Google has announced a new format for the HTML5 video war, called WebM and using the VP8 codec.

The new video format is royalty free and designed specifically for use on the web. The WebM project is sponsored by Google, Mozilla, Opera, AMD, Nvidia and Oracle amongst others and is aiming to become the standard way we view video on the web in years to come.

All major browser have announced support for the format, except for Apple.

“In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video as well as VP8 video when the user has installed a VP8 codec on Windows” commented Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch.

“Video will finally become a first-class citizen of the Web. This is a big deal, and the day will be remembered in the history of the Web” wrote Håkon Wium Lie, CTO, Opera Software. Opera also have preview builds of the browser available which support the WebM video format.

Mozilla was also quick to follow, with preview builds of Firefox that also include support for WebM. Chrome builds should follow in the coming week.

Apple has been very quiet on the matter, not stating whether it will support the format in it’s Safari browser, and whether this format could make an appearance on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches.

This is a great day for open web standards.

Opera Mobile 10 has made it to the Maemo platform, with Opera releasing the first preview releases for the Nokia N900 and N800/N810 devices.

The release marks the return of the Opera browser to the Maemo platform, which hasn’t been supported since Nokia included it’s own internal browser with devices back in 2008.

“The preview build contains the same features available in Opera Mobile 10 for Symbian and Windows Mobile smartphones. These include fast and economical browsing with Opera Turbo, bookmark and Speed Dial sync with other Opera products, and of course multiple tabs” wrote Opera’s Fredrik Öhrn.

A full list of features can be read in the Opera Mobile 10 features list, while a download can be found by browsing to this URL on your Maemo device.

More releases of the browser are expected during the coming months before we see a final release.

Opera has entered the Adobe Flash vs HTML5 debate, siding with Apple stating that “flash as a video container makes very little sense”.

Phillip Grønvold, Product Analyst at Opera gave an interview with TechRadar this week and shared his thoughts on the debate.

“Today’s internet content is dependant on Flash, if you remove Flash you do not have today’s internet. We are trying to give the best internet experience for our users therefore we need Flash – there is no way to beat around that bush.”

“But at Opera we say that the future of the web is open web standards and Flash is not an open web standards technology” continued Grønvold.

Grønvold believes that Adobe will need to change, and embrace HTML5 technologies or face more embracing war-of-words like we have seen between Adobe and Apple’s Steve Jobs.

For more details be sure to read the full interview at TechRadar.

Opera Mini Project Manager Marianne Spilling has posted an article on why iPhone users should ditch the phones included Safari browser and switch to Opera Mini.

Along with the usual list of reasons including faster browsing speeds, Spilling goes on benchmark the browser against Safari on several popular sites with the phone in 2G (EDGE), 3G, and WiFi modes.

The difference was huge, with one example Facebook taking 8.8 seconds to load in Opera Mini in 2G mode, compared to 68.2 seconds in Safari. The difference was far less in 3G and WiFi modes, but Opera Mini still came out on top on all occasions.

The faster speed of Opera Mini on iPhone is attributed to Opera’s Turbo  technology, which pushes all data through Opera’s servers and compresses it before sending the webpage to a browsers iPhone.

Full benchmarks can be seen in Spillings article, while Opera Mini for iPhone can be downloaded for free from Apple’s App store.

Less than 3 days after the release of Opera 10.52 for Windows and Mac, Opera has released Opera 10.53.

The update addresses a security issue discovered in Windows versions.

“The vulnerability is caused due to an error when continuously modifying document content on a web page e.g. using document.write(). This may result in a function call using uninitialised memory when a user visits a specially crafted web page” detailed Secunia Advisory SA39590.

The update also fixes a potential freeze bug when using Google Maps for both Windows and Mac versions.

Opera 10.53 will be pushed out to Windows and Mac users over the next day, while new users can downloaded the browser from the Opera website.

The “fastest browser on Earth” has just been updated, and for the first time, the 10.5x branch is now also available on Mac.

The update takes the browser to 10.52, and is mostly a stability fix for Windows, with many bug fixes. A full list of changes can be found in the changelog.

Opera 10.52 on Mac finally sees the arrival of the Carakan JavaScript engine, Vega graphics library, and Opera Presto 2.5 browser engine.

Early benchmark results also look promising, showing that Opera is on par with or better than Google Chrome 5 (beta) for Mac. Full benchmarks can be seen on the Choose Opera blog.

The Opera browser can be downloaded from the Opera website.

Opera has released an emulator of it’s Opera Mobile browser to developers.

The application emulates Opera Mobile 10, and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Opera Mobile emulator now gives developers a tool to test how their website will look in the mobile browser, which allows for quick and easier development of mobile web applications.

“Testing mobile browsers usually requires Web developers to buy one or more devices on which they then can investigate how their Web sites perform. The Opera Mobile emulator is designed to make the whole testing effort a bit easier: you install a small, native application on the platform of your choice, and load Web pages from the comfort of your desktop” wrote Opera’s Andreas Bovens.

The download is free, and available today from the Opera Developer Network.

In its first 24 hours since approved by Apple, Opera Mini for iPhone has been downloaded over one million times.

The number was so great that Opera Mini was the most downloaded application across all region app stores.

“Today iPhone users have a choice, and, as the numbers show, they are eager to explore new and faster ways to surf the Web on the iPhone – especially during heavy Web traffic,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software.

Opera Mini can be downloaded for free for the iPhone and iPod Touch from Apple’s iTunes App Store.

Opera have announced that Opera Mini is heading to the iPhone and iPod Touch today, after Apple approved the app for the devices.

This comes 20 days after Opera submitted the browser to Apple for approval.

“Opera Mini […] enables fast mobile Web browsing by compressing data by up to 90 percent before sending content to the device, resulting in significantly improved page loading. Users of the app will notice an uptake in speed, especially on slower networks such as the 2G Edge network. Surfing the Web with the Opera Mini App on iPhone and iPod touch will also help users save money because of its data compression capabilities” said a press release from Opera.

“We are delighted to offer iPhone and iPod touch users a great browsing experience with the Opera Mini App,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “This app is another step toward Opera’s goal of bringing the Web to more people in more places.”

The browser can be downloaded for free now from the iTunes App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch users.

Opera have released a press release stating that they now have over 100 million users.

This figure includes 50 million users on Windows, Mac and Linux, plus another 50 million users browsing the web with Opera Mini on their mobile devices.

100 million users comes after a staggering 30% jump in desktop users from the same time last year, mostly attributed to the release of Opera 10.x browsers.

“Our focus on speed, security, innovation and usability continues to yield results. We always listen to the needs and wants of our users, and they reward us by choosing Opera,” said Jon von Tetzchner, Co-founder, Opera Software.

Congratulations to Opera on the achievement, and new users can download Opera for their computer or mobile device from the Opera website.