Opera Mini 3: nearly impossible to install

After 11 hours of troubleshooting its installation on five different devices, the Opera Mini 3 mobile browser was ready for review. See how it did.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations

Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).

See full bio

Jessica Dolcourt

Dec. 6, 2006 10:26 a.m. PT

Opera Software has released the next generation of its mini mobile browser, Opera Mini 3. I gamely attempted to review the free release, interested to see if the new and improved features boasting faster speeds, secure Web page support (for safely accessing eBay and e-mail), and RSS capabilities satisfied the hype. I was also keen to check out content folding, a unique feature that reformats Web pages by heading, using an expandable tree form (more in the full review). Sounds great, right?

I dove in, originally intending to compare Opera Mini 3's performance on a variety of devices. Yet after 11 hours of tweaking, troubleshooting, forum-reading, and rabbit-foot rubbing, I was only able to launch the program on one device: the Palm Treo 700 with a Sprint carrier. And oh, how I worked to arrive at this moment. Opera Mini 3 was locked, loaded, and ready to be taken for a nice, long spin.

Read the full review to see how it stacked up against Opera Mini 2 and Palm's native Web browser. You might be surprised.

Services and Software Guides

VPN

Cybersecurity

Streaming Services

Web Hosting & Websites

Other Services & Software

Services and Software Coupons