Opera Mini 4.2

With their 2-inch screens and microscopic keyboards, cell phones aren't exactly ideal for Web surfing. But even worse are the slow, clunky browsers that come preloaded on many models. That's what makes the free Opera Mini such a terrific upgrade. We've reviewed it several times in the past, the most recent being version 4.1 about a year ago. But now that the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1, along with the Bolt and Skyfirebrowsers, have raised the bar for mobile browsing, a look at the latest version of Opera Mini is in order.

Opera Mini 4.2 offers several important upgrades. Opera Software switched on a new U.S.-based server park in an effort to render pages faster for its U.S. and Asia-Pacific users. Opera Mini 4.2 also synchronizes notes from the Opera Desktop browser using Opera Link. Users can also personalize Opera Mini 4.2 with new skins (actually a feature added and then removed back in Opera Mini 3).

First, some caveats on hardware requirements: Opera Mini will work on any handset that can run Java apps natively. That includes all recent BlackBerrys and most feature phones. Infuriatingly, T-Mobile blocks third-party applications from accessing the Internet with some devices, and Opera Mini doesn't work at all on Verizon (BREW) feature phones. Also, Windows Mobile and Palm OS smartphones require that you run a separate Java virtual machine before loading Opera Mini each time. And some carriers will hit you with persistent nag screens every time you fire up Opera Mini on certain handsets—an annoyance, though at least you can still run the app.

To install Opera Mini, head over to mini.opera.com using your cell phone's current Web browser, and then follow the instructions to download and install the app on your handset. Most likely, you'll see a new icon in the Applications folder of your handset, where other third-party apps are stored (if it's not part of the top level). For this review, I tested Opera Mini 4.2 on a BlackBerry Curve 8330 running over Verizon Wireless's EV-DO data network, and it required a reboot once the installation was completed.