No longer would websites be reformatted into a single long column, the full web was now finally able to be access by almost anyone with a J2ME enabled mobile phone. With 4.0 came the ability to see websites like you would on your desktop.

Opera Mini 4 was a complete rewrite of Opera Mini according to Johan Schön, Technology Leader, Developer and Architect working on the Opera Mini Project. It was a bit snappier, and yes it had RSS, but how many people used RSS back in those days? It would take version 4.0 of Opera Mini, launched almost a full year later on on November 7, 2007, to get people’s attention. Opera Mini 3 was fantastic, but it really didn’t offer anything new compared to the previous version.

A year later I got a job at IntoMobile and moved to Finland personal history lesson aside, Opera Mini 3 beta also came out during the beginning of November 2006, and the final version hit the net on November 28, 2006. That device, plus the incredible lack of Nokia coverage back in those days, made me start Ring Nokia in November 2006. This started making me research my options and it would eventually lead to the purchase of my first smartphone, the Nokia E61. I was starting to use the mobile internet more and more and became increasingly frustrated with my mobile phone’s small and low resolution screen. On version 2.0 launched, and with it came the ability to download files from the internet, customize the browser’s appearance with skins, use multiple search engines, and enable some pretty swish transitions. On Januthe application was formally launched, and by this point I’ve already fallen in love with it and discovered that my phone was able to do things other than call people or send text messages. On Octothe first public beta of Opera Mini was launched in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) and the press release said it would allow full access to the internet on “700+ million Java-enabled mobile phones around the world.” Less than a month later the final version of Opera Mini launched in Germany, but anyone with a mobile phone that had a WAP browser was able to grab the application. There is no Opera Mini for the iPhone, and while there is a dedicated client for Android, I have not heard too many good things.īefore I talk about Opera Mini 5, let me go back to the first version of the software. I can’t imagine surfing the web without Opera Mini and that alone is one of the main reasons I stick to Symbian devices. What makes Opera Mini special is the server side compression technology that takes a website and adds some special Norwegian sauce to make it up to 90% smaller. It will run on practically any mobile device on the market, and where it really shines is on mid to low end devices. Opera Mini is a free internet browser written in J2ME.

Operamini beta.jar