Opera Software has released its (second) free mobile browser product for the Android platform. Grab the app, dubbed Opera Mobile 10.1 beta, now in Android Market or here.
Yes, Opera was already available for Android, in a fairly limited way. Opera Mini, has been live on the market since July, but now you can also download the company’s full-fledged browser, Opera Mobile, from the application store.
Here’s what it’s packing:
– speedy page loading compared to other browsers, particularly on slower networks (courtesy of Opera Turbo)
– smooth scrolling, zooming and panning (rather than having to tap to zoom in, which is definitely a huge improvement)
– Visual tabs for easy tab management —>
– Built-in geolocation support
– Ability to sync bookmarks across devices
– SVG support
As I had mentioned earlier, the release of the public beta version of Opera Mobile for Android was just a matter of time, as the product already existed, albeit for the Norwegian company’s OEM partners only.
Now that it’s available for direct download for end users, you’d be wrong not to check it out.
Fellow TechCrunch writer Jason Kincaid installed a build of the app on his Android smartphone this morning and confirmed that it feels snappier than the native browser that came installed on it. Obviously, more robust side-by-side testing is welcome here.
The browser is available in Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.
Here’s an earlier video I recorded, featuring Opera Mobile & Devices product manager Phillip Grønvold giving me a demo of the app on his Samsung Galaxy S phone: