Opera Mobile 9.7 adds support Flash, Google Gears, Open GL ES support, & more
March 31st, 2009 by scottjanousek
(2 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)
Loading ...I already recently posted about the Opera Software case study (with Flash Lite) which surfaced on the Adobe site.
Well, a recent announcement about Opera Mobile 9.7 has them continuing their Flash support in their newest of browser technology (slated for Windows Mobile touchscreen market, first, I believe).
Apparently, 9.7 is a “server-accelerated browser” for smartphones and mobile devices. Opera Turbo is the compression technology behind the scenes of it, along with Presto 2.2 which is the rendering engine, as well as support for AJAX and Flash (no word on version specifics, from any reputable source I can find – BTW).
Here is a link to a blog covering the technical aspects of 9.7 from the project manager (“Helene”).
Looks like Skyfire (which also supports Flash) is going to battle it out with Opera Mobile for marketshare this year.
Other interesting features (besides the server side aspect) of Opera Mobile 9.7 include:
* Open GL ES – for panning, scrolling in browser, etc
* Google Gears – offers access to google apps like gmail and docs when offline.
Here’s a video which sums it all up:
Mobile Opera 9.7 Demo
You can read the Opera Software official press release here: “Opera announces the new Opera Mobile 9.7 at CTIA Wireless 2009 – a server-accelerated full Web experience for smartphones and mobile devices”.
P.S. And if you’re wondering, no, this does not mean Mobile Safari supports Flash.
P.P.S
I caught a Jon von Tetzcher (CTO) session at a Mobile Monday Boston event last year, and he was pretty cool to listen to about what they were working on … I recommend people at CTIA and elsewhere attend any session he gives, as he gives good insight into the world of browser technology (a tough competitive game, I’m sure).