I have just discovered an incredibly useful web browser for mobile phones. It is called Opera Mini and as the name suggests, is a mini version of the highly successful Opera Web Browser.
An Highly Functional and Free Web Browser
Opera Mini, like Opera itself, is completely free and is packed full of handy features.
You can download it to your phone using WAP at http://mini.opera.com/ or you can install it using a PC Suite (such as Nokia PC Suite) using a data cable or a Bluetooth connection. If you choose to download via WAP, it is likely that your mobile service provider (Orange, O2, Vodafone etc) will charge you at the standard rate for this. The PC download is obviously free.
Highly Compatible
Opera Mini is highly compatible and works with many older phones as well as the latest top of the range smart-phones. If your phone is very old or if you have a very small screen then the user interface is slightly less glossy but all the features are still present. To see if your phone is supported, click here.
Internet Settings
To use Opera Mini, you will need a GPRS connection to the internet. If you don’t know what this is or if you need to get your GPRS settings then visit this page to get your settings sent to your phone. Once you have all the settings configured, simply open up the browser and it will test your internet settings then take you to the Homepage. Here you can enter the address of the site you wish to visit or perform a google search.
Better Layout
The greatest asset of Opera Mini is that it allows you to effectively view web pages that were designed for normal computers. It does this by a technology called Small Screen Rendering (SSR). This basically means that the browser looks at the original layout of the page and the content within it then rearranges the content so that it fits your screen. In this way, no content is lost and the layout of the page is much more attractive. This lets you view many websites that were not previously viewable. It even deals with some quite complex layoutsFurthermore, you should not have to scroll sideways either.
Enjoyable Browsing
Other nice touches are a progress bar at the bottom of the screen and a highly attractive and colourful user interface. The Opera Homepage allows you to manually enter a web address, perform a Google search, visit bookmarked sites or view some of the last pages you visited.
Cheaper Browsing
Unlike the default browsers that come with most mobile phones, Opera can make things much cheaper for users. Before data is sent from the internet to the mobile phone, it is compressed. This means that you are charged less than usual for viewing each page so your phone bill should be much cheaper, particularly if you are viewing multimedia rich pages. Opera Mini also gives you the choice to turn images off completely or to view images in large or small format to further cut the cost of browsing.
The Verdict
Whilst some nice features such as an RSS reader are not yet included, Opera Mini is a real performer. Google searches on the web are now a viable thing and browsing is much more enjoyable than using the Nokia Browser I used previously. The majority of pages render well and browsing is quicker than the Nokia browser. Pictures display well too. Opera could well revolutionalise the world of mobile internet browsing and has set a precedent that will be difficult to beat.
