Opera Mini browser available for Google Android

The latest version of the popular mobile browser Opera Mini is now available for the T-Mobile G1, the first phone built on Google’s Android operating system. The Android availability is part of the improvements in Opera Mini 4.2, which leaves testing mode tomorrow.

Opera Mini is the first alternative G1 users have to the phone’s built-in browser, which is based on WebKit. Matthew Miller of ZDNet spotted Mini in the Android Market this morning, and reports that it provides “very fast” internet access, and has the added benefit of synchronizing Opera bookmarks across multiple devices. It’s also just nice to have multiple browsers to choose from, similar to the freedom of choice you have on your desktop or laptop computer. If Opera Mini takes off among Android users, that would be a rebuke to Apple, which rejected the browser as a competitor to Safari on the iPhone. (I asked Opera if there are any plans to bring its higher-end Opera Mobile browser to the Android, but the company isn’t commenting.)

The latest version of Mini has been in public testing for about two weeks, and other new features include the ability to customize the browser with new skins, additional languages (including Armenian, Bengali and Urdu), improved video, and note syncing via Opera Link. When 4.2 was announced, the update didn’t seem terribly exciting, but the just-revealed Android support changes things.

With more than 20 million users worldwide, Opera says Mini it’s the world’s most popular mobile web browser.

Resource - VentureBeat

Opera Mini Not Rejected? [Updated]

In a profile this past week of Opera Software, the New York Times had indicated that Opera's Mini Browser had been rejected from the App Store based on anti-competitive grounds. Apple has rejected other applications claiming the submitted application's feature set mirrors one of Apple's too closely; a practice which has drawn heavy criticism.

This particular case, however, may not be entirely accurate according to further research by John Gruber.

My understanding, based on information from informed sources who do not wish to be identified because they were not authorized by their employers, is that Opera has developed an iPhone version of Opera Mini - but they haven't even submitted it to Apple, let alone had it be rejected.

Gruber had previously believed that the browser had been rejected due to a built-in JavaScript interpreter, however he clarifies that this was incorrect. In fact, Opera Mini does not contain such interpretive code. As explained by Gruber:

In a nut, it works like this: You request a URL in Opera Mini. Opera Mini makes the request to a proxy server run by Opera. Opera's proxy server connects to the web server hosting the requested URL, and renders the page into an image. This image is then transmitted (in a proprietary format called OBML - Opera Binary Markup Language) to the Opera Mini client. Opera Mini displays the rendered image on screen. This may sound convoluted, but apparently the result is very effective - it’s faster to transmit, because only OBML (a compressed binary format) is transmitted to the mobile device over the phone network, and far faster to render on slow mobile processors.

However the current version of Opera's Mini browser for other platforms is coded using Java (and BREW) which is not supported on the iPhone and is against the terms of the SDK. In order for Opera Mini to be made officially available, the program would have to be ported to C/Objective-C.

Update: Upon further investigation, the differences between the New York Times and John Gruber's accountings may be based in semantics rather than substance.

An Opera employee blog seems to indicate that Apple is indeed using anti-competitive reasoning for keeping the Opera Mini browser off the iPhone. However, neither the employee's blog entry nor the New York Times article indicate that the browser was officially submitted to the App Store and rejected, the point to which Gruber took issue. It remains possible that Apple and Opera have been communicating via channels outside of the App Store submission process.
Resource - Mac Rumors

Apple says "no" to iPhone Opera Browser

By Erica Sadun | Published: October 31, 2008 - 11:55AM CT

 
The Opera Browser running on
what is patently not an iPhone

Although in numbers it lags behind Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari, the Opera web browser is known for having a devoted fanbase. Opera has made inroads into gaming consoles and mobile platforms including the Wii, Nintendo DS, and approximately 40 million cell phones. So, you'd imagine that Opera would be a perfect match to the iPhone.

Unfortunately, Apple thinks otherwise. A New York Timesstory from this week says that an iPhone version of Opera failed to make it past Apple's gatekeeper, "[Founder Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner] said that Opera's engineers have developed a version of Opera Mini that can run on an Apple iPhone, but Apple won't let the company release it because it competes with Apple’s own Safari browser," theTimes wrote. 

Opera is known for being fast and secure, as well as accessible to a wide range of users. The mobile version of Opera can dynamically reformat web pages to better fit handheld displays using the company's small screen rendering technology. And, even though Opera representatives state that this rejection was due to duplicated functionality, Opera would have had a tough time getting through a different gate: Apple will not allow programs to interpret code. Opera, being a full-featured browser, interprets JavaScript downloaded from the Internet, an absolute App Store no-no.

This isn't the first time that Apple has rejected software for duplicating core functionality. In September, Apple said no to MailWrangler, a program that simplified accessing multiple Gmail accounts. Around the same time, the company also declined to host Al Sokirynsky's Podcaster app, which allowed users to download podcasts and play them on the iPhone. Because of this, we don't find Opera's rejection particularly surprising, although it is a bit disappointing. Mobile Safari is a great mobile platform, but it would have been nice to have an iPhone version of Opera to play around with. 

Resource -ArsTechnica

Opera to finally get some design love from the Mac side

Admittedly, there aren't a lot of people who love Opera for the Mac. I have always been a closet fan (in fact, I have it installed on all of my Macs), although I don't use it every day. More often than not, Mac fans criticize the browser for its odd UI quirks—particularly on the Mac. That could be changing, however, as Opera is about to get some much-needed attention in the realm of design.

Opera has decided to bring on designer Jon Hicks to help give the browser a little bit of a makeover. Starting at the end of October, Hicks will be filling the role of senior designer at Opera, where he will work on Opera's desktop browser, as well as Widgets and Mobile/Mini browsers. He wrote on his blog this morning that he hopes to be able to implement some ideas he has for the logo and branding as well. For those of you unfamiliar with Hicks' previous work, he is responsible for the logos and branding for Firefox and Thunderbird.

"Opera has been a browser vendor who's [sic] ideals and feature list I've applauded, but whose Mac interface design I've been, well, critical of to be honest," Hicks wrote on his blog. "Now I've got a chance to 'put my money where my mouth is.'" We're all rooting for you, Jon. Maybe you can help Opera enter the new millennium and actually compete with the likes of Safari, Firefox, and IE.

Resource - Ars Technica