Opera launched new versions of its mobile web browsers for pretty much every mobile operating system imaginable today… except Android. And that’s only because the Android apps received the same update a few weeks ago.

But if you’re using iOS, BlackBerry, S60, or J2ME you can grab Opera Mini 6.5 for your device. Opera Mobile 11.5 is also available for S60. And MeeGo users can check out a new Opera Mobile Labs 11.5 release for tablets and netbooks.

The key difference between Opera Mobile and Mini is that Opera Mini relies on remote servers to compress data before sending web pages and other content to your device, while Opera Mobile uses your device’s hardware to render web content (although you can turn on Opera Turbo mode to enable the same sort of compression).

The biggest change in the new versions is a tool that helps you visualize how much data you’ve used — and how much data you’ve saved by using Opera’s compression technology. Opera has also made it easier to bookmark a website quickly by tapping a star in the URL bar. Sure, that feature is pretty common in desktop web browsers, but you don’t see it on many mobile browsers yet.

Opera has rolled out new versions of its two web browsers for Google Android. Opera Mini 6.1 and Opera Mobile 11.1 are both available from the Android Market. The new browsers add a number of new features including support for Google voice search, Google AutoComplete, and “intelligent domain suggest.” All told, they make the process of entering a URL or search query a little faster. You can also now

The two browsers look nearly identical, but Opera Mini is designed to run on slower devices or for customers with limited data plans. That’s because Opera Mini uses remote servers to compress data before sending it to your device, while Opera Mobile uses your phone or tablet’s hardware to render web pages completely.

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The folks behind the Opera web browser have launched Opera Mini 6 for iOS. It’s the first version optimized for the Apple iPad, but it also supports iPhone and iPod touch models — and adds support for retina displays.

Other new features include the ability to open pages in the background, share content on Facebook, Twitter or “My Opera” and improved pinch-to-zoom and panning. There’s also better support for Arabic, Chinese, and Vietnamese fonts and a refreshed user interface.

Opera Mini 6 is available as a free download from the App Store.

Google has updated several of its mobile apps and web pages over the past few days. The Gmail web app now looks the same on newer BlackBerry phones as it does on Android and iOS devices. Google News now displays properly in the Opera Mini web browser. And Google Translate now supports more spoken languages.

Gmail for Blackberry

Google basically has two versions of its mobile Gmail site. One is built with HTML5 and functions almost like a native app, letting you check boxes and interact with on-screen menus without loading a fresh page. The other presents an ugly little list of links and looks like it was designed to run on the smartphones of 2002. Up until recently that ugly interface was the only option BlackBerry users had.

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Opera has released updated versions of its mobile browsers smartphones. Opera Mobile 11  is available for Android, Symbian, and MeeGo, while Opera Mini 6 supports BlackBerry as well.

So what’s new in Opera Mobile 11 and Mini 6… and why does the company offer two browsers? In a nutshell, Opera Mobile is a full-featured browser with its own rendering engine and support for JavaScript, HTMl5. Opera Mini looks a lot like Opera Mobile, but it’s designed for phones with slower processors or users with limited bandwidth. Opera Mini relies on remote servers to compress some data before sending it to your phone for speedier browsing on less powerful devices.

Opera 11 packs a whole slew of updates. The Android version of the app now supports Adobe Flash and has a new user interface for tablets with large displays. The browser also features improved text reflowing when you zoom in, faster panning and zooming, and faster JavaScript performance. The browser also now supports Archos tablets and the Motorola Atrix 4G smartphone.

Unfortunately every time I tried to view a page with Flash content, Opera Mobile 11 crashed on my Google Nexus One. The safest thing to do for now might be to keep the default setting of click-to-load Adobe Flash.

Opera Mini 6 adds support for pinch to zoom, improved panning and zooming, and a tablet-friendly user interface. You can also now open links in the background and share web pages. Opera says the startup time has also been shortened.

Both browsers also support key Opera features including a Speed Dial page with thumbnail icons for your favorite web sites, an excellent tab switching user interface, and support for Opera Link which lets you synchronize your data between the desktop and mobile versions of the Opera browser.

You can download Opera Mobile 11 and Opera Mini 6 from opera.com/mobile or by visiting m.opera.com with your phone’s browser.

Opera Mini and Opera Mobile are also available from the Android Market.

Opera is also officially dropping support for Windows Mobile with the latest release, which doesn’t come as a huge surprise… but it’s a bit disappointing for folks still using phones with Microsoft’s older operating system. The company may eventually offer Windows Phone 7 apps. Opera Mini 5.1 and Opera Mobile 10 are still available for Windows Mobile.

Opera has launched an updated version of Opera Mini for Windows Mobile. Opera Mini 5.1 features a number of updates, including:

• Page layout improvements on high resolution screens
• Set Opera Mini as the default web browser
• Support for screen rotation on HTC and Samsung devices using a G-sensor
• Better kinetic scrolling
• Improved text input support

There are also a number of bug fixes, but one of the things I’m kind of psyched about is the alternate installer. While Opera Mini 5.1 officially supports Windows Mobile 5 and up, there’s an alternate installer that will let you load the browser on Windows Mobile 2003 devices. Previously you had to use an unofficial installer file to get Opera Mini 5 up and running on older Windows Mobile devices.

Opera Mini 5.1 is available as a free download by visiting m.opera.com from your phone. You can also choose the best installer file for your device from the Opera Mini & Mobile download page.

You can check out a promotional video after the break.

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Opera has pushed out an updated version of the Opera Mini web browser for Google Android. Opera Mini 5.1 features stability improvements as well as a handful of improvements over Opera Mini 5 beta that you might actually notice, including:

• You can now set Opera Mobile as the default web browser.
• Full screen mode now actually uses the whole screen.
• The browser now has better page layout on Android handsets with large screens.
• There’s better kinetic scrolling action.
• There’s support for 96 languages.
• The browser will save your session if the app is automatically killed in the background, and will restore your session if you open the again app within 60 minutes.

Scan to download

Opera Mini’s main selling point is that it uses server-side compression to speed up page load times, especially over slow network connections. Basically when you enter a URL, a request is sent to Opera’s servers, and if they can speed things up by compressing some data before sending it to your phone, they’ll do that.

I also really like the way Opera Mini handles browser tabs by showing you thumbnails at the bottom of your screen when you press a button. The browser also supports pinch or double tap to zoom, storing bookmarks and passwords, and most of the other features you’d expect from a modern web browser.

On the other hand, there are a few limitations. Some web sites, such as Gmail don’t look as good in Opera Mini as in the default Android web browser. And there are only two zoom levels: in and out. You can’t keep zooming as you can with other mobile browsers.

Opera Mini 5.1 is available as a free download from the Android Market.

You can check out a demo video after the break.

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For the last 10 years, Microsoft has been shipping its mobile operating systems with mobile versions of Internet Explorer. But as mobile web browsers go, the Internet Explorer tends to be sluggish and up until recently, the browser was hard to navigate with your fingers, instead relying on stylus input.

But Internet Explorer isn’t the only game in town. There are a number of popular third party browsers available for Windows Mobile, and the folks at xda-developers have written up a rather detailed overview of 5 Windows Mobile web browsers (including Internet Explorer).

If you’re looking for a good comparison of Skyfire, Internet Explorer, Firefox Mobile, Opera Mobile and Mini, and Dorothy, you should definitely check out the xda-developers article to see how the browsers stack up against one another in terms of page rendering speeds, user interface, and other criteria.