Opera Mini Next and Opera Mobile 12 released

Opera has released a new beta of the world’s most popular mobile browser, called the Opera Mini Next. This will give you a taste of some of the new features added in Opera Mini, which will arrive in the stable version later this year.

The changes you see will differ depending upon whether you have a feature phone or a smartphone. On feature phones, you will see a new homepage, along with your usual speed dial page. This new homepage will give you quick access to all your social networks and other information such as news, weather forecasts, sports, entertainment and more. The speed dial list is also updated and can now contain an infinite number of items.

The new social networking integration, personalized news and suggested links

Here are some screenshots of the Opera Mini on GSMArena.com:

The well-known Speed dial page is still available • browsing GSMArena.com

On Android smartphones, you don’t get the new homepage. But, you will experience smoother scrolling thanks to hardware acceleration. I tested it on a couple of phones and despite having less than stellar hardware the scrolling and panning was butter smooth.

Moving on, we also have a new version of the Opera Mobile browser, which has hit version 12. The latest version adds support for WebGL on Android devices, along with the ability to use the camera and Android Beam (using NFC). The latest update also brings back support for the Flash Player on Android 4.0 devices. Speed dial on Opera Mobile can now also contain an unlimited number of items.

Lastly, Opera has also announced versions of Opera Mobile for Intel and MIPS platforms. Intel recently announced their intention to enter the smartphone market with their Medfield platform with the first smartphone coming out on Orange soon and others soon to follow later this year. MIPS-based devices, however, remain few and far between.

Opera Mini Next (feature phone) • Opera Mini Next (Android) • Opera Mobile 12 (Android)

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