Opera Mobile 12 (for Android)

Opera Mobile 12 (free), released at Mobile World Congress this past February, can now call itself the most HTML5-ready browser in the app-mosphere, according to a key benchmark created by the industry association World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The twelfth iteration adds WebGL support for 3D graphics rendering on Android devices, although I had trouble viewing some graphics. It also supports MIPS and Intel architectures, along with ARM. MIPS powers the cheap, $99 7-inch tablet running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Long-time Opera-goers won't find any disruptions to Opera's silky smooth scrolling, seamless navigation, and helpful status bars. But although Opera is fast and performs well, it lacks the minimalist interface?crucial on mobile screens?of Firefox 10 (free, 3.5 stars) and its feature set pales in comparison to our Editors' Choice recipient, Dolphin Browser HD 7.5 (free, EC, 4.5 stars).

Ready For the Future
As we head into the next-generation of HTML, W3C is expected to officially recommend HTML5 as the standard for the Internet in 2014. HTML5 is a comprehensive application development platform for Web pages that eliminates the need to install third-party browser plug-ins such as Java and Flash.

Any ambitious browser is scrambling to support the hundreds of new HTML5 features outlined by W3C. According to HMTL5test.com developed by W3C, which counts the number of supported features, Opera Mobile (354) has displaced Firefox (315) for the most HTML-ready smartphone browser.

That's a jump from Opera 11, which supported 254 features. Chrome for Android Beta gives Opera Mobile a run for its money, supporting 343 features, but the browser is still a work in progress. As for tablet browsers, Opera Mobile 12 and RIM Tablet OS 2 both scored 354.

Opera Mobile 12 is even more HTML5-ready than Opera's desktop client (329).

Opera also added WebGL support, which allows users to view hardware-accelerated 3D images without installing additional software. I tried viewing a bunch of WebGL samples published by Google. Opera rendered an aquarium?very slowly, with frames per second (FPS) never exceeding 7. On a WebGL-enabled desktop browser such as Chrome, which offers a seamless WebGL experience, the FPS figure is never lower than 25.

As far as mobile browsers go, we?ve only seen WebGL support in Firefox 10, which loaded the WebGL aquarium as slowly as Opera.?

Unobstructed Views
Opera Mobile 12 hits the right notes for mobile browsing. It lacks the swagger of Firefox's swipeable trays, but the clean bottom-fitted navigation bar, defined by the Opera "O," looks and performs well. The tab-sorting tray, which reveals miniaturized page-views, is a visual treat. On the other hand, minimalists will appreciate how Opera provides a Full Screen Mode as well as the option to individually disable both the navigation and status bars. There's even a Mobile View that compresses full-size webpages for the mobile screen (albeit, with mixed success).

Opera supports text wrapping, though the feature is made more potent with the latest release's dynamic pinch-zoom: text responds to the slightest pinch. Unlike Firefox or Dolphin, though, Opera sticks with one decidedly old-fashioned feature: separate search and URL fields. I consider this a frivolous use of limited mobile screen estate; however, I'm certain that some users appreciate the distinction. At the very least, it makes choosing a search option?for example, toggling between Google and Dictionary.com?more accessible.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/JjbNZtLxqs4/0,2817,2383239,00.asp

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