Opera Mobile Coming Soon to Android

Opera announced to release a beta version of Opera Mobile for Android phones within the next month. This was announced at Up North Web. Android-based handsets should soon be able to enjoy Opera Mobile on their devices. According to the company, the new mobile browser should become available for all Android versions, while arriving into the wild with two new features, namely Hardware Acceleration and Pinch to zoom.


Opera also announced at Up North Web that Opera Mini for iPhone will receive an updated version this year featuring both pinch to zoom and hardware acceleration. The company did not announce an official release date for Opera Mobile for Android, but it did confirm that the solution should be released both via the Android Market, as well as via m.opera.com.


Through Hardware Acceleration, Opera Mobile should be able to offer better speeds to all of its users. According to Opera, these enhancements should be aimed both at the web page navigation capabilities of the device, as well as at the user interface the solution comes with. As for Pinch to Zoom, the functionality should enable users to zoom at the desired level on their handsets, the same way as they are able to zoom when using the desktop version of the solution.



What is pinch to zoom?
The current versions of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini have two levels of zoom. One for the full page width and one for zooming in to read the text. With the introduction of pinch to zoom you are in full control of the zoom level. Text redraws almost instantly at all zoom levels, so text will always look sharp and easy to read. All this without compromising the speed or data compression in Opera Mini and Opera Mobile!


What is hardware acceleration?
Hardware acceleration allows Opera to run at lightning speed. Navigating a page, panning and zooming will be faster than ever. All this is made possible by taking full advantage of the GPU power available on your phone. Hardware acceleration allows us to do amazing things like pinch to zoom for all sites. It also allows a more fluid interaction between you and your phone, improving your browsing experience!


Opera Mobile and Opera Mini already come with two levels of zoom, one of which was set for the full page width, while the other being designed to enable easy reading of text. Opera Mini already available for download handsets running under Google's Android operating system.