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Better Video Coming To Mobile Phones

Opera sang about some new technology today that it is working on with technology partners to improve video seen on mobile phones. Not TV or movie content, but better video that is embedded in Web sites, such as YouTube. What's interesting is that the technology has nothing to do with wireless networks.

Browsing dynamic Internet sites poses significant multimedia performance challenges on handheld devices. This means browsing on your Window Mobile device or iPhone still doesn't live up to the desktop experience. But it is getting better, even if slowly.

The three companies, Opera, Freescale Semiconductor and NEC, are working on a device-side hardware and software solution to improve the experience of viewing video content embedded in Web sites. Opera is running its latest browser on a mobile processor from Freescale and has been integrated with an Adobe Flash Lite 3 plug-in. The result, says Opera, will mean mobile device users can watch their favorite embedded content from their handheld. (Though this probably includes advertisements that you'd rather avoid.)

Opera does not say whether 3G networks are required or what wireless data speeds are necessary to achieve these results.

Either way, any improvement in the usability and enjoyment of the mobile Web is welcome.

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