Opera browser beta for Android hits Play store with WebKit horsepower

Opera browser made a seismic shift when it dropped its long-in-the-tooth Presto engine in favor of WebKit, and now you can see the changes for yourself. It's up for grabs in beta on Google Play, packing the same rendering engine as its Chrome and Safari counterparts along with a handful of extra features. Those include an updated speed dial page for easier launching of favorite sites, off-road mode to conserve data, a discover tab and HTML5 support. We haven't seen it yet on iOS and there's no date for a final release, so keep in mind you'll be test-piloting the still-beta app -- check the source to grab it.

Via: Android Police

Source: Google Play

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By: Unknown On 7:16 PM

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Opera confirms downsizing of developer team as it readies for newly adopted WebKit era

Opera's been making quite a few notable changes lately, and now we're finding out it won't be without any repercussions to some of its staff. Earlier today, Opera CEO Lars Boilsen's confirmed to our friends over at TechCrunch that the browser's developer team is indeed downsizing, confirming previous reports about the company having to make changes as part of its recently announced WebKit adoption. Just how many Core positions will be lost in the process is still unclear, however, with Mr. Boilsen only going as far as telling TechCrunch the number of developers working on the overall project is now at "around 600." What's more, Opera's CEO says it's all part of a belief that "WebKit's good enough, to switch, and by doing that we free up a lot of resources," adding that Opera "will still have a Core team but it will be less people going forward."

Source: TechCrunch

More Coverage: Digi.no

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By: Unknown On 6:45 PM

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Opera hits 300 million users, promptly moves to WebKit

Opera is celebrating the news that it's hit the 300 million monthly user milestone with a big announcement. It's going to dump Presto, the current Opera rendering engine, in favor of WebKit. The company gave the impression that it's exhausted after swimming against the tide of an internet designed to work for Chrome and Safari for so long. Instead, the firm will devote its considerable resources toward "innovation and polish" on its browser products. Opera's already hinted at its future by demonstrating Ice, its WebKit-based experiment for iOS and Android devices, which it'll be showing off in more detail at MWC later this month.

Source: Opera, (2)

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By: Unknown On 9:53 PM

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