14 DAY TRIAL // Opera Software announced that the newly announced Palm Foleo mobile companion will use Opera as the default Internet browser. Opera for Palm Foleo is based on Opera 9 and offers advanced navigation features and support for Web 2.0 applications using Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML).
The announcement of the Palm Foleo marks the introduction of the first computer designed to be a companion to a smartphone and also the first deployment of Opera 9 to a portable device. The mobile companion features a large 10-inch screen well-suited for browsing the Web, and a full-size keyboard. Palm Foleo has access to the Internet via the smartphone's Wi-Fi connection, that is synchronized with the Palm Foleo via Bluetooth.
Opera's architecture is characterized by fast-performing JavaScript and rendering engines. As an early adopter of Web 2.0 standards, Opera has full DOM support and can smoothly run advanced web and Ajax-based applications. Some of the features of Opera for Palm Foleo include Web-address input auto-completion, download manager which allows users to view download progress and access their downloads from one simple transfer manager window, pop-up blocker, bookmarks and browsing history.
"Incorporating Opera into Foleo allows us to deliver a user-friendly web-browsing experience," said Mark Bercow, senior vice president of business development for Palm, Inc. "With web browsing in mind as an important application, we also built in dedicated buttons beneath the keyboard for forward and back. Those buttons, plus the addition of the scroll wheel, make navigating the web using the Opera browser pleasant and easy to do."
Opera for Palm Foleo was developed with Opera's SDK (Software Developer Kit) for Devices, a quick solution for deploying a browser specially tailored for particular mobile devices. "The fact that Palm was able to integrate Opera and give it their look and feel in only a few short months demonstrates the value and flexibility of the Opera SDK," said Scott Hedrick, executive vice president of marketing for Opera Software. An evaluation trial of the Opera SDK for Devices can be requested here.