Founded by Jon von Tetzchner (previously the co-founder of Opera), Vivaldi is a powerful and customizable browser that’s slowly finding a footing in mindshare as well as number of users.
With the latest update v1.5, Vivaldi becomes the world’s first web browser that controls lights. Of course, there are also various enhancements such as drag tabs and tab stacks between windows, reader mode button, delta updates, and improved note taking abilities.
The ability to control lights is the company’s first step into the world of IoT, and going beyond the browser. This integration with Hue color lights from Philips allows the browser to synchronize your physical surroundings with the color of the web.
“This is just a first step for us but imagine a world where you get notified for a new email or web notification through a light bulb. Vivaldi is all about customisation and flexibility. Integrating with IoT devices like Philips Hue makes it possible for Vivaldi to adapt to you and your everyday life.”
– Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Vivaldi Technologies
The latest update adds the capability to drag tab stacks and tab selections, making it even faster to move tabs between windows. Tab Stacking lets you create ‘folders’ of tabs, and all you need to do is just drag one tab on top of another and you’ve got yourself a tab stack.
There’s also a new reader mode button on the address bar allowing you to remove the clutter for better readability. Also, Vivaldi now offers delta updates for Windows versions as of now, which means only the changes from release to release are downloaded, rather than the entire binary. This results in a smaller download, which is great for users with slow connections.
Vivaldi offers a useful feature of taking notes alongside the web pages, and with the latest version, if you add a note from selected text on a web page, the note will automatically include a screenshot of the page. This is on by default and can be turned off in the settings.
Vivaldi aims to bring ‘out of the box’ ideas that make your browsing experience more ‘creative and pleasurable’, and continuously works on features that their users request. Download Vivaldi for Windows (also available for Mac and Linux) from here, and let us know how you like it.
