Opera has unveiled its first ever concept browser, named Opera Neon, with a new type of interface that allows users to interact more with the content. Features include video pop-outs and a smart tabbing system. Opera Neon said that the concept browser means this is a vision for the future of browsers. It will not replace the current Opera browser although some new features will be added in the spring.
Opera Neon, built from the same browser engine as the Opera browser, provides users with fun ways to interact with web content, including the ability to drag and push things around, and to pop content out from the web. A split screen mode will allow for two pages to be used at the same time.
The user interface includes a new start page with the users current desktop background image; a left sidebar with video player, image gallery, and download manager; a new visual tab bar on the right side that makes it easier to distinguish between tabs; and an intelligent system that automatically manages tabs. Also, Opera explained that like gravity, frequently-used tabs will float to the top, while rarely-used tabs will sink to the bottom. There is also a new omnibox, supporting top search engines and open search.
To better enjoy the web content, video pop-outs will let users watch videos while browsing other web pages, while a snap-to-gallery will allow users to snapshot and crop any part of a web page and save to the gallery for later use.
“Web browsers of today are basically from the last millennium, a time when the web was full of documents and pages,” says Krystian Kolondra, head of Opera browser. “With the Opera Neon project, we want to show people our vision for the future of the web.”
Opera Neon is available for testing as a free download for Windows and Mac.
