Opera Turbo speeds up browsing over slow Web connections

Browser maker Opera Software has released a test version of software called Opera Turbo, designed to use compression and the company's own servers to speed browsing over slow Internet connections.

Opera Turbo runs on a user's PC, fetching data not just from the original Web site but also from an Opera server that compresses that site's text and images on the fly, Opera's Roberto Mateu said in a blog post on Friday.

That's useful when grappling with overtaxed wireless networks, slower broadband wireless cards, or Net connections through a mobile phone, the Norwegian company said.

The compression can shrink the data by up to 80 per cent, according to the explanation given in the Opera video, in part because it modifies image files.

"Web sites' layout and text will look exactly the same, but image resolution may appear considerably lower, as a result of the compression," Mateu said in the post.

More elaborate Web sites that use advanced JavaScript techniques and Adobe's Flash technology, however, might require manual intervention to work via Opera Turbo. "Dynamic Web technologies such as Ajax and Flash are supported, but some plug-in content will load only after clicking on the empty element," he said. Encrypted sites aren't accelerated or sent through the Opera servers.

The Turbo software is available from the Opera Labs download site but will be included in "future desktop versions" of Opera, Mateu said.