Opera launches tablet-optimised mobile browsers

Opera has announced the availability of two new versions of Opera Mini and Mobile for feature phones, smartphones and, for the first time, tablet devices such as the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab.

The Mini 6 browser is available from 22 March for Android, Symbian, BlackBerry and Java-based devices, and is likely to be submitted to Apple for approval for use on iOS devices, which the firm will be confident of achieving given previous approvals.

The update includes pinch-to-zoom functionality, improved scrolling, the ability to open tabs in the background and a new share function that allows users to post information to sites like Facebook or Twitter, or via email clients like Gmail.

Meanwhile, the Mobile 11 browser is available for, Meego, Android and Symbian devices, although not BlackBerry which Opera said is more akin to a Java device and therefore unable to run the browser correctly.

The update will not be available for Apple devices either as it does not meet the firm's terms and conditions and has also been released in a labs format for Windows 7 desktop devices.

Mobile 11 supports HTML5 and can run Flash but also features the ability to stop web pages running Flash to reduce load times and improve browsing speeds, but still retains the option for videos to be played in this mode.

Opera has also added a wrap-around function meaning that text remains in the correct format when zooming in so that no additional scrolling to the side is required to read text on a web page.

Dedicated versions of both products optimised for tablets place standard navigation features at the top of the browser rather than the bottom, so that users have a traditional desktop interface when using a tablet device.