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View Full Version : Opera to bring custom browser to phones and PDAs

Ed Hansberry
10-15-2002, 01:00 PM
<a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961831.html">http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961831.html</a><br /><br />Opera claims to have solved the problem of fitting desktop content on the tiny screens of a phone and PDA. "Opera's new method cuts the scrolling in half by stacking the content of a Web page vertically. That way, surfers only have to scroll up and down to read it." Well, that sounds good, but I've seen many columns that are too wide for a PDA screen. Still, those that have seen it are amazed. "I think it's absolutely phenomenal technology," said Michael Gartenberg, analyst with Jupiter Research.<br /><br />No word on pricing, platform availability or if this will be user installable or as part of packages sold by OEMs. It should be available in the next 3-6 months.
Paragon
10-15-2002, 01:27 PM
If this works anywhere near as well as their desktop version it will be fantastic!

Dave
WillyG
10-15-2002, 02:06 PM
Still, those that have seen it are amazed. "I think it's absolutely phenomenal technology," said Michael Gartenberg...,

For screenshots and more info, have a look here:
http://www.opera.com/products/smartphone/smallscreen/?session=

This is how "Fit to screen" should have worked in IE :wink:
Heia Opera!
jwf
10-15-2002, 03:09 PM
This is exactly what iSilo does and it's excellent. You're guaranteed to be able to read offline content without horizontal scrolling!

JF
Jonathon Watkins
10-15-2002, 03:33 PM
Looks good - I look forward to trying it.
Foo Fighter
10-15-2002, 04:01 PM
Uh..I hate to bust everyone's bubble, but Jon von Tetzchner (opera's CEO) was interviewed by CNET Radio yesterday, and confirmed that there is will NEVER be an Opera browser for Pocket PC. In his own words..."That's Microsoft's territory, and we don't compete with Microsoft."

No PalmOS version either.
BertBert
10-15-2002, 04:09 PM
Uh..I hate to bust everyone's bubble, but Jon von Tetzchner (opera's CEO) was interviewed by CNET Radio yesterday, and confirmed that there is will NEVER be an Opera browser for Pocket PC. In his own words..."That's Microsoft's territory, and we don't compete with Microsoft."

No PalmOS version either.

I'm not saying you're wrong about the quote, but this doesn't really make sense -- is Opera not competing with Microsoft with its desktop PC browser? The handheld browser market does not seem any more or less MS-dominated than the desktop browser market (from my limited perspective at least). If Opera didn't want to compete with MS then why does it have any products at all?

I've been using Opera's desktop web browser for a couple of weeks now and I love it. Even the free version has so many features, there's no way IE or Netscape can compete with it. If Opera could distribute a handheld browser the same way it does its desktop -- free version with lots of features, "pro" version for ~$30 with even more features -- I'd dump IE in a heartbeat on my e310.
Gremmie
10-15-2002, 04:24 PM
I will say one thing, all those images are predicated on a 208 pixel size, which would be cell phone sized like the Nokia's. Even the example links are either common pages or cell phone maker pages--I would probably guess their will be no handheld version of this just from looking at the examples. I would assume that this may be embedded software
Gremmie
10-15-2002, 04:47 PM
btw, just caught this article on the Reg.
http://www.theregus.com/content/54/26645.html
mccollin
10-15-2002, 05:52 PM
They don't think that creating a browser for the SmartPhone is not competing with Microsoft? Are they kidding. Microsoft has a lot of domains in it's sights. I would venture to guess that unless your browser runs on Unix or a mainframe, that any browser is competing with Microsoft.
vincentsiaw
10-15-2002, 07:13 PM
Guys which one easier: :wink: built a custom browser for pocket pc? or, build special web page for the pocket pc ?
Sven Johannsen
10-15-2002, 07:30 PM
Guys which one easier: :wink: built a custom browser for pocket pc? or, build special web page for the pocket pc ?

Depends on who you are I'd guess. If you are a page designer, I'd guess it would be easier to let someone else make the browser. If you are trying to design the browser, I bet you'll say it would be easier to rewrite the page. :roll:
msprague
10-15-2002, 09:10 PM
This seems very similar to using Netfront with tables turned off.
bdeli
10-16-2002, 05:21 PM
News.com have a video of the opera browser on their page - http://news.com.com