Opera Mini 3.0 Now Available

E IS mC(Square) writes "Opera Mini 3.0 is out of beta. The feature list includes RSS integration, a user-interface geared towards mobile devices and small screen size, and it's fast for relatively slower mobile data connections (with picture upload/sharing if you are into it). Requirement for using it: You must have a phone capable of running Java mobile applications and are using an Internet connection (officially supported devices are listed)."

What the hell is this?

[Anonymous Coward]

A third grader's essay on some new product? Because that's what it reads like.

Opera 3 on a Treo 700p is HORRIBLE

[Zelet (515452)]

Do not attempt to use this version with the Treo 700p. The previous version of Opera Mini worked fine on my Treo but this version crashes the phone repeatedly when I try to use it.

Same here on Treo 650

[vio (95817)]

Same problem here, big crashes on Treo650 :-(

Might be that my JVM is old (IBM JVM 2.2.012?) guess I'll see about updating it... older Opera Mini worked ok.

Re:

[angst_ridden_hipster (23104)]

exactly same situation here.

Re:Same here on Treo 650

[Hijacked Public (999535)]

I don't have a Treo 650 but if I did it would probably be happening to me too.

Re:

[pruss (246395)]

Ditto on the Palm TX. It's looking like they couldn't have tested on any Palm devices (or maybe any NVFS-based ones), because I have yet to hear of it working with some Palm device.

Re:

[blackmonday (607916)]

Not a troll. My Verizon 650 crashes every time I start the program. It's on the supported list, oh well...It did manage to do an initial config, but now it just causes the phone to reboot.

I see the moderators are smoking crack again

[ncc74656 (45571)]

In what bizarro world is the parent poster a troll? Once it did its setup thing on my Treo 650, it rebooted. More often than not, it reboots the phone as soon as you try to start it. If you do manage to get it running, it reboots as soon as it actually tries to display something from a website. Last time I checked, displaying stuff from websites was the primary function of a web browser.

After deleting the copy I had installed in the phone's memory, I tried running it from an SD card. It behaved the same way there. Grr.

I should've saved the previous version before installing this one, but I rarely used it. Blazer was more functional and easier to use for most things. For updating my On Tap in Vegas [nevadabrew.com] page when out and about, I found that Links running in an SSH [sealiesoftware.com] session would work.

Re:

[gludington (101178)]

I had the same problem with my 700p, but, thanks to some help on the Opera forums, was able to find the link to Opera Mini 2, so you can "downgrade" until such time that the Palm-related issues are ironed out in Opera Mini 3.

http://mini.opera.com/global/opera-mini-2.0.4509-a dvanced-int.prc [opera.com]

Re:

[devilspgd (652955)]

They do? URL? I can't find any PalmOS support for Opera Mobile...

Possible for older low resource machines

[El Cubano (631386)]

The feature list includes RSS integration, a user-interface geared towards mobile devices and small screen size, and its fast for relatively slower mobile data connections (with picture upload/sharing if you are into it). Requirement for using it: You must have a phone capable of running Java mobile applications and are using an Internet connection

I wonder if this might be a good choice for older machines as well. Think something like an old 486 or 1st-gen Pentium with 32 or 64 MB RAM and a 13" or 14" monitor. IIRC, there are stripped down versions of Mozilla available for mobiles (I'm not sure how feature complete or mature they are). But as they say, competition is good. Seeing as web browsing is probably the single most common activity, and arguably the best use of an old computer (running a word processor or some similarly resource-intensive application is probably a no-go). You can throw something like DSL on there and use a light-weight WM. I guess the main hangup would be being able to get Java ME running on it.

Re:Possible for older low resource machines

[jb.hl.com (782137)]

You might as well just run Opera proper...or maybe an old version [oldversion.com] of it. Opera is pretty light as it is.

Re:

[devilspgd (652955)]

Which version of Opera runs on PalmPS?

Re:

[El Cubano (631386)]

Opera is pretty light as it is.

Yes, but Opera proper is not optimized for small screens. I know that there is a bit of a difference between a handheld device and even a 13" CRT. However, most programs today look absolutely terrible on anything less than a 17" or 19" monitor. I know, because most of the computers at my church still have old 14" CRTs, and many programs are just barely functional at any resolution that is still readable on such a small screen.

Small Screen Mode

[ThinkingInBinary (899485)]

Sure it is. Just press SHIFT-F11 and it switches to small screen mode, which emulates the behavior of Opera (the regular version, not Mini) on cell phones (Symbian, I think).

And Fit to width mode

[Kelson (129150)]

Opera 9 also introduced Fit to width mode: CTRL+F11. It's similar, but adjusts pages to your window size rather than to ~200px across and would be more suitable for 640x480 or 800x600 screens.

Couple it with Full Screen mode (F11), and you can even hide all the toolbars, menus, borders, etc.

Re:

[FST777 (913657)]

Minimo [mozilla.org] is the mobile mozilla. WinCE/Mobile only. Besides that, I don't want to be the guy having the task of getting a decent Java VM running on a 486 to run Opera.

Re:

[mr.warmth (910296)]

I never understood why people talk about old hardware like it's a retarded brother or something. You can run a hell of a lot more on a 486 than you could on your cell phone. In fact, I used to have a 468/66 that I'd browse the web on w. Win95. So why not, for example, use one of the browsers that we used back then? IE3 or Netscape 3/4? I am sure as horrid as those browsers seem compared to today's versions, they're much more complete than a cellphone browser.

And as someone else pointed out, Opera itself is

Re:

[IndigoParadox (953607)]

The problem is the lack of support for even the most basic of current web technologies, such as XHTML or CSS. Try visiting even Google using an old copy of IE4 and you'll get script errors. I Pentium 75 laptop with Windows 95 and it's difficult to find a browser that does support modern web pages for such a platform.

Palm JVM

[itwerx (165526)]

Here's where to download the JVM for Palm [palm.com] if you don't already have it.

Poor stability

[diamondsw (685967)]

While I used Opera Mini 2.0 on my Treo and found it worked very well, the new version 3.0 crashes constantly (which, thanks to the lack of memory protection on the Palm, resets it). Reinstalled the JVM, Opera Mini, etc - no better. Downgraded to 2.0 and all was fine.

Might want to wait for some bug fixes (although Opera doesn't generally push .01 updates to its "Mini" product).

OTA Install?

[afidel (530433)]

I never sync my Blackberry in the cradle, if fact I don't think I have the Desktop Manager software installed on my new work laptop. Ever since BES 4 came out there has been little need for it other than stupid apps which don't have an Over The Air install option, and I now just avoid those. So I guess the question is, does anyone have an OTA URL for this?

Re:OTA Install?

[mottie (807927)]

If you visit http://www.operamini.com/ [operamini.com] on your blackberry it automatically detects your device type and gives you a download option. It recommended Opera Mini - International for me, but it was easy to switch that to Opera Mini - US.

Re:

[afidel (530433)]

If figured it out, you have to use the Blackberry browser in WAP mode. I normally use the Internet Browser in IE emulation mode. The fact that you can't exit the app using the button under the scroll wheel (not sure of the name) is annoying, why is it different than every other Blackberry/J2ME app?

Crashes on Palm Tungsten C

[PontifexPrimus (576159)]

I had to get back to the 2.0 version, since the new one kept crashing and freezing the computer. Shouldn't this have been checked more thoroughly? About half of the postings up right now seem to be about it not working correctly...

Really?

[hikerhat (678157)]

It makes my slow connection faster? It's (Note the apostrophe there. You should give 'em a shot. They're useful all over.) a miracle!

Re:

[jZnat (793348)]

Opera Mini uses Opera as a proxy, and they reformat the pages to work better on mobile devices (e.g. compression, getting rid of useless shit).

Mini vs. Mobile vs. Desktop - For the Record

[Kelson (129150)]

Since invariably someone gets these mixed up, there are three main browser types that Opera produces:

Opera Desktop - this is the full-up web browser that you can use on Widows, Mac or Linux (plus a few other Unixes)

Opera Mobile - this uses the same rendering engine, but runs on smaller devices like PDAs and some phones. The DS and Wii browsers are probably based on this version.

Opera Mini - this is the Java-based app that runs on virtually any JVM-capable phone and does a lot of the processing on a proxy server.

Who's paying?

[Kadin2048 (468275)]

Opera Mini - this is the Java-based app that runs on virtually any JVM-capable phone and does a lot of the processing on a proxy server.

So ... who's paying for the proxy server, and why?

Call me a bit jaded, but I try not to use anything until I can at least figure out what their business model is. Last I checked, Opera is commercial software, at least nominally. What's their take from all this?

Re:Who's paying?

[Ilgaz (86384)]

When you have a working real life solution in hand which is run on millions (if not hundreds of millions) mobile phones, you got something to say to companies while trying to sell these:

http://www.opera.com/products/devices/ [opera.com]

Also it seems they got deal with Google which is also effective in this product (default search engine).

Did you ever wonder why MS sunk billions of dollars in IE even while they are at court for monopoly? That was done with evil agenda, Opera supported nothing but open web standards since it was founded.

So they got "karma" enough to type mini.opera.com in my K700i J2ME 2 phone wap browser right after reading this headline.

Java

[fimbulvetr (598306)]

I love it that java guys say java is so fast, small and lean on mobile devices, yet Mysaifu requires 11mb to install on my 6700 and ibm j9 needs 50+mb. Small, my ass. Don't get me started on speed.

For those needing the jvm for this or similiar devices, get one here:

http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~dat/java/project/jvm/d ownload_en.html [biglobe.ne.jp]
or
search ibm.com for WebSphere Everyplace Micro Environment (You need to register to download)

Re:

[fimbulvetr (598306)]

Arggh, nevermind.

In fine, normal java tradition, Mysaifu the jvm is incompatible with java programs.

Re:

[Tx (96709)]

MySaifu is compatible with java programs, but it isn't a midlet environment, which is what you need to run Opera Mini. See this pocketpcmag blog post [pocketpcmag.com] for full info on running Opera Mini on various devices.

Re:

[mritunjai (518932)]

And your point is ?

There are a LOT of large applications in C, C++, XYZ language. The size of an application as much to do with a particular computer language as size of War & Peace has to do with english language!

MySaifu (never heard of it) might be 11MB, but the application that the article talks about is 98KB ! (yep, a complete browser, photo snap/blog, RSS reader and more in 98KB!).

Regarding your comment on JVM size. Blame your provider for not bundling IBM J9 VM. BTW, that VM isn't limited "mobile

Anyone tried this on a Nokia 6600?

[athakur999 (44340)]

Yeah, I know this phone is a dinosaur at this point but it's the on the "supported devices" list. Mine gets stuck at the "loading" screen. The phone itself isn't frozen, just Opera doesn't seem to finish loading.

Anyone had any luck on this phone?

Mobile Webphone?

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

How about a GPL Java applet that implements an IAX2 client (Asterisk softphone), without any of the proprietary requirements of the few I've seen?

Web browsers are old hat for programmers, and not very sexy for generating corporate action. Softphones are to 2006 what browsers were to 1995. Opera does a good job with lightweight browsers, and wants the mobile/embedded market. Where's it's HTTP/IAX client, that could put it ahead, instead of forever catching up?

Works on T-Mobile T-610

[Hobart (32767)]

My Sony-Ericsson T610 phone with the lousy R1S001 firmware runs this one ... finally. Opera Mini 2.0 wouldn't function. The integrated "browser" can only handle nearly empty sites a-la 1995 -- I'm looking forward to being able to actually Google for phone numbers et cetera.

--
Slashcode bug # 497457 - unfixed since December 2001 - Go look it up [sourceforge.net]!

Ok for my phone

[djupedal (584558)]

Motorola A1200 Ming. Now to figure out how to remove the default browser from the home screen.

Re:

[normal_guy (676813)]

The browser is intended to get large-format pages onto a 170x200 pixel screen. In that case, it does admirably. You will certainly get a bill for usage if you don't have a plan.

Re:

[creimer (824291)]

That part I noticed. I really need to clean up my CSS code so I can create a separate CSS file for small display devices.

Re:My website sucks on this browser...

[mottie (807927)]

It looks horrible in Firefox and IE7 as well, perhaps it's not the browsers fault..

Re:

[creimer (824291)]

It should "look" fine in Firefox and forget about IE7 since it has bugs (which became noticeable when I fixed the page for IE6). The website looks beautiful on my MacBook but looks like crap on CRT monitors. One of these days I'll get around to a redesign after I clean up the CSS code.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

I made a donation to the seeing eye dogs association for you, hopefully one will arrive soon.

Re:

[creimer (824291)]

Will someone mod this up? It's funny. Now where's my beating stick... :P

Re:

[Noodlenose (537591)]

Well, in Firefox it's, er, nope, sorry:

Still looks crap.

But it's sure nice to know how you spent your thanksgiving.

Opera Mini != spyware ?

[Nicolay77 (258497)]

They have to use a proxy because they run the rendering engine in their servers in order to send a small and handheld friendly page to your device.

As most cell phone companies bill you by the kilobyte, this results in HUGE savings there. Do you see the point?

And no, Opera Mini is not spyware.

Re:

[dbIII (701233)]

Have you considered that because they use a proxy that does things like resize images to fit in the mini version that the IP address will be different? Take a look at their website and read the fine article that describes how it works.

Re:Opera Mini == spyware ?

[EvilSS (557649)]

I'm guessing someone didn't read on Opera's website about how Opera Mini actually works. They do have to use a proxy:

Mini technology Opera Mini uses a remote server to pre-process Web pages before sending them to your phone. Web content is compressed to reduce the size of data transferred, enabling handling on simpler phones and creating fast browsing at low costs. http://www.operamini.com/features/ [operamini.com]

Re:Opera Mini == spyware ?

[famebait (450028)]

The whole point of opera mini is the server. It is not just a proxy, it digests the page and adapts it to small-screen viewing before sending it to you.

There are very good reasons for this:

* The transformations are done in very intelligent ways that would be way too heavy to do on most phones in a timely fashion

* The digested page has much less data to transfer, and can be compressed in proprietary ways since the client is known. (helps both speed and cost of use).

* The client need only handle content of the format the proxy produces, so the implementation can be much simpler than a normal xhtml client. This way (along with their plain talent and experience in optimizing) they manage to get a java-based browser running on a jvm running on a phone to outperform the native one that comes with the phone. Damn impressive.

Now if you want total privacy, fair enough. You don't have to use it, or you don't have to use it for everything. But it is made the way it is for specific reason that deliver very specific advantages. After getting used to Opera mini, the standard browser on my SE is close useless by comparison.

And your ISP probably wathces you anyway; why trust them any more than opera?

Re:Yawn.

[Ilgaz (86384)]

It matters since

1) While MS .NET tries to rule the World, a J2ME (Java) 98 kb browser (with httpS: and RSS support) runs on billion devices potentially.

2) It uses Open Source Pike ( http://pike.ida.liu.se/ [ida.liu.se] ) to serve millions of users

3) It is another barrier for MS infested device browsing (Run WinCE browser and see)

4) It is from a small company which managed to stand against AOL and Microsoft just by supporting standards and rely on customer trust.

5) It gives people even without a WAP 2.0 browser chance of surfing web, getting information without charge.

6) Server structure handling millions of users is Linux ( easy, check http://gemal.dk/ [gemal.dk] with it)

It is bad news for MSFT and .NET freaks which couldn't release anything like this and moron websites/coders managing to break every single standard. You know why? If your site is W3C compliant, it renders PERFECTLY on Opera Mini.