One day, 2 new mobile browsers versions.

Opera announced it’s Opera Mini 4.2 beta, with new features such as skinning, notes taking system and better performance (added some US servers so not all traffic will be done through their Norway server).One of the noted features of this release is also the support in playing youtube videos. Basically, a support in m.youtube.com.

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Team announced Internet Explorer Mobile 6 at Tech-ED EMEA and released development tools and emulators.

What was interesting to see is the list of features listed by the Windows Mobile Team. With so many free mobile browsers out there, can you still count text warp - ho, sorry, - “Layout fixes to accommodate a mobile screen” as a feature? Weren’t we passed that?

Another issue if we’re at the subject. Flash support in mobile browsers. So much of the current web is based on flash, no browser should even dare announcing it ‘brings the desktop to the mobile’ without being able to support (at least) Flash 8. And this goes to everyone - Opera, iPhone, Google’s G1 browser, Nokia’s browser… All of them.

The tricks currently used in browsers are not really working. G1 for example: Having a special app pops up every time you encounter a video from youtube might work for a few people, but with so much video content out there (outside of youtube), this is not really the right direction. Not to talk on iPhone and other browsers who seems to close their “eyes” whenever there’s a flash content in a page. At least Google is trying…

All in all, the mobile browsers war is only beginning and it’s going to be even hotter.