Opera upgrades smartphone browser

Opera has released the latest version of its browser for high-end mobile phones, claiming it offers faster rendering and responsiveness than its predecessors.

Opera Mobile 9.5 uses the company's Presto rendering engine to "achieve page-load speeds comparable to a desktop experience", Opera said in a statement on Tuesday. According to Opera, responsiveness has been improved on pages with heavy use of JavaScript and Ajax.

"The improved functionality of Opera Mobile 9.5 and easy access to information has raised the bar on a more compelling, mobile web-browsing experience and will further stimulate mobile internet adoption," claimed Opera's chief executive, Jon von Tetzchner, on Tuesday.

Like Opera's desktop browser, Opera Mobile 9.5 offers functionality such as tabbed browsing, widgets and bookmarking. It also allows zooming in, as well as the ability to save pages for offline browsing.

Opera Mobile is shipped on many handsets, including devices from manufacturers like HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. The new version will be available for Symbian, Windows Mobile and Linux phones.

Opera also produces a free browser, called Opera Mini, for less powerful phones. The latest version of that browser was released last November.