Opera has announced that its browser will be making an appearance on future Sony BRAVIA HDTVs and Blu-ray players, allowing the network-connected hardware to browse the full internet. The partnership will also mean that future Sony kit will support emerging online standards, including HTML5, HbbTV and OIPF.
Sony has not confirmed which HDTVs and Blu-ray decks will get the Opera browser, but it seems the company isn’t content to settle on Google TV for its smart TV line-up.
Press Release:
Opera chosen by Sony for LCD television and Blu-ray Disc players
Oslo, Norway, and Tokyo, Japan, January 19, 2011
Opera Software today announced to deliver its world-class browser on Sony BRAVIA televisions and Blu-ray Disc (TM) players. Opera aims to deliver more “lean-forward”, interactive components to connected home users by offering Opera’s solution to Sony’s state-of-the-art devices.
The Opera Devices Software Developer Kit (SDK) is the cross-platform, standards-based backbone of Opera for connected TVs and Blu-ray Disc players. As a robust, open platform for creating web-standards-based solutions, Opera Devices SDK forms the ideal foundation for developing full web browsers and user interfaces. Opera brings customization and ease of content distribution to global markets by enabling the delivery of web applications, widgets, full web browsing and emerging standards such as HTML5, HbbTV and OIPF.
Previously, consumers were required to have multiple devices to surf the Internet while watching television. As more connected home electronics devices arrive in living rooms, Internet use is changing. The Internet is becoming more closely connected with people’s everyday life, such as the ability to enjoy video on-demand services on television, exchange opinions with friends through social networks about the program they are watching, and buy online directly from their televisions the items seen on TV dramas.
“The Web as we know it is evolving, and we are committed to making it more accessible across diverse devices,” said Christen Krogh, Chief Development Officer, Opera Software. “Our ability to address key hybrid broadcast-broadband initiatives in numerous markets makes us a natural fit with Sony. By delivering both a global viewpoint and the necessary technology, we are able to stay on the cutting edge of the industry.”
About Opera Software ASA
Opera Software ASA has redefined web browsing for PCs, mobile phones and other networked devices. Opera’s cross-platform web-browser technology is renowned for its performance, standards compliance and small size, while giving users a faster, safer and more dynamic online experience. Opera Software is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with offices around the world. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at http://www.opera.com/.
Opera has announced a new touch browser for tablets and netbooks, Opera for Tablets, which will make its official debut at CES 2011 later this week. Demonstrated on a Samsung Galaxy Tab, the browser looks reasonably similar to Opera Mini, already available for Android devices, though scaled somewhat to suit a tablet-sized touchscreen.
Video demo after the cut
Full functionality is yet to be revealed, but in the video below you can see pinch-zooming in action together with some pretty slick scrolling. There’s also Opera’s usual multi-shortcut paned homescreen, for easier access to your favorites.
Press Release:
Opera unveils touch browser for tablet and netbook PCs
Las Vegas, Nevada – January 3, 2011
If you were nice in 2010 then there is a good chance Santa left you one of the hottest gifts of the year – a tablet. Now that it is January you are probably looking for ways to get the most of out of your tablet. Luckily, Santa has some special Norwegian helpers who worked all through the holidays to kick off the New Year with a browser designed especially for tablets.
At the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2011, Opera Software will unveil the first public preview of Opera for tablets. Whether it’s checking email, managing social networks or surfing the net, Opera’s specialized browser for tablets provides you with the smoothest tablet and netbook experience on the market.
“In 2011, tablets are a new must-have. Opera is creating waves with the first public preview of Opera for tablets,” said Christen Krogh, Chief Development Officer, Opera Software. “Opera for tablets brings the same trusted Internet experience to tablets and netbook PCs as users have come to love on their mobile phones and desktops.”
If it weren’t for the technology industry, there’d probably be a lot of downtime for some of the major courts around the United States. This time around, several companies are being targeted by plaintiff Hopwell Culture and Design. Of those companies, Apple, HTC, Adobe, and Samsung are being named. According to the plaintiff, these companies are violating a patent entitled Double-Clicking a Point-and-Click User Interface Apparatus to Enable a New Interaction with Content represented by an Active Visual Display Element.
The original patent was filed in 2002 by Actify, it seems that Hopwell Culture and Design are chiming in now because previously, double-clicking had not been used to any effect for the user input while in a Web browser, corresponding to the unique double-click input. Adobe’s been marked due to their PDF Reader software. Apple, on the other hand (and not surprisingly) is being targeted in a more sweeping motion, with mention of the iPhone and iPad. But, it’s HTC that’s certainly seeing a lot of attention, too, with device names like the Droid Incredible, Droid Eris, Hero, and EVO 4G being specifically pointed out.
Nokia is also being blamed, with devices like the N900 and N97. Other companies include LG, Motorola, Quickoffice, Palm, and Opera. Hopewell Culture and Design is hoping that they can receive “adequate” payment from damages, from each of the companies. The lawsuit was filed with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. If that district sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a pretty well known place for plaintiffs to get what they want, especially in patent disputes.
Internet Explorer 9 has been praised for its malware-blocking abilities, with researchers NSS Labs finding [pdf link] the Microsoft browser was more than five times more likely to protect surfers from socially-engineered malware than Firefox 3.6. Looking solely at “a web page link that directly leads to a download that delivers a malicious payload whose content type would lead to execution, or more generally a website known to host malware links” – i.e. fake downloads as often seen on Facebook or Twitter – the research found IE9 capable of blocking 99-percent of the threats encountered.
The nearest alternative was Internet Explorer 8, which blocked 90-percent. NSS Labs credit SmartScreen URL filtering, included in IE8 and IE9, for the strong showing; only IE9 has SmartScreen application reputation protection, however, hence the difference in results.
Meanwhile, Apple’s Safari 5 languished with 11-percent of threats blocked, Chrome 6 did even worse with 3-percent, and Opera 10 failed to block any of the downloads. Around 636 URLs were included in the testing, and interestingly – as shown in the following chart – despite both Safari 5 and Firefox 3.6 each using Google’s Safe Browser feed, the two apps seemingly implemented it in different ways.
Oh my goodness! Crazy speeds and companies blowing up and phones being thrown around like candy! All the signs of a great day here at the R3 Media Network! First, SlashPhone breaks some news about Motorola being divided into two different divisions starting at the beginning of 2011. Then Google Reader sends an app to Android (making it even MORE impossible to get away from the news!) Angry Birds gets a Seasons expansion for Android devices (probably in the chute for Apple’s App Store.) And finally, Vince has his hands on one of the incredibly small amount of LG VL600 Modems out in the world right now, and he wants to show you Verizon’s LTE “4G” network speeds first hand, and Ben wants to tell you all about why Verizon’s LTE and the other 4G networks are important. All this and… yes! More! Today on The Daily Slash!
SlashTRACKED
In Irvine California there is a man named David Norris, a man who owns a company that aims to “fingerprint” every computer, mobile phone, and TV set-top box in the world. With the “credit bureau for devices” Norris is building, each device will have a “reputation” based on that device’s online activities including, specifically, shopping habits and demographics. Fingerprinting has been used up until now as a replacement for “cookies” as a method of preventing illegal copying of computer software and to stop credit card fraud. At the moment, Norris’s company has id’ed over 200 million devices – by the end of the year, they expect to have cataloged one billion (one tenth of the world’s total.)
It’s a massive day for posts, where even SlashPhone has a fresh blast of news on this pre-holiday day. Lots of sales, lots of products being introduced. And then there was Black Friday. So much Black Friday you’re going to explode! Luckily, we’ve got a column for you by the fabulous Don Reisinger titled Black Friday Is Never Good For MY Tech Addiction. Of course, if you just can’t get enough of the Black Friday goodness, we’ve got a littering of links to sales below plus one list-tastic post by the name of The SlashGear Black Friday Deal Guide of Complete Excellence, an ever-growing post where you’ll not only find a batch of odd sales you almost certainly find listed anywhere else, but a split between offline and online so that you might choose to sit at home and chill or rough it out with the maniacs! Then we’ve got a lone review, one single review for the most amazing Samsung 256GB SSD 470 Series SSD. Stay tough, and be thankful for what you’ve got today (and tomorrow!) on The Daily Slash!
SlashINTERNATIONAL
“U.S. aircraft carrier heads for Korean waters” is not the first thing I wanted to read today when I went looking on an update for the situation unfolding between North and South Korea. If you’re the sort of person who keeps up with these sorts of events, or are at least a person who reads The Daily Slash on a daily basis, you’re aware that yesterday North Korea shelled a South Korean island, leveling a number of buildings and killing two civilians. Today, a U.S. aircraft carrier is on its way over there to… maybe sit around and have a glass of tea. Today the U.S. government expressed its belief that the North Korean aggression was an isolated incident that had to do with leadership change in Pyongyang (N.Korea’s capital), and that it hoped China would use its influence to stop additional “provocative behavior.” Further, Rueters reports:
North Korea said the shelling was in self-defense after Seoul fired shells into its waters near the disputed maritime border. The North’s KCNA news agency said the South was driving the peninsula to the “brink of war” with “reckless military provocation” and by postponing humanitarian aid.
So now the USS George Washington, capable of carrying 75 warplanes and a crew of over 6,000 has left a naval base south of Tokyo Japan and will be joining exercises with South Korea from Sunday to the following Wednesday, so says U.S. officials in Seoul. Read the full story over at [Reuters] and remember when you’re chewing on your roasted bird tomorrow that you should be thankful we’re not in more war than we’re already in and hope, wish, or pray for a peaceful solution to this terrible situation.
Opera has done a pretty commendable job of keeping its latest, greatest wares up to date on most of the major mobile platforms, and here’s another checkbox they can tick: Opera Mobile 10.1 has now gone final for Symbian. Of course, this isn’t to be confused with the lighter-weight Opera Mini product that went into beta for Symbian last month — this is the full package that’s capable of operating without a proxy. What’s new? Well, the company claims that this version operates some nine times faster than 10.0 did in JavaScript tests thanks to a refreshed JIT compiler, and support for location services is definitely a welcome addition. It’s available now for S60 3rd Edition, 5th Edition, and Symbian^3; follow the break for the full press release.
Opera has done a pretty commendable job of keeping its latest, greatest wares up to date on most of the major mobile platforms, and here’s another checkbox they can tick: Opera Mobile 10.1 has now gone final for Symbian. Of course, this isn’t to be confused with the lighter-weight Opera Mini product that went into beta for Symbian last month — this is the full package that’s capable of operating without a proxy. What’s new? Well, the company claims that this version operates some nine times faster than 10.0 did in JavaScript tests thanks to a refreshed JIT compiler, and support for location services is definitely a welcome addition. It’s available now for S60 3rd Edition, 5th Edition, and Symbian^3; follow the break for the full press release.
Opera has pushed out the first beta of Opera 11, the latest iteration of its browser and the first to support tab stacking. Billed as a less cluttered and more intuitive way to deal with tabs than the regular side-by-side layout, groups can be organized by site or by theme, and new stacks created by simply dropping one tab onto another (a little like how iOS folders work). Meanwhile Opera 11 also gets extension support, mouse gestures and more.
Video demo after the cut
Opera claims to be seeing 10-20 new extensions added each day; you can browse the catalog here. As you’d expect, it’s billed as faster and more efficient than Opera 10, too, being a 30-percent smaller install and 15- to 20-percent faster on the regular benchmarks than its predecessor. Plug-ins can now be set to load on demand, rather than being constantly active, which is also good for up to a 30-percent performance boost.
Automatic extensions updates, new security indicator badges and a streamlined address bar round out the main changes, along with a new bookmarks bar. It’s a free download from here, and is available in Windows, Mac and Linux versions.
Press Release:
Tabs go to 11 First beta of Opera 11 showcases tab stacking
Oslo, Norway – November 23, 2010 – Tabbed browsing, one of the essential features in all browsers, has evolved yet again thanks to its long-time pioneer. Opera 11 beta introduces tab stacking, a better way to organize your open tabs. Traditionally, tabs were opened side-by-side, but now people using Opera can stack their tabs, grouping them by site or by theme. Tab stacking reduces clutter and makes it easier to identify and work with sets of open tabs.
It is easy to stack tabs. Simply drag one tab on top of another. Hovering the mouse over a tab will cause the stack to expand in a visual preview. Clicking the arrow icon expands the current stack across the tab bar. This brief video showcases tab stacking in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hqSGGk1YTI.
“Tabs are the most popular feature in browsers today,” said Jan Standal, VP of Desktop Products, Opera. “Because so many of us wrestle with tens or even hundreds of tabs, we wanted to find a better way to manage them. So, whether you are tracking positive reviews of your new album or researching the proper dimensions of Stonehenge, stacking your tabs is an intuitive way to organize and group your open webpages.”
Extensions go to 11
Opera 11 also introduces extensions, browser add-ons that enhance the capabilities of Opera. In the three weeks since extensions debuted in the alpha release of Opera 11, more than 500,000 extensions have been downloaded. Fueling the growth in available extensions, developers submit between 10 and 20 new extensions each day. The full extension catalog is available here: https://addons.labs.opera.com/.
Thanks to a new developer mode in Opera 11 beta, extensions are even easier to make. Developers can use the developer mode to launch, test and package extensions quickly.
Mouse gestures go to 11
Mouse gestures provide a simple and effective way to control Opera with a few simple mouse movements. Since their introduction in Opera 5, mouse gestures have proven to be one of the most loved Opera features. In Opera 11, a new visual interface highlights mouse paths and helps guide the discovery, use and mastery of these powerful shortcuts. The full list of mouse gestures is available here: http://www.opera.com/browser/tutorials/gestures/.
But wait! There is more:
- The address field now hides unnecessary information and puts the security status of each page front and center. Now, badges explain the security state of the site, giving consumers clear information about the sites they visit.
- Plug-ins can be set to load on-demand. This can give as much as 30 percent performance improvement.
- Extensions and Opera Unite applications are updated automatically through Opera’s update mechanism.
- Even more work has been done to boost browsing speed, particularly for Linux. Opera 11 for Linux is 15 to 20 percent faster on common benchmarks than Opera 10.63.
- Bookmarks are just a click away thanks to a new bookmarks bar that replaces Opera’s personal bar.
- Opera 11 is 30 percent smaller than Opera 10.63, despite including new features.
Availability
Download Opera 11 beta (English only) from http://www.opera.com/browser/next. Opera runs on Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
Resources
Opera 11 beta press kit: http://www.opera.com/media/presskit/Opera11beta.zip
Timeline of tabbed browsing in Opera: http://www.opera.com/bitmaps/press/resources/campaign/opera11beta/tabs_timeline.gif
No drummers were harmed in the making of this browser.
About Opera Software ASA
Opera Software ASA has redefined web browsing for PCs, mobile phones and other networked devices. Opera’s cross-platform web-browser technology is renowned for its performance, standards compliance and small size, while giving users a faster, safer and more dynamic online experience. Opera Software is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with offices around the world. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at http://www.opera.com/.
As promised, Opera has released its latest browser, Opera Mobile 10.1 beta for Android, supporting pinch-zoom, Opera Turbo compression and geolocation for Android smartphones. The new app – which can be set as the default, instead of the existing Android browser – offers tabbed browsing together with what Opera reckons is the fastest rendering around.
Meanwhile there’s also wireless bookmark synchronization and a password manager. You can download the new browser by visiting http://www.opera.com/mobile/ on your Android phone.
Opera Mobile 10.1 beta for Android available
Oslo, Norway — 9 November 2010
Android users now have a new choice when it comes to browsers. Today, Opera Software announced that Opera Mobile 10.1 beta is available in the Android Market for free, providing the many millions of Android users better browser performance and an improved user experience.
Android users are known to appreciate speed and functionality. They are also known for their demands for new and improved software for their handsets, as well as an almost emotional relationship to their phones. Now, they have the opportunity to run Opera Mobile, made by a company that shares their passion for a better browser.
“Android users now have a better choice when it comes to using a browser on their mobile devices,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “With Opera’s new browser for Android, we give users the opportunity to access the Web, using the best tools available.”
Opera Mobile boasts faster page loading than other browsers and a highly fluid panning, scrolling and smooth zooming experience. Speed Dial, another Opera innovation, gives quick and easy access to the user’s favorite websites while the password manager saves the user from cumbersome mobile-phone typing. Additionally, users will experience better browsing on slow or congested networks with Opera Turbo, which provides up to 80 percent data compression.
Opera Mobile 10.1 Beta for Android also features:
Easy tab management with visual tabs
Opera Presto rendering engine
Sync your bookmarks across devices with Opera Link
Ability to be set as the default browser
Geolocation support
SVG support
Download
Download Opera Mobile directly to the Android phone for free from the Android Market or at m.opera.com/next. For more information, visit http://www.opera.com/mobile/.
Opera Mobile is available for Android users in the following 18 versions: Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.
