Some registry diving in one of the leaked HTC HD2 ROMs floating around out there and found a couple of interesting entries.

• Looks like the HD2 (aka the Leo) will ship with Opera Mobile 9.7 Build 35411.
• Pinch-and-zoom will be enabled.
• You can restore tabs after closing and reopening the browser. Very cool.

There are a couple of other nerdcore entries in there. Check 'em out.

Via wmpoweruser

Update 2: Matt checks back in and lets us know that while there is a check box for "Turbo," it doesn't enable a proxy like in the 9.7 beta.

Original: One of the main features of the Opera Mobile 9.7 beta is the "Turbo" feature, which basically switches the browser to a proxy mode, rendering the page elsewhere and piping it to your phone. Bottom line: It's faster, but with more security concerns.

But it turns out the Turbo mode is available in the build of Opera Mobile 9.5 found on the recently released T-Mobile Touch Pro 2. Matt Miller (of Nokia Experts fame and his own ZDNet blog) discovered such and shares the details:

1. Type opera:config in the URL box.
2. Scroll to User Prefs
3. Choose "Turbo Mode" and hit the checkbox to enable it.
4. Scroll down and hit save.

Matt also details a couple of other tricks, such as setting Opera to be the default browser in TouchFLO 3D, and increasing the number of tabs possible in the browser. Check it all out here.

Update: Our pal Gregory, who reviewed the Telus Touch Pro 2 for us, er, tells us that the Turbo mode is available in the Canadian version, too.

OK, this isn't exactly a fair fight, but forget about that for a minute. To the average user it probably doesn't matter whether your browser is being rendered through a proxy, security and privacy implications be damned.

So casting that difference aside, our own resident Nokia Expert and regular ZDNet contributor Matt Miller set forth to test the beta version of Opera 9.7 against a number of other phones, including the T-Mobile G1, iPhone 3G, Nokia N97, Nokia 5800, Nokia N85 (hey, we told you he's a Nokia Expert) and iPhone 3GS. For the WinMo side, Matt was rocking Opera Mobile 9.7 on a Pharos Traveler 137.

And what did he find? In straight page-loading tests, Opera Mobile 9.7 won. Read his full findings here. Matt's also keen on the rendering.

Opera gets it right with Opera Mobile and is much smarter about optimizing your display size and resolution. The custom HTC builds of Opera Mobile even allow several custom zoom levels where the text always fits on the display just right. There is still work for Apple to do in the browser, but they definitely have the loading speed down pat.

Browser wars are a favorite pastime of smartphone nerds (Exhibit A, Exhibit B) and there are a ton of variables to take into account (not to mention one's own patience level). But if it's good enough for Matt, it's good enough for us. If you've got a touchscreen device, head on over to Opera and try out the 9.7 beta for yourself.

We mentioned some time ago that Opera was going turbo. Well, the popular mobile browser has done just that with the release of Opera 9.7 Beta. According to the news release:

"Opera Mobile 9.7 beta is now available to accelerate the mobile browsing experience for Windows Mobile-based phones. Speed is at the heart of this beta release due to the addition of Opera’s recently launched technology for faster surfing, Opera Turbo. Opera has also included its newly upgraded browser engine, called Opera Presto 2.2, for faster page loads and better overall performance. With the added bonus of Opera Widgets, Opera Mobile 9.7 gets you the Web content you want in fewer clicks and less time."

We had the opportunity to test drive the Beta Release over the weekend. Follow the break to see our initial impression of Opera 9.7 Beta as well as information on Opera Widgets Beta and a demo video.

Read the rest of this entry »

Our love-hate relationship with Internet Explorer may again become a bit of a moot point as Opera Mobile has announced some details of the next version of its browser.

CNet reports that Opera Mobile 9.7 will support Flash and Ajax. CNet also says Opera Turbo, which squeezes data through slower connections, will make its mobile debut, and that 9.7 scores a perfect 100 on the Acid 3 rendering test. Google Gears and Open GL ES for graphics also will be on board, as will widgets.

Drool.

Opera Mobile 9.7 is intended for release by carriers and phone manufacturers, CNet says, but a consumer release is hinted at.

Alls we know is this: Between IE6, Skyfire, Firefox and now Opera 9.7, it's starting to look like the browser wars are back with a vengence.

Update: Opera's posted a video of 9.7 in action. Peep it after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »