Opera Mobile 9.5 adds Widgets, runs on UIQ phones too

Opera are again in the spotlights with the announcement of the second beta version of their Opera Mobile 9.5 with Widgets support for WinMo based devices, enabling one-click Web content access. Most importantly, they also release the first-ever beta for UIQ-based phones.

The widgets support means that customer-selected Web content can be accessed from a list of icons on the home-screen. Several widgets are preinstalled in the beta version of the application and more of them are also available at the opera site.

In addition to Opera Widgets, this new test version promises to be a smoother ride than the previous one, as the page loading time is improved, according to the official press release.

Along with the beta version of the software, Opera is launching the updated SDK with a developer competition called the "X Widget Challenge". Opera is offering $10,000 in cash prizes for the best cross-device widget submissions. Find more about the competition at the official website.

The other novelty in this beta of Opera 9.5 is the Symbian UIQ support. For now the UIQ-based devices that can benefit from the new Opera Mobile 9.5 browser are Sony Ericsson G900, G700, W960 and P1. Motorola Z10 can also opt for the cool browser although it's not a touch device.

If you are ready to test ride the new beta version of Opera Mobile 9.5 with Widgets, you can download it from here. The Opera Widgets SDK can be found here.