Opera Mobile

My previous blogpost has sparked some interest that resulted in various comments in this and other blogs. Some are supportive, others are concerned about my opinions about the S60 browser. I am happy that my words encouraged people to voice their viewpoints in the important debate on mobile browsing.

In this blog I write about my personal opinions. Although I cannot free myself from my role as PR manager at Opera, this is where I allow myself to talk more freely about current issues in mobile browsing and what we're doing at Opera. This in itself introduces an interesting challenge requiring a reasonable balance between being an Opera employee and being the individual that is me. I always keep that in mind when I write.

The Register's article I was refering to was very candid, and, as usual, Andrew doesn't beat around the bush. I found the image he conjured on browsing in hell amusing, and my comment was merely a comment to that. My personal experience with the S60 browser is, at best, secondary to the essence of the debate on mobile browsing. Neither Andrew's article nor my comments to it, are by any means thorough reviews of the browser. My comment to his article was merely a superficial observation from the sideline of the ongoing debate on mobile browsing.

The mobile browser is becoming one of the most central applications and major selling points on mobile phones. As such, any initiative to develop and improve browsers and encourage Web developers to code with mobile handsets in mind, greatly benefits us all. Having multiple, competing browser vendors and a stronger focus on the importance of a mobile friendly Web means we are improving the mobile Web experience for end-users every day. As long as Web pages are designed for desktop-sized screens, showing them on small devices is one of the most important challenges for a browser developer. In addition, a good user experience is dependent on how quickly and efficiently the browser can render pages and how easy it is to use.

There is no such thing as a perfect browser, just as there is no such thing as a perfect car. Disregarding the critical performance factors, it really boils down to personal preference if all one evaluates is how good the browser is to surf with. Some prefer the S60 browser, some prefer Opera Mobile or Opera Mini, and some prefer other browsers. And people should have that choice. My personal preference, as expressed in my blog post, is Opera - for a number of reasons, mainly its speed, standards compliance and rendering technology. Plus the fact that it is cross-platform and serves as a powerful execution environment for advanced Web applications. That I prefer Opera is perhaps no surprise, but it's not important. The S60 browser does have qualities that I do like, for example the Mini Map function and being able go back and forward by viewing page thumbnails.

I warmly welcome competition, as it only makes us work even harder to continuously improve our products and bring innovation to the browser scene.

What a day!! Finally I could send out the press release announcing the Opera Mini users have browsed a whopping ONE BILLION Web pages since the launch in January! I've been in the office since 7 am this morning, the phone's been ringing off the hook, and I have forgotten to eat, drink, hassle my colleague Berit and even go to the bathroom. I love days like this!

So ONE BILLION page views! What does that mean, and is it really that important?

Ooooh, yes.

First of all, the mobile content/entertainment industry and operators have been trying to get people to use data services for years. But the pick-up has been slow, they say. For example, Telecom TV reports that Vodafone has decided to "halt its 3G hype":

Vodafone has done a U-turn and is about to begin downplaying services and applications such as MMS, video-downloads and mobile Web access to concentrate on convincing users of the delights of 3G as a good voice technology.

Also, two recent surveys indicate that "mobile data [is] a big turn-off for consumers".

I don't agree.

In just over six months, Opera Mini has attracted more than FIVE MILLION USERS, who have until now browsed ONE BILLION WEB PAGES. That's spectacular. It means that if the service is something people find very useful, easy and inexpensive to use, they will indeed use it. I am not aware of any Java-based mobile application that has had more success than Opera Mini.

Hear ye, hear ye, operators and content providers
This should be a huge eye-opener to mobile operators and content providers: People don't want to be limited to WAP and expensive walled garden content. They want the full Web and the ability to search, surf and find the info and content they want, without having to pay through the nose to get it.

Operators know this. It's not rocket science (even rocket science is not rocket science, I've heard). But letting their valued subscribers loose on the World Wild Web scares them. Of course it does. Because why would people pay a dollar for driving directions or 50 cents to get someone's number when they can just go to mapquest or the phone book with their browser? The anwser is they wouldn't. And they don't. Not really. That's why Vodafone has decided to "halt its 3G hype". That's why "mobile data is a big turn-off for consumers."

Mobile data is not a turn-off for consumers; Overly expensive, walled garden content is.
Opera Mini has proved that today.

With the traffic that Opera Mini and Opera Mini generates over mobile networks, there is a fortune to be made by the operators. And they can please their customers by providing them with something they want: Low-cost, free Web access on their mobile phones. T-Mobile has understood this, and their Web'n'Walk offering has been a huge success.

Bridging the digital divide
Opera Mini is also very popular in countries where owning a PC is not common. In countries like Bangladesh, India, South Africa and China (and so on), many people can't afford a PC, but many own a mobile phone. With the free Opera Mini browser, the Internet is no longer only for the privileged, but accessible by most people with a mobile phone - regardless of location. Well, almost regardless of location. That means people can access news, information and communicate with friends and family via email only using their phones. There are millions of people in the world who own mobile phones, but who will not able to buy a PC. Not even a $100 dollar laptop with a power-generating handle on the side, as great of an initiative as that truly is.

So, there it is. That's how important today's announcement is. Opera Mini - 1 billion page views. And we have only begun.

Now, excuse me, I really really need to pee.

I will be in Hamburg on Thursday with two extra tickets to the Czech Rep - Italy match, which starts at 1600 hrs. I am giving these tickets away to an Opera fan - free of charge - no strings attached!

This is how the tickets can be yours:
I will be in or around the Hamburg main train station from 11-1300 hrs on Thursday (June 22), wearing a red Opera t-shirt, handing out flyers for the Opera Mini Goal 06 edition.

The first person who finds me and says "Norway should have been in the World Cup" will get the two tickets!

Let the games begin!!!





UPDATE:
These two lovely girls jumped me as soon as I arrived at the train station, and I don't think they really believed it was true that I would just give them the tickets. One of the girls had heard about this from her brother, and they had even printed my picture on a wanted poster :-)

A few hours later I received a very happy SMS from them as they were sitting in their seats in the stadium waiting for kick-off. I hope you enjoyed the game!

Last week we launched Opera Mobile 8.6 for Pocket PC. We've had a lot of great feedback, and we're very pleased with this version. Personally I enjoy its speed, having tabbed browsing on my device and being able to utilize the larger screen by surfing in landscape mode. It really makes the world of difference. The browsing experience is now very close to that of a PC because you Opera doesn't have to reformat the page as much as with Small-Screen Rendering. You should really give it a try - it comes with a 30-day free trial!

Download and more information
Screenshots