Opera Software has gone into public beta with Opera for EPOC. According to Opera EPOC lead programmer Keith Hollis the software is equivalent to Opera 3.62, and includes the same features as the Windows version, including SSL version 2 and 3 and TLS version 1. At this stage it doesn't have Java support, primarily because built-in Java is a relatively recent addition to shipping EPOC machines. Hollis says Opera will ultimately support built in Java version 1.1 on these. The beta code however supports all Psion and EPOC machines from the Series 5 upwards, including the GeoFox. Opera is considering adding email in conjunction with the built-in Psion/EPOC application, and Hollis says the software is twice as fast as the existing application. The speed gain is made possible because Opera draws graphics directly, and doesn't relay on the Psion libraries. Hollis points out that this could be an advantage for implementations on smartphones, as the libraries are more word-processor than browser related, and on smaller devices in the future, some of the libraries may not be available. Currently the look and feel of the browser is fairly Windows-like, but a future rev based on Opera 4.0 is intended to be more EPOC-ised. Opera is adding staff busily to the project, as well it might, given that the field for smartphone and communicator browsers is still pretty much wide open. ® Download Opera for EPOC here