Opera 4.2

Opera Software has thrown open the doors to reveal the final version of its popular Opera Mini 4.2 browser for mobile phones. The 4.2 version has been in beta the last few weeks, and now that Opera Software has opened a new server park, users of the browser in the United States should see a 30 percent speed boost.

This release is the first version officially available for Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android mobile platform -- and the T-Mobile G1 smartphone. It's also the first Web browser alternative to the built-in browser on the open Android platform.

Opera Mini 4.2 adds more language versions and offers new skins to let users personalize the look and feel of the browser. Opera Mini's claim to fame is speed, which is delivered in part by cutting out superfluous content on Web pages.

How It Works

Opera has remote servers set up that pre-process Web pages before sending them to a user's phone. The content is compressed to reduce the size of the data transfers, which enables faster browsing -- even on feature phones. For U.S. users, the 30 percent speed gain with 4.2 comes largely from a new Opera server park; however, Opera says that other users around the world should also see improvements due to a reduced load on other servers.

The browser runs on a wide variety of Java-capable mobile phones, including certain BlackBerry, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) , Samsung and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY) models, as well as phones that run Windows Mobile.

Opera Software reports that 21 million unique users browsed 5 billion pages in October 2008 alone, making it the world's most popular mobile Web browser.

"It is without question the world's most popular aftermarket mobile Web browser, but I couldn't tell you if it is the most used overall," Avi Greengart, research director of wireless devices for Current Analysis , told LinuxInsider.

"Nokia sells an awful lot of phones with mobile browsers," he added.

Regardless of whether it's extremely popular or just very popular -- is it really that good?

"For devices with small screens or limited connectivity, no question -- Opera Mini does the best job of quickly modifying the site for your tiny screen on its servers, and then sends just that data on to your phone. It is certainly my mobile browser of choice for feature phones," Greengart explained.