Opera Mini 5 Beta Available, Introduces Tabbed Browsing

Opera Mini is one of the most popular mobile web browsers out there and its making a valiant fight for supremacy, today launching Opera Mini 5 in beta form with a laundry list of new features.

The most noteworthy additions are tabbed browsing, speed dial (quick access to favorites), password manager, opera link (sync with desktop), and download manager.

I’m really liking the direction Opera Mini is headed, but for the most part these new features aren’t anything shocking – they are just what you would expect from any browser. The trick here is that they’re implemented effectively:

“Android users should not have to compromise when it comes to surfing the Web on their phones. Opera Mini will give Android users a fast and cost-efficient access to their favorite Web sites and services,” said Dag Olav Norem, Vice President of Products, Opera Software.

I think that’s the trick and something we’ve heard Google say before in regards to the purpose of the browser (related to chrome); a browser should get out of the users way so they can focus on what’s important – the web. In my mind the real innovation here is going on behind the scenes where Opera compresses data by up to 90 percent before sending content to the phone, allowing your mobile browsing experience to be much quicker and more optimized.

One downfall to point out is that the browser doesn’t support multi-touch, an unfortunate flaw that could be a deal breaker. I’m still waiting to see some effective alternatives to pinch and zoom in the browser like the zoom-wheel that briefly leaked and then dissolved into oblivion.

Give Opera Mini 5 a download:

And then let us know how you like it.

[Via Press Release]

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