iPhone Safari. Usually the ideas in the browser flow the other way.

Opera Mini 5, out now in beta, features a sleek new design to give the browser a more intuitive look and feel, the firm said. Also included is tabbed browsing, enabling users to browse several sites simultaneously, and support for touch screen as well as keypad-based browsing.

A Password Manager function acts as a "virtual memory bank" to store all a user's passwords for email, social networking and other online accounts, according to Opera.

Finally, Opera Mini 5 features Speed Dial, providing users with pre-selected web sites on loading the browser to jump straight to the content they want.

"The idea of navigating the vastness of the web from such a small screen can be a daunting leap, which is why we have long committed to make the browsing experience you are familiar with from your PC, easy to do on your mobile phone," said Jon von Tetzchner, chief executive of Opera Software.

"With new sleek navigation buttons, tabbed browsing and Speed Dial bookmarks, you are never more than a click away from where you want to go on the web."