This is great news for Windows Mobile users. I've had my hands-on the Opera 9.5 with an HTC Touch Diamond, during its launch in South Africa, and in my opinion, it was an incarnation of a PC web browser on a phone. Having it for other Windows Mobile phones is just excellent, although I don't know if it will work on phones that have WM versions other than v6.1.

There are versions for phones with QVGA resolution (240x320) and VGA resolution (640x480), so there you go, a great variety of editions for a web browser that supports Flash Lite 3 and widgets.

There are still few bugs:

• Keyboard pop-ups with flash player installed.
• Video playback still slow with flash player.
• Limit paragraph cannot be turned off.

But better than the bugs are the features, such as:tabbed browsing, age overview, zooming and panning, landscape mode, ability to save web page. A video demonstrating the features is available at Opera's website.

A list features is available after the jump. The download links, as well as operation detail is available at the thread of XDA developers forum, which is accessible from the link below.

Source: XDA developers via Tech[dot]blog

Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile features:

• Intuitive user interface
• Tabbed browsing
• Improved text wrap
• Page overview, zooming and panning
• Landscape mode
• Save Web page for future offline access
• Call phone number from Web page
• Send link as SMS/MMS
• Send image as SMS/MMS
• Small Screen Rendering™
• Password manager
• Web address input auto-completion
• History and bookmarks
• Copy text
• Opera Widgets

Excerpts from the press release:

Faster speed

The new version utilizes Opera's Presto rendering engine to achieve page load speeds comparable to a desktop experience. The Opera Presto engine was modified and improves browsing performance significantly by accelerating the handling of Web pages. It dramatically improves page responsiveness on pages with heavy use of languages such as JavaScript and AJAX, ensuring smooth, hassle-free browsing.

Compelling experience

Opera Mobile 9.5 includes numerous features aimed at elevating the mobile browsing experience. Not only is the user interface (UI) intuitive enough to master in minutes, Opera Mobile 9.5 introduces several new innovations that elevate the Internet experience on a handheld device. Users can take advantage of the intuitive Opera Zoom™ to dive into the page and get closer to the content they want. In addition, productivity tools like the ability to save pages for offline browsing, Web address auto complete and password manager help busy users make the most of their time.

Fully loaded

Web 2.0-enabled, Widget-ready and Flash support turn Opera Mobile 9.5 into a fully loaded browser allowing users to access all their favorite Web sites such as Facebook, MySpace and more. With Opera Mobile 9.5, OEMs and operators will have the capability to include Flash Lite 3, empowering their smartphone users with access to the full Web including the ability to watch videos on YouTube effortlessly. In addition, Opera Widgets, which are mini applications that allow content to be accessed easily from the device idle screen with just a few clicks, are included in the new edition — automatically engaging the user through ease of operation and meeting consumer demands for quick access to information.

New revenue sources, bigger brand

Opera Mobile 9.5's ability to serve Web content directly on the idle screen gets mobile OEMs or operators closer to users. By greatly reducing the number of clicks required to get to content, there is a real potential for operators to increase data revenue and user loyalty. In addition, access to the idle screen allows operators to place their brand strategically to interact dynamically with users. Opera Mobile 9.5 is everything that handset makers and operators have been trying to achieve for years.