Opera browser for Android is now out in a beta version, providing mobile web navigation that is sleeker and easier to use than ever. The app is the first iteration of a new generation of Opera browsers for smartphones, giving developers and first-movers in the mobile-app world access to Opera's latest offering for Android users.

Opera has rebuilt the entire browser to ensure users can make the most of their web time. Opera for Android provides a full, native browsing experience for Android devices.

Opera for Android sports a completely new user interface that is built to the native specifications of the Android platform. The software provides a new way of discovering content on the web, from the Discover panel of the startup screen. Users can read a selection of popular articles and dig deeper into their interests, such as sports, technology, lifestyle or news. Opera has selected relevant global and regional sources to provide this content.



The company says its engineers discovered that users like to have links readily available in the Speed Dial, yet also wanted the flexibility of a bookmark folder. With the new Speed Dial, the bookmarks are fused together with the Speed Dial entries to provide a new experience. It's easier to group, organize and rename Speed Dial entries or gather them in folders.

Opera for Android integrates the compression technology from Opera Mini, for faster browsing. In this version the feature is called "Off-Road mode" and can be switched on and off by the user.

"There are countless hours that have gone into making this completely new, completely re-thought Opera for Android," says Opera Software EVP of product development Rikard Gillemyr. "I dare say that many smartphone users spend much more time using their web browser than any other app on their phones. That's why we have made our newest mobile phone browser more elegant and more beautiful than ever, while still packing so much functionality into it. Go ahead — take the Opera beta out for a spin on your Android phone and see for yourself."

Opera supports Android devices with phone-sized screens from version 2.3 and up.