Opera Mini 4.2 Arrives for Android, and a Peek at a Slick Android Phone
by Sam Dean - Jan. 28, 2009Comments (2)- Related Blog Posts
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With January nearly gone, I've been somewhat surprised not to see more announcements on the software and hardware fronts for Google's Android platform. I've been using the T-Mobile G1 phone, and like it very much, but I still think next-generation Android devices running better applications will make a big difference for Android's market potential. Our sister blog JKOnTheRun is now noting a couple of significant advancements on these fronts. First, the arrival of the Opera Mini 4.2 browser for Android is great news, and the upcoming General Mobile DSTL1 Android phone looks good on the outside and on the inside.
The Opera Mini 4.2 browser for Android is now available on the Android Market. Opera Mini has long been noted as one of the fastest, sleekest mobile browsers. Here are some of the improvements made since the beta version, as noted on the Opera blog:
- Â Â Now you can upload and download files through Opera Mini and save pages for offline viewing
-   Videos will be redirected to the system’s video player
- Â Â Double tap now works for zooming in and out
- Â Â Inline URL entry instead of using native input
- Â Â Â Fixed password text entry to hide characters
- Â Â Â Fixed problems with exiting application when back button was pressed
- Â Â Â Improved trackball speed
- Â Â Â All internal pages, like the start page, now have font size extra large for easier navigation
JKOnTheRun also has a peek under the hood of the General Mobile DSTL1 Android phone (shown here), which is expected to be announced next month at the Mobile World Congress in Spain, and could ship by the third quarter. Below are some of the specifications, including dual SIM cards:
- Â Â Dual-SIM cards with dual-Standby mode
- Â Â Â 624MHz Marvell PXA 310 processor
- Â Â Â Tri-band GSM/EDGE support (900/1800/1900MHz)
- Â Â Â 3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display, 260k colors
- Â Â Â Wi-Fi
- Â Â Â Bluetooh
- Â Â Â 135g (4.75oz), 112 x 54 x 16mm (4.4 x 2.1 x .6 inches)
- Â Â Â 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash (made by Sharp)
I'm betting that Mobile World Congress next month will include lots more Android-related announcements. At last year's event, many new Linux phones and initiatives surrounding Android were announced. Stay tuned for our coverage.
