Opera 9.7 coming, will have Flash, Ajax support

Our love-hate relationship with Internet Explorer may again become a bit of a moot point as Opera Mobile has announced some details of the next version of its browser.

CNet reports that Opera Mobile 9.7 will support Flash and Ajax. CNet also says Opera Turbo, which squeezes data through slower connections, will make its mobile debut, and that 9.7 scores a perfect 100 on the Acid 3 rendering test. Google Gears and Open GL ES for graphics also will be on board, as will widgets.

Drool.

Opera Mobile 9.7 is intended for release by carriers and phone manufacturers, CNet says, but a consumer release is hinted at.

Alls we know is this: Between IE6, Skyfire, Firefox and now Opera 9.7, it's starting to look like the browser wars are back with a vengence.

Update: Opera's posted a video of 9.7 in action. Peep it after the break.

Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!