Opera Mobile 10 S60 Updated – Inline Editing Gets T9 and Symbol Modes

OPera Mobile 10 In-line Edit T9 Mode Opera Mobile 10 - Full-Screen Edit

(Above) Editing Options in Opera Mobile Beta 2

There’s  a new version of  Opera Mobile 10 available for S60 3rd and 5th edition phones.  This release, dubbed “Opera 10 Beta 2 Update” adds full native editing and entry modes to in-line editing in web pages and the Opera Mobile GUI.

Previous Opera Mobile 10 releases had two edit modes; “in-line” (image, top left) where you could enter text directly into fields on the screen but were limited to using triple tap and “full-screen” which opened a separate native input mode text box at the bottom of the screen (image, top right).  The new release has completely done away with full-screen mode,  All data entry is in-line now and in-line mode includes almost the full functionality of the native S60 editor.

On my N95 this means that while entering text in any edit field I can:

  • Toggle  between upper and lowercase and turn T9 on and off  by tapping  the “#’ key.
  • Invoke numeric mode with a long press on the “#” key.
  • Press the “pencil” key for symbol mode and to switch input language (image below, left).
  • Select text for copying by holding the pencil key down and pressing the right and left arrow keys (image below, right).

Opera Mobile 10 - Pencil Key Menu Opera Mobile 10 - In-line Edit, T9 Mode

(Above) Editing Options in Opera Mobile Beta 2 “Update”

According to a post by Opera’s Helene Lund Engebø on MyOpera announcing the release there are a few known issues:

  • Not all input modes have a visual indicator.
  • For some devices with non-latin input mode, you need to manually set the input language to English to input a web address in the address bar.
  • On touch devices, the enter key does not work as an action key. For cases where an action is required (e.g. when adding a bookmark folder), we recommend using the Opera keyboard (available from advanced settings).
  • Cut in context menu does not work on keypad devices.
  • Some issues when using predictive input in the url field.

To which I can add one that I discovered:

  • Marking text a line at a time using the up and down arrow keys while holding the pencil key no longer works in multi-line text areas.

I really miss the ability to select  text with the down key. I used that feature all the time to copy or delete large text blocks when editing Emails and forum posts and to remove session IDs, etc. from long URLs in the address bar. Marking large text blocks character by character using the right and left arrows is really slow and cumbersome.  I wish that Opera had kept the full screen edit option in place until the implementation of in-line editing was complete and issue free.

But it is a Beta and issues and omissions are to be expected. Adding full functionality to in-line editing makes the browser a lot more user friendly and marks a significant step toward the eventual full release of Opera Mobile 10.

I haven’t discovered any other changes in the update but I’m sure that there have been some bug fixes.  Both Betas of Opera Mobile 10 have been remarkably fast and stable on my N95-3.  But I know that users of other devices have not been so fortunate. Hopefully this release has fixed some of the problems I’ve been hearing about on the E71, 5800, N97 and Windows Mobile phones.

Download the Opera Mobile 10 Beta 2 Update from: www.opera.com/mobile/download (PC) or m.opera.com/next/ (mobile).

Related Posts:
New Opera Mobile and Mini Betas – New Features, Fixes and Reduced Memory Usage
Opera Mobile 10 Beta for Windows Phone Released
The Truth About Opera Mobile 10 Memory Usage

8 thoughts on “Opera Mobile 10 S60 Updated – Inline Editing Gets T9 and Symbol Modes

  1. Thank you Dennis . I am using the E90 . Copy/Paste = Ctrl C/Ctrl V . Ctrl V didn’t work . Thanks to the longpress D-Pad center no issue anymore to Paste . This Example is copied in Opera Mini 4.2 , as now the exiciting moment is coming to Paste in Opera Mobile 10 2u : http://wapreview.com?p=5914 .
    Hey ! It works !

    Happy 2010 & Regards jApi NL

  2. jApi NL, I don’t know what device you are using but on my N95, a long press on the “OK” key in a text field brings up a context menu with the “Paste” option. On touch devices I’d expect a long press in a field on the screen would do the same.

    Long press is Opera Mobile’s equivalent of a right-click and is used all over the app.

  3. Agree with James Howell . I copied a prepared text from Notes . But there is no Paste function ….
    BTW Happy 2010 !

    :) Regards jApi NL

  4. I really don’t like the way that they have changed the text entry. With the old full-screen option I had all the benefits of the native text input (copy, paste, shortcuts, and spell check or predictive). With the new input method I can’t even input the lower case letter “I” as it auto-captitalises incorrectly!

    Opera Mobile 10 Beta 2u on a Nokia E71.

    Does anybody know where you can submit comments/bugs/suggestions on the beta? There are no references within the software or the website that I can find after much searching.

  5. Pingback: Opera Mobile 10 Update Tweaks RAM Usage | Symbian-Guru.com

Comments are closed.