Opera Unveils New 'Ice' WebKit-Based Browser for iOS and Android

Posted January 19, 2013 at 5:49am by iClarified | Please help us and submit a translation by clicking here | 8340 views

Opera has unveiled a new WebKit-based browser called 'Ice' for iOS and Android devices, reports Pocket-lint. The browser is set to launch in February and aims to hide technology as much as possible using gestures instead of buttons.

"This is a full touch and tablet-focused browser," says the product manager in the video. "Most are taking a PC browser and squishing [it] into a tablet, or they are taking a mobile browser and blowing it up to fill the space."

In the meeting, the creator of the browser showed off a beta version of the software. Tabs will be replaced with icons on a homepage, while new pages are accessed via search or typing in a URL. If users want to bookmark a page they can tap a part of the screen and then place an icon for that page on the opening screen. Nefarious sites will come up with a warning sign, blocking you from accessing them.

"We need to go into a new phase, we need to lift our games on certain areas to ensure we continue to grow," said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera.

Take a look at the video below for a glimpse at the new browser...

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Comments (6)

Timmy O-Toole - January 21, 2013 at 1:37am

i wish Netscape Navigator was released for iOS. Netscape was the shit back in the 90's.

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Steve Cock - January 20, 2013 at 3:36am

I can dig it.

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DarkKent - January 19, 2013 at 6:57pm

All this mobile shit sucks...To me it was perfect when that first iPhone came out and u surfed the web in natural pages because all them stupid ass dumbed down mobile versions of sites werent created yet. Everything was perfect accept for flash... all mobile versions of the web and browsers suck ass... Gimme my full web back while im on the move.

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transeunt - January 19, 2013 at 1:59pm

The 'drag back' gesture is nice, like Safari on Mountain Lion; in one sense that'd be nice in Safari iPad, perhaps as a 3-finger swipe. At least it would avoid

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transeunt - January 19, 2013 at 2:02pm

…conflicting with dragging the page content (2-finger used to scroll in-page scrollable areas.) Unfortunately that wouldn't be the most efficient gesture when holding the iPad in both hands. This app looks like a decent attempt at a different UI for a browser. Presumably they'll add synching with Opera desktop, like Safari & Chrome.

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Steve Jobs - January 19, 2013 at 7:35am

Painfully shite video nothing new there!!!

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