It’s been a slow reluctant process, but I have recently joined the online mobile movement. Just weeks ago, I was discussing the merits of mobile browsing with our mobile guru at work and mentioned how I never browse the internet using a mobile phone as I consider it useless and frustrating.

Two things have recently changed that. I have recently acquired a Nokia N73, a beautiful phone that makes browsing a bit more reasonable. The large colour screen, a small joystick and some other minor UI improvements over my old phones have made using the phone a whole lot easier.

The real tipping point however was the download of the new Opera Mini 4 beta. I love this browser and am finally accepting that the mobile phone browsing experience does not have to be a complete disaster.

First impressions were pretty positive. The browser seems faster than the native Nokia browser and the amount of shortcuts and small enhancements are a real winner.

What really excited me was with their treatment of the websites that do not define a handheld media stylesheet. You have the choice of two options and both are fairly decent alternatives to browse a website depending on your specific preference.

I won’t repeat this information again, as it’s been officially covered by Opera and Roger Johansson has performed a test drive as well over at 456 Berea St.

I decided to hack up a quick handheld CSS (hack being the key word here at the moment) for Standardzilla after reading Roger’s article and accepting the online mobile into my life :-P

If you aren’t sitting around obsessing over the pricey, yet uber-cool iPhone (or you live in Australia like me), I would recommend Opera Mini 4 beta as a great alternative.