Independent browser vendor Opera Software today released a beta of the new Opera Mobile 9.5, the first version generally available for download.

Opera Mobile 9.5 follows the trend of mobile browsers trying to recreate the desktop browsing experience via zoom, pan and scan features. The best example of this is the iPhone's Safari browser, but other mobile browsers including SkyFire, the upcoming Firefox Mobile and Opera's own Safari mini (which runs only on Java-equipped devices and relies on a server proxy) also take the same route.

Opera Mobile 9.5 (available at www.opera.com/products/mobile) runs only on Windows Mobile phones for now. The browser first was previewed at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year.

In addition to the pan and zoom abilities, Opera Mobile 9.5 has a new and cleaner user interface (for instance, the nav bar only appears when needed, increasing screen real estate); improved standards support; the ability to save and send pages or images on the phone; full support for tabbed browsing; and a new version of Opera Dragonfly, Opera's developer tools.

The beta browser still needs work in some areas. For instance, promised Flash support isn't available yet in the beta version, though Opera said it will come in future versions.