It’s official. Well, at least as far as Smartphone and PocketPC Magazine is concerned. Opera Mobile has been named the “best mobile browser for both Windows-based Pocket PC and Smartphones at the 2007 Best Software Awards by Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine.”

We should note that the Opera Mobile browser was nominated to compete against its sister-browser, the Opera Mini browser, and the Thunderhawk browser in the Internet Browser and Web Utilities category. Opera Mobile took top honors in the competition over Opera Mini and Skweezer. “Fourteen independent Windows Mobile experts selected Opera Mobile as the winner in the all-important Internet Browser category in the 2007 Best Software Awards. Congratulations to the Opera Mobile team,” says Hal Goldstein, Executive Editor, Awards Administrator, Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine.

The results highlighted Opera Mobile’s Flash support, page-rendering capabilities, tabbed browsing, and dual-viewing modes as helping secure Opera Mobile’s position as the “best” - and we tend to agree. As much as we love Opera Mini, and we do love it, Opera Mobile is the more powerful browser. If you’re handset can handle it, and you don’t mind paying for it, Opera Mobile is the way to go.