Opera, makers of the desktop browser that goes by the same name, has just released the final version of Opera Mobile 10.1 browser for Symbian devices. If you’ve got a Symbian smartphone that you’ve purchased in the past 3 or 4 years, then chances are your handset will be supported. New features include the just-in-time compilation (JIT) performance optimization to the Carakan JavaScript engine, the same engine that Opera use in their desktop browser, and that translates to a 9x increase in speed (when using the SunSpider JavaScript test benchmark) compared to version 10.0. There’s also Opera Turbo built in, for those days when you’re in that certain part of town which has never seen a 3G signal. Turbo uses the same servers that power Opera Mini, taking your website request and compressing it before sending it back down to you, saving you time, money, and battery life. Oh and Opera thought the built in keyboard on Symbian^3 devices was so bad that they’ve decided to write their own.
“Powerful smartphones deserve an equally powerful browser,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “Opera Mobile 10.1 today brings the best mobile browsing experience to the world’s most popular smartphone platform.”
Hmmm, is he saying that Nokia needs to get off their lazy ass and build a competent web browser? I think so, and that’s a fair point to make since Nokia right now is like Microsoft, shipping old versions of Internet Explorer with each and every new personal computer, thereby stunting the potential of the growth of the internet. Anyway, grandiose talk aside, to grab the application just point your browser to m.opera.com and follow the instructions.
Do let us know how you like it in the comments below. People are already reporting that there’s no pinch to zoom, but that it is indeed lightyears ahead of what comes with the latest version of Nokia’s browser running on the N8.
[Via: All About Symbian]