Opera releases Mobile Mini 2.0 browser

Opera Mobile Mini 2.0 software offers improved access to webmail and mobile news

Opera has released a new version of its web browser for Java-enabled mobile phones. 

The free Opera Mobile Mini 2.0 software offers improved access to webmail and mobile news, as well as integrating download functions into the phone. 

"The 2.0 upgrade has added a number of features, including the ability to download MP3 files and images directly to the phone, more default search engines and bookmarks on the home page," said Ben Gross, an analyst at Ferris Research.

"It also offers improved horizontal scrolling, and better integration with SMS-based commerce such as purchasing ring-tones and other mobile content." 

Gross added that the browser loads pages faster than a phone's built-in browser, and uses less bandwidth.

Opera Mini uses Opera's proxy servers to quickly render pages, offering text that is readable on small screens and images that download quickly while still maintaining reasonable quality.

An advanced version of Opera Mini also has better compression support for faster downloading, and the ability to store most web pages in memory rather than breaking them into multiple pages.

However, Gross warned that users should be aware of the possible cost of mobile browsing before they get carried away.

"Users should be sure that they have a sufficient data plan before using a browser on their phones to avoid nasty surprises," he said.