Innovation with a purpose

New Swordfish beta introduces Speed Dial extensions, adds password synchronization

Oslo, Norway – May 31, 2011

Today, Opera Swordfish, or the Opera 11.50 beta browser if you want to be specific, becomes available for immediate testing.

The new beta of Opera’s desktop browser transforms the popular Speed Dial feature by adding extensions to the mix. Speed Dial extensions transform your Speed Dial from a simple thumbnail bookmark into a dynamic source of updated content, available in every new tab. What does that mean? Instead of a static link to a weather website, a Speed Dial extension can display the forecast for your specific location. In fact, we built this exact extension.

Speed Dial extensions are easy to make. All you need are some basic web development skills. Documentation is available at Dev Opera.

To learn more about Speed Dial Extensions, watch the Developers guide to Speed Dial extensions.

But we didn’t stop there. Swordfish lets you synchronize your passwords – securely – through Opera Link, so you can log on to Facebook, your webmail and other sites, from anywhere. Opera Link also synchronizes bookmarks, your Speed Dial, custom search engine preferences, notes (yes, you can take notes in the Opera browser), typed browser history and more.

“We don’t make releases for the sake of releases, nor do we make innovations for the sake of innovation,” said Jan Standal, VP of desktop products, Opera. “We create browsers that make the Web faster and easier to use, and the newest features in Swordfish support that goal.”

Opera continues to accelerate its innovation cycle. To introduce more people to Opera’s newest technology, Swordfish beta is available through Opera Next, a version of Opera that updates to the newest test versions of the browser. With Opera Next you”ll be given a separate installation of the browser, ensuring that the version you already use on your computer remains untouched; they both coexist peacefully and independently. Download Opera Next just once, and we”ll automatically update you when a new test version is available.

Availability

Download Swordfish beta from http://www.opera.com/browser/next/. If you downloaded the alpha, Opera Next will automatically update you to the beta.