New Opera Mini 4 Beta 2 Is Small But Still Packs A Punch

Opera has rolled out a new beta of Opera Mini version 4. Beta 2 adds a wealth of new features and will install without alongside beta 1 without overwriting any files (which is a nice touch, I wish more beta software would do that).

Opera Mini is the smallest browser in the Opera family. The company also makes the more robust Opera Mobile for Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile handsets, as well as its flagship product, the full-featured Opera for desktops. We looked at the first beta a couple months back and found it offered some nice features and the new version only adds to the list.

Here's a brief rundown on what's new in beta 2:

• New full screen mode
• Browse in landscape mode. Jealous of the iPhone? Opera Mini may not rotate when you turn your phone, but a quick shortcut key (‘#' and ‘*') makes it easy to change the screen orientation
• Add the search engine of your choice to the start page, just like the Opera desktop browser.
• A number of optimizations for BlackBerry phones including a native menu
• Supports SSL connections for banking sites, Amazon and more (though we would advise caution nonetheless)
• Improved support for small fonts, cookies and more.

The new beta also features a number of bug fixes and speed improvements. If you aren't in the mood to drop $500 on an iPhone, but you want a full fledged browser on your phone, check out Opera Mini; it just might be what you're looking for (of course if you have a Windows Mobile or Symbian device you'll want use Opera Mobile).