Opera released for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile

Opera 8.60 Final

[Brett_Tabke]

After only 2 betas, Opera has released the first full blown "not ie" proprietary browser for PocketPC and Windows Mobile platforms. There are other "browsers" such as NetFront or Browsing services, but those are just shells over IE.

This is the first time that a major browser player has gotten in to MS's total domination of the handheld pda browser market in the US.

Aside from Operas super small screen mode and it's tabbed browsing, Opera for PocketPC is much faster than PocketIE.

[opera.com...]

[encyclo]

Opera is streets ahead of every other mobile browser out there, and this release shows just how well they know the medium. The next big challenge is getting Windows Mobile users to download and use it instead of IE, not always an easy proposition unless they can get their browser preinstalled by vendors, something which Microsoft is unlikely to appreciate.

Opera only has a small market share of the "traditional" browser market, but their mobile device expertise is their biggest chance of carving a niche - small-screen rendering and the mobile internet is going to become increasingly important over time.

Another good reason to test all sites in Opera! Just press Shift+F11 in your regular Opera browser to test your sites using the same small-screen rendering mode used in the Opera versions for Pocket PC and other such devices.