Opera Software this week released the beta of Opera Mini 5, its Java-based web browser for cell phones and smartphones. Nearly 30 million people use Opera Mini to browse more than 12 billion Web pages each month, according to the developer.

Here's a list of new features and enhancements:

 A new, intuitive and advanced look and feel.

 Tabbed browsing - Tabs allow users to browser several sites simultaneously. This helps users easily jump from one page to another with the click of a tab.

  Touchscreen or keypad browsing.

  Password manager - Securely saves all passwords for e-mail, social-networking sites, online banking and more.

 Speed Dial - This is Opera's take on a table of contents for the Web. The feature greets you with your pre-selected Internet favorites upon loading the browser.

Direct your phone's existing Web browser to http://m.opera.com/next to download the beta for free. See demo video below.

With Opera Mini, pages appear as they would on a desktop. And, like with the iPhone, you can zoom into sections of the page you want to read or see more closely. Opera's Small Screen Rendering feature promises to eliminate horizontal scrolling.

This is all achieved through Opera's client-server technology: Opera's servers process Web pages requested by the client browser on a phone so they're optimized for better performance and viewing.