For some time it seems that Opera Mini is pretty unique being a Java based mobile web browser that can pretty much run on any Java enabled phone. However recently KinanCarlos started a discussion on TeaShark, which follows a similar concept as Opera Mini and packs a lot of features as well.

Although still in an alpha stage TeaShark seems to be shaping up to compete with the cutting edge Opera Mini 4, which by itself is still in beta. Like Opera Mini, TeaShark runs on Java and offers a full web experience, but it hasn't been tested much yet and currently only officially runs on Nokia and Motorola. However it is possible to download the Jar file and try it on your phone if it supports MIDP 2.0 (check your mobile phone's product information).

TeaShark sports a lot of features, of which also a video is available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. TeaShark, at this early alpha stage, already supports a large amount of web pages as it uses the WebKit rendering core for parsing web sites before sending it to the client. Like Opera Mini 4 it supports a bird's eye zooming, easy navigation between links, efficient graphics rendering to reduce bandwidth, landscape mode, and much more. The most exciting features are those not found in Opera Mini, such as an ad blocker (something that's very useful on limited bandwidth), synchronized bookmarks with your PC, inline text search, and smart address entries.

Although TeaShark is still in an early stage and details are missing on how they'll make money out of this, it does look promising. Remember when you want to try it out that it's still alpha and not tested on many phones. Also read the privacy agreement as, just like with Opera Mini, you'll be sending private data over a secure line to a TeaShark before you reach your end destination.

According to their blog they already reached 50,000 in a few days of their release, so it's quite interesting to take a look at.