Opera's new browser for manufacturers hints at support for Flash in the consumer version

Opera Software has announced an update to their mobile browser for phones running  on the Windows Mobile or Symbian OS. Opera Mobile 9.7 is sold to the software firm's enterpise clients like cellphone manufacturers and carriers. Still, it does offer some insight as to what features could appear on the consumer downloadable version that Opera has promised to release "in the near future". The new Opera Mobile 9.7 has support for Flash and Ajax. This means that the browser will be able to show animation and videos on certain sites. For example, using Flash Lite, YouTube videos can be viewed directly from the desktop site instead of having to go to the mobile YouTube page. Opera Mobile 9.7 will also feature the new Opera Turbo technology which compresses data by as much as 80% so that carrier's pipes do not get clogged up with slow moving data. To bring the mobile browser's speed up to the same quickness seen on the alpha version of the Opera 10 desktop version, Mobile 9.7 will include the Presto 2.2 rendering engine. The updates mobile software will also support Google Gears and the Open GL ES standard for graphics acceleration.

Opera has tough competition in Skyfire among other browsers that are more advanced when it comes to video playback. That is why it is critical for them to equip the new software with Flash. And the consumer version of the browser is expected to have all of the same upgrades seen in the enterprise version along with a new widgets manager. Opera Mobile 9.5 has been called a true challenger to Safari, and considered among the best mobile browsers available. The addition of Flash can only improve it and bodes well for the abilities of the consumer version when it is released.

source: Opera Software via Cnet