VentureBeat

Opera has millions of mobile users, and along with many other mobile browsing efforts, is helping to open up the mobile market to traditionally web-focused companies.

The upgraded browser, not yet unreleased, includes a new way to pan across pages or zoom in on a part of a page that you like, somewhat similar to the iPhone. It also claims to load pages 2.5 times faster than rival Microsoft’s mobile Internet Explorer browser. Specifically, Opera says it is now much better able to process pages that add extra interactive features to pages using Javascript and AJAX code.

Called Mobile 9.5, the browser will be available for smartphones phones based on Windows Mobile, Linux and the UIQ platform.

Opera also offers a simpler mobile browser, called Opera Mini, that works with any phone.

Opera’s mobile efforts are also in competition with Apple’s own Safari browser designed specifically for the iPhone (which Opera doesn’t work on) as well as the newly-launched Skyfire browser (our coverage), among others.

Oslo, Norway-based Opera has come pre-installed on more than 100 million phones around the world, through deals with major operators such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and others. Mini has also been downloaded by more than 26 million total users, who view more than one billion web pages per month (more here). Even though users don’t typically bother to download mobile applications on their own, the promise of a better mobile web experience has been enough to give Opera momentum.