Opera announced last week that it would launch two new mobile browsers at CTIA--Opera Mobile 11 and Opera Mini 6--but when it came to new and enhanced features, it mostly kept quiet.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on a preview build before the show, and can share a lot more about what's in store for Opera on mobile phones and tablets.

Starting with the interface, the Opera browser gets a little bump in sophistication on an already graphically rich display. Opera loyalists will note some subtle changes--Opera has shaved off the title bar to give its browser more room, the Settings icon has changed into the Opera "O" icon, and the search engine selector has further retreated within the search field.

A sharing menu shortcut is a new feature to hit the browser duo. Pressing the "O" icon pulls up the options screen. In addition to bookmarks, history, settings, downloads, and so on is the option to share via e-mail, text, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks.

You also get pinch-to-zoom across the board on all compatible devices supported by both browser versions. Before, you sometimes had to tap to zoom in. Opera says it has also enhanced the scrolling, panning, and zooming.

Opera is also jumping on the tablet craze by optimizing Mini and Mobile for the larger tablet screens. On the Motorola Xoom (running Android 3.0 Honeycomb) that we loaded it on, Opera Mobile looks almost the same as it does on an Android smartphone, except that the navigation bar moves to the top.

Overall, Opera worked quickly and smoothly, with just two exceptions. Opera had no problem loading Web sites, but we found one (Chow.com) whose loading width must have confused the browser because the image rhythmically shrank back, then expanded until we tapped it. (Chow.com is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET.) Another outlier issue is that Opera Mobile did not properly load a Web page we needed to authenticate CNET's public Wi-Fi. We had to open the default browser before we could use Opera. This has been a challenge for Opera for years, and one gap in its service that, while it won't affect most people, demonstrates a weakness that a browser of this caliber should have long overcome.

Opera Mini 6--the more condensed, speedier, proxy version--will be available on Android, BlackBerry, Symbian/Series 60, and Java (J2ME) phones. Opera Mobile 11--the native, standalone browser--will be compatible with Android, Symbian, Windows 7 (think tablets), and MeeGo.

You can download either of the free browsers in your device's app store (this may not be true for all) or by pointing the browser to m.opera.com. Then, let us know what you think about the new Opera Mini and Opera Mobile.

Originally posted at CTIA 2011

Firefox for Mobile (download) is just one step away from its first Android release, as Mozilla announced the browser's release candidate today. 

Pending final testing, the mobile version of the popular Firefox browser will soon be available in full force on Android smartphones (the release candidate will be available beginning today in the Android Market). Firefox 4 will also work on the Maemo platform (download).

I sat down with Mozilla to take a look at the upcoming changes and enhancements. I've always liked Mozilla's mobile design, which hides the nuts and bolts like setting and tabs in the "gutters" on either side of the browsing screen and can be reached by swiping right or left. The layout does expand the screen's real estate, but it also makes some features harder to access.

A new default start screen puts some of those features back into focus with quick links to previously viewed Web pages, suggested Firefox add-ons, and most-recent tabs you've opened on other computers, the latter courtesy of Firefox Sync.

The awesome bar--the combined address and search fields--has also received a little more awesomeness; it now pulls down as a screen to reveal your bookmarks, browsing history, and desktop tabs from Sync. Typing a few letters pulls up suggestions.

In terms of usability, however, I was most impressed with improvements made to the browser's speed. Mozilla takes a risk releasing nightly and in-production builds, and Firefox in the past has not had the performance capabilities that the browser needs to be competitive. It can have all the cool and useful add-ons it wants, but if it's not fast, nobody will use it. Mozilla knows it, and the browsing speeds during our demo were heartening. We'll have more detailed benchmarks when the full release hits.

In addition to smoother, faster browsing, I played with pinch and zoom and a new, yet very familiar fit-to-zoom gesture wherein double-tapping the screen zooms the content in to a full-width column. It's an easy way to focus in on one article on a Web site's splash page, for example.

Copy/paste is an option for text fields, but not yet for content within a Web site. Hopefully that's a technical conundrum that Mozilla will be able to tackle in future versions.

Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo will work on tablets as well as smartphones. On the technical side, it runs off the same engine (Gecko 2.0) driving the desktop version of Firefox 4, which is also due this week, and it supports HTML5.

Again, this is the release candidate and not the full version, though we expect the full version to follow very soon.

Originally posted at Android Atlas

Apple has released the anticipated OS X 10.6.7 update, after weeks of developer build seeds that were issued with no new features or fixes. The update is available in the normal versions of delta and combo updaters for both the client and server versions of OS X, and should be available via Software Update for most people. This update is especially important for owners of the new 2011 MacBook Pro systems because it addresses a graphics bug that caused hangs and crashes under heavy graphics load.

You can download the standalone updaters from the following links:

Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update (475MB)

Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.12GB)

Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update (541.21MB)

Mac OS X Server v10.6.7 Update Combo (1.15GB)

Mac OS X v10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro (368.21MB)

Apple has released a separate update for the latest MacBook Pro systems. As we noted earlier, these systems shipped with a graphics bug that caused hangs and crashes, and this update specifically notes that it "improves graphics stability and external display compatibility" in these new systems. Be sure that if you choose to manually install the update for your system that you choose this one if your MacBook Pro is a newly purchased one.

In general, the OS update addresses reliability of Apple's "Back to My Mac" remote connectivity technology, fixes SMB (windows file sharing) bugs, and fixes minor issues with the Mac App Store that appeared in OS X 10.6.6.

Beyond bugs and features, the update addresses numerous security concerns and flaws with built-in services, Apple's "Core" technologies, system utilities, and core details such as the kernel and filesystem handling. As with most security concerns, these were for issues where users could gain access to restricted files, cause arbitrary code execution, or otherwise change the system's configuration without proper authorization. Details on these can be found in this knowledgebase document.

As always, be sure to fully back up your system before applying this update. Ensure you have a full and restorable backup of your system, and have addressed current issues with your system. Optionally you can run a general maintenance routine and unplug peripheral devices before updating your system. For more details on preparing for an OS X update, see this article.

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Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or e-mail us!
Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.

Originally posted at MacFixIt

After a security problem derailed it last year, a technology to open a high-speed browser communications link is getting back on track again.

The technology, called WebSocket, is good for Web sites that involve time-sensitive communications--multiplayer games or real-time trading, for example. A security issue raised concerns about WebSocket led to reworking of the technology, but now supporters think they've fixed WebSocket.

"It seems like it will happen very soon," said Brian Albers, vice president of development at Kaazing, which commercializes Web Sockets. "There's a meeting of the IETF at the end of the month in Prague. There's a lot of movement to get this wrapped up by then."

WebSocket abilities
What's the hurry? Simply put, a desire to use the WebSocket interface to dramatically overhaul what advanced Web programmers can do. It makes it easy to open a direct link for things like stock quotes, instant messages, or text typed into a Google Instant search box, for example.

As Web applications get more and more like applications that run natively on a computer, that becomes important. For example, in an online multiplayer game, the central game program running on a server needs to send and receive updated information from the players frequently and rapidly.

Today, communications between a browser and a Web server use the serviceable but sluggish HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to communicate. It comes with a lot of overhead, meaning that a lot of extra data must accompany the actual information that's being exchanged. A browser must repeatedly poll a server to check for any changes.

That suits it poorly to Web pages that send or receive short, frequent updates. The amount of data for the communications overhead is dwarfs the data of the message itself by a factor of 100, and a lot of complicated programming and processing is required.

"It's like sending to business card to somebody in a cargo ship container," said Yuan Weigel, Kaazing's vice president of marketing. WebSocket, in contrast, opens a low-overhead communication channel and leaves it open for software to use.

If you want to get a flavor for its possibilities, check Kaazing's WebSocket demo page. Or try your hand the Scrabble-like WordSquared game, powered by Pusher's online WebSocket service, or Rob Hawkes' space-shooter called Rawkets. Admire the eight-computer Web-based aquarium demo, which uses WebSocket to keep the different machines in sync. Or compare (during trading hours), the performance financial quotes appearing at Cantor Index and WorldSpreads.

"You'll notice that Cantor's [prices] change on a 'polling' basis rather than live, and their pricing on this page lags Worldspreads by 2 to 3 seconds at the moment," Weigel said. "In a market where companies win or lose customers based on available real-time information, this is extremely compelling."

Of course, Kaazing has a vested interest in touting the technology. It sells proprietary server software to handle the business end of WebSocket, including higher-level technology built on the WebSocket foundation, and it also offers extras that let customers use WebSocket even if their browser doesn't have the technology built in. The company is aiming in particular for the financial services market to start.

But Kaazing isn't alone. In addition to browser makers, there's also an open-source project called Jetty that offers WebSocket support. And plenty of other companies are involved in WebSocket, including Sony, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, and Qualcomm.

Standardization progress
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is standardizing one aspect of WebSocket, the protocol by which a browser and a server communicate. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is standardizing the WebSocket interface by which Web programmers use the technology

The new "-06" version of the communication protocol looks to be, if not good enough for final use, close enough to get browser makers back in action.

One example: Firefox maker and WebSocket fan Mozilla has begun testing the -06 version of WebSocket.

"Mozilla has been heavily involved in the standardization process and supports the work of the group at the IETF," said Chris Blizzard, Mozilla's director of Web platform, in a statement to CNET. "We're to the point where we're starting to do interoperability testing and many of the major issues have been resolved. So we're getting closer to the point of having an accepted standard for Web Sockets.

He was more cautious than Kaazing, though, declining to predict the outcome of the March IETF meeting.

Microsoft, which is back in the browser game with its brand-new IE9, had pooh-poohed rival browsers' eagerness to add WebSocket before it was fully tested. Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome all had support, though sometimes disabled by default. And right before the IE9 launch, IE General Manager Dean Hachomovitch alluded to a somewhat foul-mouthed video chiding browser makers for inflicting pain on Web programmers.

But Microsoft is showing some enthusiasm, even if WebSocket wasn't done in time for IE9. It's letting developers test WebSocket in a HTML5 Labs proving ground, and a week and a half ago updated that software to the -06 version of WebSocket.

Of course, getting the standard finished and building support into browsers is only the first step. After that comes getting enough people to update their browsers updated and bringing the programmers on board.

If WebSocket lives up to its potential, those problems--unlike the security hiccup--should take care of themselves.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

Adobe Systems has released version 10.2 of Flash Player for mobile devices, which addresses several shortcomings in the inaugural 10.1 incarnation.

Among the features in the new software, according to an Adobe blog post, are these:

• Integration with the browser on Android 3.0.1, aka Honeycomb, so Flash content is treated "as part of the Web page instead of as a separate 'overlay.'" That pages scroll better and look closer to how Web page designers intended.

• The ability to take advantage of better hardware in some devices with graphics chips and dual-core processors--Motorola's Atrix smartphone and Xoom browser and LG's Optimus 2X, for example.

• Better integration with screen-based keyboards, one of the big departures in the new era of mobile devices from the world of personal computers where Flash got its start.

The new features help Adobe make the case that it's adapting Flash to the "post-PC era" of smartphones and tablets with touchscreens and Net connections. Flash is nearly universal on laptop and desktop computers, but it's only getting started in the mobile world. Apple's ban of Flash from iOS devices has made it that much harder for Adobe to gain a foothold and made it necessary for developers wanting to reach mobile devices to design applications and Web sites on the assumption that Flash isn't present.

Flash Player 10.2 is a final release for Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices, but it's only in beta for Honeycomb. It's available through the Android Market, but only for Adobe's list of Flash-compatible Android devices, which numbers 33 devices at this stage.

So far between 5 million and 10 million people have downloaded Flash Player for Android, and it gets 4.5 stars out of 5 with 182,309 ratings so far, according to the Flash Player page on the Android Market.

For a look at some of the ins and outs of Flash 10.2 on the flagship Honeycomb device, Motorola's Xoom tablet, check my colleague Eric Franklin's report. It looks as if Web developers have some new decisions to make about what version of their Web page to deliver, because some present no-Flash mobile-optimized versions even when Flash and a tablet make browsing something more like what happens on a PC than a on mobile phone.

The fact that there's a Flash compatibility list spotlights an issue that afflicts Android developers, fragmentation. The widely varying capabilities of Android devices means programmers have potential compatibility, testing, and support headaches to worry about. Apple, lacking the profusion of iOS devices, presents a simpler world, but even there, things are getting more complicated; the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 bring significant differences over their predecessors.

The line Adobe and its ally Google have used to persuade customers that they should want Flash on mobile devices is that it gives them the "full Web." Flash-based streaming video, for example, is now an option. And in the world of tablets, the vast array of casual Flash-based games at sites such as Kongregate are particularly interesting given that Android still lags iOS when it comes to native games.

However, the "full Web" can be slower--in part because Flash is often used to deliver advertisements. The CNET.com Web age loaded on a Xoom in 11 seconds with Flash ads vs. 5 seconds, for example.

That complaint has been one reason many people have allied themselves with Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs' effort to move beyond Flash. But it's not quite as simple an equation as ditching Flash and getting a faster Web.

As Web standards such as Canvas 2D graphics, HTML5 video, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), animated CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) transformations and transitions, WOFF (Web Open Font Format) mature, they become a viable mechanism to deliver elaborate, processor-pounding content, too.

Originally posted at Deep Tech

Want to see what's next for Opera? The current version of Opera offers extensions, highly competitive page-load times, cutting-edge features, and strong support for "future Web" technologies. But if you want to check out what the developers are working on for the upcoming Opera 11, download the latest beta. As with any beta, you should save all your important work before launching the prerelease software.

Also this week, we have the latest version of EasyFind, the search tool that complements Apple's Spotlight with superfast and specific search results. Our game this week is Boom, the classic arcade game that's still highly entertaining after all these years.

Don't forget to check out our iPhone apps of the week!