Today Opera have released the final version of Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10. The focus of this release is on delivering a unified look and feel, as well as improving on features such as Speed Dial, password manager and tabbed browsing. When we last wrote about Opera Mini, users were reporting that the build wasn’t ready for the 9700 and there were still a couple bugs on the Storm. When you download the latest version, let us know how it’s running on your device.
To try it for yourself, go to m.opera.com to download it to your BlackBerry.
RIM have put up video demoing the WebKit browser that we’re expecting later this year and it looks really awesome so far. Mike Lazaridis was showing it off at MWC and it handles pages very smoothly. AJAX and JavaScripts run nicely in the browser and it scores a 100/100 on the ACID3 compliance test. The upcoming browser will support HTML 5, CSS3, DOM L3, Widgets and JIL Widgets. I can’t wait until this browser gets leaked so we can try it out for ourselves.
Bitstream have updated the Bolt browser and it’s now at version 1.62. The latest build is a little faster than before but there isn’t anything major to report. With RIM’s updated browser on the way, you have to wonder how companies like Bolt and Opera are going to survive in the BlackBerry space. While they have a competitive advantage being the first to market, they’ll always be lacking in that they will probably never get the deep integration needed for a good browser.
The popular third party browser BOLT has been updated to version 1.6 with some new features and enhancements to increase page loading speeds.
BOLT version 1.6 includes full socket-based connectivity which is said to increase the page rendering speed of BOLT by as much as 15 percent. The latest version also includes a new password manager, allowing usernames and passwords to be saved by the browser for easier and faster logins. Other features include:
Streams videos from popular video services such as YouTube.
Copy and paste text.
Uploads video and photo files directly to websites from browser.
Something on everyone’s mind as the latest BOLT version is released, is what will happen to the third party browser market once RIM releases their updated WebKit browser? Will companies like Bitstream stay far enough ahead to remain relevant?
When we first saw the news that RIM purchased Torch Mobile, and they would have access to the Webkit open source code, it was somewhat officially confirmed that a WebKit browser was in development.
Well now we have more proof that this browser is in development as RIM has posted a job on LinkedIn, looking for someone with “expert knowledge in C++ programming.” According to the post, “the successful candidate will be working in a fast-paced, dynamic development environment to develop a WebKit-based browser for the BlackBerry Platform.”
The BOLT mobile browser has been through eight months of beta testing and the developers, Bitstream, are now ready to launch out of beta into version 1.5.
The browser has so far been downloaded 2 million times and rendered in excess of 200 million web pages. The latest iteration of the browser includes the following:
Cache Support to speed users’ ability to move quickly back and forth between the currently and previously viewed Web pages through the use of backward and forward navigation.
Download Manager for easy download of files directly from BOLT and the ability to save them to specific folders on the mobile phone (requires JSR75 support on the device).
Support for Streaming Videos of Any Length that overcomes limitations on some phones’ ability to stream videos of longer lengths. The new approach ensures video clips will play on all devices, for any length video.
Video Wizard to assist users in configuring their device for optimal video playback.
Dedicated Search Bar on home page, for easier and faster online searches.
Improved Ability to Manage RSS Feeds by allowing users to arrange and file feeds just as they do with their favorites and bookmarks.
Enhancements for Touch Screen Devices such as simple volume controls for the BOLT media player which now offers volume controls on the screen.
Enhancements for BOLT Servers in the cloud, which increase the already fast BOLT mobile browser by an additional 10 to 20 percent.
Since RIM has acquired Torch Mobile, and it’s clear they have plans to upgrade their browser, one has to wonder about the fate of browsers such as BOLT and Opera Mini. On the one hand, the first out the gate has an incredible market advantage, but RIM has the trump card in the end, which is access to APIs that third party developers won’t ever have.
