-
Get Wap Review on your phone. TXT getwap to 95495
U.S. Only. This service is free from Wap Review. Carrier charges may apply.
WapReview.mobi - Save on Prepaid Refills
Get 10% Off AT&T Go Phone refills at CallingMart.com with Coupon Code: mom1310
Get 7% Off Net10, TracFone & Verizon refills (Net10 family plans excluded) at CallingMart.com with Coupon Code: mom137
Get 5% Off Pageplus, Simple Mobile, H2O, Cricket, Red Pocket and Airvoice refills at CallingMart.com with Coupon Code: mom135
3% off most other refills with Coupon Code: ca3p-1207.
Codes good NOW through Tue 6/04/13. All codes require a minimum purchase of $18.
Author Archives: Dennis Bournique
Opera Mini For Android Updated to Version 7.5.2
Opera Software has updated Opera Mini for Android. Opera calls the new release 7.5.2, although the version number on the browser's Help > About screen is 7.5.33286. The previous 7.5.1 version was 7.5.32193 internally.
According to a post by an Opera employee on the My Opera - Opera Mini Forum the changes in this release are:
- Improved font calculation method
- Improved fonts for hi-res devices
- Page layout improvements
- Various stabilization fixes
I upgraded to the new release on several devices. There definitely are some font changes. The font on many pages is noticeably smaller. The screenshots of the dabr.co.uk Twitter web app (above) and the My Opera Forum below show the difference. In both sets of images, the first one shows the old version and the second the new one. My old eyes prefer the previous version. I recommend you backup Opera Mini using an app like the free ES File Explorer before upgrading in case you don't like the changes.
Opera Mini 7.5.2 is available now in the Google Play store. Opera's forum post claims that it "...will be available on our servers later". I hope that's true, however Opera.com's download page hasn't offered direct downloads of any of Opera's mobile browsers since it was redesigned earlier this year.
For anyone without Google Play access, I've put a copies of the new Opera Mini 7.5.2 on the WapReview server for you to download: Opera Mini_7.5.2.apk (ver 7.5.33286).
And if you upgraded to 7.52 without heading my warning to backup the old version first, here's the previous version: Opera Mini_7.5.1.apk (ver 7.5.32193).
Other than having smaller fonts the new release seems good. It reportedly works better on tablets and may have even fixed the Black Screen of Death bug that afflicted the last couple of Opera Mini Android releases. That bug manifested itself when you restored Opera Mini to the foreground after it had been in the background for awhile. The screen would be completely back with no user interface at all. The only way to recover was to terminate Opera Mini with a task manager app or from the Android Manage Applications screen.
Slashdot's Mobile Webapp
New Site Added to the Wap Review Mobile Directory
Mobile Link: m.slashdot.org
Rating:Content 
Usability 
Doctype: HTML
Home Page Weight: 333 KB
Category: Tech News
Description:
Slashdot, the venerable (founded 1997) user powered tech and politics news site, which was recently acquired by Dice.com, has a new mobile webapp.
Slashdot stories, as well as polls, questions and book reviews, are submitted by users. Other users can vote stories up and down and leave and rate comments. Randomly selected user moderators label stories and comments as interesting, informative, off-topic, flamebait, etc. Stories are primarily assigned to the front page by Slashdot editors rather algorithmically.
The latest mobile version of Slashdot has Stories, Polls and Firehose tabs but no UI for accessing Slashdot's tags or categories. If you don't like the mobile webapp, there's a link to the desktop version in the mobile page footer.
Slashdot Mobile is optimized for iOS and Android browsers. It also works well in the Firefox and Opera Mobile browser but not in Opera Mini, where only a blank page is displayed. There's a legacy text-only mobile version at slashdot.org/palm/ that works in all browsers.
Screenshots:
The Wrap's Adaptive Mobile Design Works With All Mobile Browsers
New Site Added to the Wap Review Mobile Directory
Mobile Link: mobile.thewrap.com
Rating:Content Usability
Doctype: XHTML-MP
Home Page Weight: 29-288 KB
Category: Movies
Description:
Since its launch in 2009, The Wrap has quickly grown to become one of the most respected and popular sites covering Hollywood and the movie business. The Wrap was founded by author and former New York Times Hollywood correspondent, Sharon Waxman who currently serves as the site's CEO and Editor in Chief
The Wrap's mobile version is an adaptive site that uses different layouts for various classes of devices. Their are at least three versions (images below) ranging with page sizes ranging from 29 KB for the lightest version to 288 KB for the richest.
Screenshots:
New Site Added to the Wap Review Mobile Directory: SFist's Responsive Magazine Style Design
New Site Added to the Wap Review Mobile Directory
Mobile Link: sfist.com
Rating:Content Usability
Doctype: HTML Transitional
Home Page Weight: 4437 KB
Category: City and Campus Guides
Description:
Part of the Gothamist network of city blogs, SFist covers local news, food, art, entertainment and events for San Franciscans.
Like the other Gothamist sites, SFist has a magazine style front page that uses responsive design techniques to adapt on the fly to all screen sizes from mobile (left image) to PC (right image). It's one of the few responsive magazine style designs I've seen and it works well and looks good on the desktop and in the Android browser and Opera Mini. However page loading is a bit sluggish with the Android browser thanks to the 4.3 MB page weight. I'm also not a fan of the 300 x 250 px desktop banner add that dominates the page above the fold on mobile devices.
Screenshots:
