Opera Mini 4 (beta) is the latest and greatest version of the web browser for your mobile phone. What you get is web pages as they were meant to be seen. They look just like they do on your computer screen and you easily read them by zooming in and out and scrolling around.
It works like a treat on my Sony Ericsson k800i and on my friends’ Nokia cell phones, too.
Opera seem to be doing a great job in producing web browsers for consumer devices. They also make the excellent browser that comes bundled with Nintendo’s Wii console.
You can download Opera Mini 4 (beta) for free from Opera’s website. The installation process is quick and clearly explained.
Your service provider will probably charge you for bandwidth used, but many tariffs include a free allowance. A megabyte should be enough to let you try out your favourite sites.
A full-on web browser in your pocket is great for getting the news, travel, weather and sport, as well as catching up on your favourite blogs.
The Japanese have been big users of mobile web for several years now. We think the rest of the world is about to catch up.
What next
What do you think of Opera Mini 4 (beta)? Let us know in the box below.
We’re talking about mobile user interfaces at our upcoming seminars. Contact us to find out more.
Read our paper on minimal user interfaces
About the author
Giles Colborne
Giles is a managing director at cxpartners. He has worked extensively with loads of big clients and does talks on the subject of usability and design all over the world. He’s a Nintendo obsessive and loves a game of Zelda. email Giles
One response
One more thing! The browser doesn’t quite display things as you’d see them on a computer screen.
It cleverly resizes columns of text so that they fit perfectly on the screen. Nice.