Opera to be default browser in Symbian ref designs

Opera Software has won itself a key role in the forthcoming wireless Internet wars; the company has signed up with Symbian, which will now include Opera's browser in its reference designs for Communicator devices. This does not of course mean that all companies licensing Symbian's designs will use the default browser, but quite a few of them are likely to.

According to Symbian EVP sales and marketing Mark Edwards, the company evaluated several browsers with a view to offering them as part of the package, and concluded that "Opera Software offers the most advanced specifications and features available in the market today."

The version of Opera Symbian will be offering is 5 - Opera 5.10 for Epoc is currently at beta 2 stage. The Symbian implementation will include JavaScript support for JavaScript objects and form controls; ECMAScript regexp object; support for HTML event handlers; and the SSL handling of certificates, FTP, 128-bit encryption, SSL 2 and 3, TLS 1.0, CSS1 and CSS2, XML, HTML 4.01, HTTP 1.1, ECMAScript version 3, and JavaScript 1.4.

The first of the next generation Symbian-based products expected on the market, following the collapse of the Psion-Motorola axis, is expected to be Nokia's 9210 Communicator, which is scheduled to ship in H1 2001 - i.e., more or less now.

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