Speed Dial Beta released for Opera Web Browser

Opera unveiled the beta release of Speed Dial, a new feature that lets people transform their top sites into nine visual bookmarks that are immediately available in any new tab. Speed Dial is a new feature in the forthcoming Opera 9.2, available in beta as a free download. Speed Dial came about from careful consideration of individual browsing preferences.

"Speed Dial is based on the idea that people generally have five to 10 sites they browse regularly throughout the day," said Johan Borg, team manager for Opera's desktop browser. "Speed Dial is made for almost instant access to those sites. We want developers and the curious-minded to discover Speed Dial. When they do, we hope they'll help us with another rigorous round of testing before the final release."

With each blank tab, Speed Dial presents a thumbnail preview of the top nine sites as selected by the user. In addition to fast access through the Speed Dial, users can also enter the number corresponding with each bookmarked Speed Dial page in Opera's address field to access the page.

For more on Opera--and to get Opera Mini on your phone--visit Opera's Web site. [Bill Fox]