Opera launches browser for Windows Mobile 2003 smartphones

Opera today released Opera 8, for Windows Mobile-based smartphones. Opera's deployment to Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform is a result of customers' and operators' demand for a fast and full-featured Web browser on Windows Mobile devices.

"Originally, we had not planned to make Opera available on the Windows Mobile platform, but users kept asking for it because they were disappointed with the far from satisfactory performance of the browser that came shipped on their devices," says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "We are very pleased to offer the speedy Opera Web experience to Windows Mobile Smartphone users, and we are certain that operators will enjoy added benefit as Opera on their subscribers' Smartphones will increase data traffic and offer compelling use-cases for these devices."

Two technical previews of the Opera Web browser for Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone were released in autumn 2004. The previews were enthusiastically received by 120,000 end-users who downloaded, tested and provided valuable feedback. Opera 8 for Windows Mobile is based on Opera's latest core technology, proving that Opera's embedded deliveries are in synch with desktop browser developments.

Opera 8 for Windows Mobile offers Smartphone users more speed, smooth usability and rich content display as they access the full Internet, creating a Web experience unlike any other available for these devices. The browser supports all major Web standards, including CSS2, DOM 2 and JavaScript. Based on Opera's new core code, Opera 8 for Windows Mobile also includes the latest version of Opera's unique Small-Screen Rendering (TM) which dynamically reformats Web pages to fit the width of any screen, eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling.

Opera 8 for Windows Mobile 2003 Smartphone is available for download from http://www.opera.com/products/mobile.

A version for Windows Mobile Pocket PC is under development.