Skip to main content

Speedy Opera Mini Coming to iPhone Soon

opera-mini-iphone
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Opera Software ASA announced Wednesday that it will unveil an iPhone version of its Opera Mini mobile phone browser at an international tech conference next week despite not having approached iPhone maker Apple about the move.

The Norwegian firm has not set a release date for its iPhone browser and has not yet sought approval to distribute the browser from Apple’s iPhone applications store, Opera spokeswoman Katrin Jaakson said.

But Jaakson said Opera “does not see any reason why it wouldn’t be accepted. We obviously hope that Apple will not deny their users a choice when it comes to what browser they use.”

The iPhone’s default browser is the Apple-developed Safari.

Following the announcement, Opera shares rose 2.5 percent, to 20.40 kroner ($3.46), in midday trading in Oslo.

Currently, Opera offers its Mini browser for free. The browser has become known for its ability to compress full Web sites for mobile use, allowing quicker Internet access than regular browser and lower user costs because it requires less bandwidth.

“Opera’s mission is to bring the Web to the world, and by making Opera Mini available on yet another platform, we are one step closer,” Opera co-founder Jon von Tetzchner said.

Opera will present its iPhone browser at the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, which will run from Feb. 15-18.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, the Opera desktop browser was a strong alternative to Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer and Time Warner Inc.’s Netscape. But its popularity has diminished with the rise of Netscape’s successor, Mozilla’s Firefox.

Based in Oslo, Opera employs 760 people in 10 countries.

Editors' Recommendations

Dena Cassella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Haole built. O'ahu grown
Have an iPhone that won’t turn off? Here’s how to fix it
person holding an iphne 15 pro max.

When you try to turn off your iPhone 15 or any other model, you may encounter a situation where it doesn’t turn off as expected. Maybe you're getting ready for bed, want to keep your phone silent while you head to the movies, or it's acting up and you need to reset it. There are numerous situations where you may want to turn your iPhone off, and if it refuses to, that can obviously be quite annoying.

Read more
Google is making it easier to ditch your iPhone for an Android phone
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro in hand.

Switching phones is never a smooth process, even if you’re switching between two different Android phones. However, when you’re trying to switch from an iPhone to Android or vice versa, it can be extra complicated -- and you can lose data and apps that you rely on. This is especially the case with Apple-to-Android transfers because the iPhone has a much stronger ecosystem lock-in with things like iMessage, iCloud backups, and exclusive apps like Overcast and Hyperlapse.

The good news is that with its Data Transfer Tool (also called Pixel Migrate on Pixel devices), Google may be trying to mitigate some of the phone-switching problems that arise -- specifically, losing access to your Live Photos. According to an APK teardown from Android Authority, Google’s Data Transfer Tool will finally resolve the problem of migrating iOS Live Photos to Android. It will do this by converting them over as Motion Photos.

Read more
Best prepaid phone deals: Android, iPhone, flip phone
episode 209 https  cdn cnn com cnnnext dam assets 190910135448 20190910 apple event iphone 11 02

While many of the best phone deals include great cell phone plan deals when you purchase them, sometimes the best phone is a prepaid one. This is especially true with the prices many of the best phones come in at these days. Prepaid phones are great for budget shoppers, so whether you’re pinching pennies, shopping for a child’s first phone, or anything in between, we’ve rounded up all of the best prepaid phone deals out there right now. Read onward for more of those details, and if you’d like to see some other affordable phone options before deciding on a prepaid phone be sure to check out all of the refurbished iPhone deals, iPhone SE deals, iPhone 14 deals, Samsung Galaxy S22 deals, and Samsung Galaxy S23 deals taking place right now.
Straight Talk Samsung Galaxy A03s -- $40, was $60

Samsung makes some of the best phones on the market, and while the Galaxy A03s might not fall under that banner, it is a great budget phone. It has a 6.5-inch HD+ with a 60Hz refresh rate, which is pretty solid, and the 3GB of RAM is not too bad either. That said, it only has 32GB of internal storage, although that can be upgraded with a MicroSD card, so it's not so bad. The phone comes paired with a Straight Talk plan, which you can get for as low as $15 a month.

Read more