Opera Mobile 9.5 beta with Opera Widgets on Windows and UIQ now available for download
Opera Widgets Software Development Kit (SDK) with Opera Widget manager for S60
Oslo, Norway – October 20, 2008
Opera Mobile 9.5 now introduces OperaWidgets to the mobile Internet experience, enabling one-click Web contentaccess. This release marks the second Opera Mobile 9.5 beta for WindowsMobile and the first-ever beta for UIQ-based phones. A developer versionof S60 Widget manager is also available within the Opera Widgets SDK.
T-Mobile has already embraced Opera Mobile with Widgets for their web’n’walk initiative, as previously announced on September 18, 2008. LikeT-Mobile, other operators can now incorporate Opera Widgets into theircustomer offering. This means that customer-selected Web content can beaccessed from a list of icons on the home-screen. Widgets can also serveas a means of customer communication, as automatic notifications are noweasier to instantly deliver to subscribers.
“Opera has built its second Opera Mobile 9.5 beta based on user-generatedfeedback following its first public release earlier this year,” said Jonvon Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “In addition to Opera Widgets, this new testversion promises to be a smoother ride than the previous version, as wehave improved page loading times and increased our focus on end-userproductivity.”
Several Opera Widgets are now pre-installed in the Opera Mobile 9.5 betabuilds. Additionally, Opera offers downloadable widgets atwidgets.opera.com.
Opera always encourages more user-generated widgets and therefore recentlyupdated its Opera Widget Software Development Kit (SDK). This SDK willenable developers to quickly and easily create widgets usingstandards-based Web technology. The Opera Widgets SDK now includes two newfeatures:
- Opera Dragonfly debugging tool – Develop faster with this tool fordebugging JavaScript, inspecting Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and theDocument Object Model (DOM). Find your errors and get your widget right.
- Widget manager for on-device testing – Widget managers for S60, UIQ andWindows Mobile are included with in the SDK for testing widgets directly on the mobile phone.
Opera is launching the updated SDK with a developer competition called the”X Widget Challenge”. Opera is offering $10,000 in cash prizes for thebest cross-device widget submissions. Read more about the competition frommy.opera.com/widgets.
“Opera has kept developer needs at the heart of this beta release,” saidHÃ¥kon Wium Lie, Chief Technology Officer, Opera Software. “All greatdevelopers need great tools to work with. Opera is an industry leader inmaking the Web a developer-friendly place by constantly innovating withinthe confines of Web standards. We will continue to create with developersin mind, as we intend to continue to grow our developer toolkit with eachconsecutive release.”
Coming to an event near you Check out Opera Mobile 9.5 with Opera Widgets in Europe, North America and Asia at the following events:
- Smartphone Show in London on October 21-22, 2008
- Mobile Internet World in Boston on October 22-23, 2008
- Web Applications Conference in Seoul on October 23, 2008
Availability
Opera Mobile 9.5 beta with Opera Widgets is ready and waiting for download from www.opera.com/products/mobile/
The Opera Widgets SDK can be downloaded from www.opera.com/b2b/solutions/widgets/