The latest public release of Opera Software's full browser for mobile phones, Opera Mobile 9.5 beta with Opera Widgets, is now available.

Opera Software revealed the latest Web technologies available to service new mobile-industry business models at Yankee Group's Mobile Internet World conference last week in Boston. Opera Widgets enable one-click Web content access.

"Opera has built its second Opera Mobile 9.5 beta based on user-generated feedback following its first public release earlier this year," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software, Oslo, Norway.

"In addition to Opera Widgets, this new test version promises to be a smoother ride than the previous version, as we have improved page loading times and increased our focus on end-user productivity," he said.

This release marks the second Opera Mobile 9.5 beta for Windows Mobile and the first-ever beta for UIQ-based phones.

A developer version of S60 Widget manager is also available within the Opera Widgets SDK.

T-Mobile has already used Opera Mobile with Widgets for their Web'n'Walk initiative.

Like T-Mobile, other carriers can now incorporate Opera Widgets into their customer offering.

This means that customer-selected Web content can be accessed from a list of icons on the home-screen.

Widgets can also serve as a means of customer communication, as automatic notifications are now easier to instantly deliver to subscribers.

Several Opera Widgets are now pre-installed in the Opera Mobile 9.5 beta builds.

Additionally, Opera offers downloadable widgets at http://widgets.opera.com.

Opera always encourages more user-generated widgets and therefore recently updated its Opera Widget Software Development Kit.

This SDK will enable developers to quickly and easily create widgets using standards-based Web technology.

The Opera Widgets SDK now includes two new features, Opera Dragonfly and widgets managers.

Opera Dragonfly is a tool for debugging JavaScript, inspecting Cascading Style Sheets and the Document Object Model. Find your errors and get your widget right.

Widget managers for on-device of S60, UIQ and Windows Mobile are included with in the SDK for testing widgets directly on the mobile phone.

Opera Mobile 9.5 beta with Opera Widgets is ready for download at http://www.opera.com/products/mobile.

The Opera Widgets SDK can be downloaded at http://www.opera.com/b2b/solutions/widgets.

Developers can also check out the latest Opera Widgets SDK and the running competition called the "X-Widget Challenge."

Opera is offering $10,000 in cash prizes for the best cross-device widget submissions.

Founded in 1995, Opera Software's leading customers include T-Mobile, Vodafone, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Nintendo.

In Sept., Opera said that there were 19 million unique monthly users of Opera Mini

Opera Mobile is shipped on 100 million handsets yearly.

"Opera's vision is to provide the best Internet experience on any device," Mr. von Tetzschner said. "There is only one Web, the services that win on the ordinary Web also win on the mobile Web.

"The cost of teaching people to do something new is too high -- WAP was a mistake, let's not do it again," he said. "Most mobile phones and other devices will ultimately have full Web browsers."

Consumers surf the same content on mobile as they do on their PC.

The top mobile sites in the U.S. are also the top PC Internet sites: MySpace, Google, MocoSpace, Yahoo and Facebook.

"Mobile Web browsing drives higher ARPU and improves customer retention," Mr. von Tetzschner said. "People are spending more time in front of their browser than in front of their television."

Opera Widgets are already on the market on Windows Mobile, Apple, Linux and Nintendo Wii.

"Developers can write an application and run it across many platforms, not only PCs, not only mobile phones, but on a lot of different devices," Mr. von Tezschner said. "It's standards based, which means you have choice."

Opera Widgets run on the idle screen, so there is zero click distance to content.

"Content is updated dynamically, a there's complete integration between native and Web apps for a seamless experience," Mr. von Tezschner said. "It's a complete widget ecosystem: Opera widget SDK tools for developers, admin tools for full control of what's on the device, an end-user Web site and widget manager client control telling you which widgets are there and when they're running."

Opera Mini provides a Web browsing experience even on low-end feature phones on a low-end network by compressing data 85 percent, according to Opera.

"100 million units of Opera are installed yearly on various devices, and more than that via downloads," Mr. von Tezschner said. "It's taking off significantly in certain regions, and we're seeing especially strong growth in emerging markets."

Only 20 percent of the world population has Internet access via a fixed-line PC, whereas 50 percent of the world population has a mobile device, so more people will be accessing the Internet via mobile.

"Our primary focus is being an enabler, not as a service provider," Mr. von Tezschner said. "It's been growing fairly rapidly.

"At the beginning of 2007 we were getting 30,000 downloads a day, while at end of the year it was 100,000 downloads a day, and today it's even more," he said.