Apple has begun approving 3rd party web browsers for the iPhone and iPod touch. The move comes after speculation that Apple was denying apps that competed with it’s own.

It is hoped that this move could allow Opera Mobile to make finally make debut on the iPhone. Current web browser apps include Edge Browser, Incognito, Shaking Web and WebMate: Tabbed Browser.

There are fears Apple’s restrictive SDK may still hold back a fully featured version of Opera Mobile.

With the recent relaxation of approval rules, there are still hopes yet for a good range of web browsers on Apple mobile devices. The future is starting to look a little brighter.

Fennec Acid3 Results

Mozilla has been working hard on it’s mobile version of Firefox dubbed Fennec. Building on top of Firefox 3’s reduced memory footprint, Mozilla is aiming to bring the desktop browsing experience to your mobile.

With the hastened development, the latest version of Fennec scores a very impressive 88/100 in the Acid3 test on Windows Mobile. In comparison Firefox 3 only scores 71/100, while Opera 9.6 scores 85/100.

Once released, Fennec is sure to set the mobile browser market on fire, giving stiff competition to already established browsers such as Opera Mobile. It’s sure to be an interesting year ahead for the mobile browser market.