Opera Releases Mini-Java Browser

Users of Java-capable cell phones anywhere may find browsing the Web easier and cheaper now that Opera Software ASA is allowing anyone to download its Opera Mini application. The official worldwide launch of Opera Mini is planned for January but Opera has quietly lifted restrictions that previously allowed only residents of some Nordic countries and Germany to download the application, a spokesman has confirmed. “The idea is that you shouldn’t have to buy an expensive smart phone to browse the full Web,” said Eskil Sivertsen, a spokesman for Opera.  

Opera is also offering Opera Mini to operators and content providers that can offer a branded and customized version to their users. The operator or content provider could host the back-end servers themselves or hire Opera to do so for them. Once users have the Opera Mini browser on their handsets, the operator or content provider can push content or special promotions to the browsers for users to see when they launch the browser. Users must have a cell phone capable of downloading a Java application. Sivertsen figures that there are 700 million phones being used today that are capable of downloading Opera Mini. Continue