Opera Software's 1.3MB browser now supports XHTML (WAP2/Mobile Profile) and cHTML (i-Mode) standards.

In May, Symbian selected Opera as the default browser in the reference design for smartphones. As a result, Opera was included as default Web browser in the new Nokia 9210i Communicator launched at CeBIT in March, and in the Nokia 9290 Communicator launched last week (see article).

Lars Boilesen, VP Embedded Products Opera, said "Opera can support all their Web browsing needs, be it HTML, c-HTML or XHTML surfing, while keeping the browser itself down to less than 1.3 MB. As a result, smartphones can now offer up to a full Internet experience rendered beautifully on even small screens."

The company said apart from Opera's support for open standards, Opera's modular architecture allows for custom configurations, letting the modules act as 'components' within other applications. An example of this use of a customized modular Opera component is within the mail application on the new Nokia 9210i Communicator, where HTML e-mail and attachments are displayed using Opera's browser technologies.