Opera Mini - A win-win proposal for end-users, content providers and operators
Monday, 5. December 2005, 16:03:03
Last week Opera Mini received the Gold Mobile award for "Best application for mobile phones" at the annual Swedish Mobilgala event in Stockholm.
What's really nice about this award is that it is based on popular vote by the readers of Sweden's leading mobile magazine, Mobil.se. It's when we get this kind of user feedback that we know we are doing something right.
Opera Mini is so far only available in the Nordics and in Germany and we are building up for the global launch that will happen very soon. Despite the limited availibility, Mini is building up an impressive track record. The real test of any mobile applicatition is not whether a lot of people download it, but if they actually use it too, right? And not only do people download Opera Mini, but they do use it; On average, users surf between 10 and 30 Web pages every time they fire up the browser!
What does this mean? Well, firstly, people like it. Oh, this is important, so let me do this in bullets to make it clear. So:
1. People like it
Opera Mini is free of charge and it gives people full and fast Web access on their existing mobile phones. That's a pretty good package.
2. Content providers can suddenly reach the mass market with existing Web based services and content. And anyone who can create a Web page can now create mobile services aimed at the mobile user. With Opera Mini, the market has suddenly expanded dramatically.
3. Operators can drive data traffic across their entire customer base. According to Nokia's 2005 Smartphone360 Study, almost 60% of data traffic on mobile networks is generated by Web browsing. Yet only a tiny percentage of any operator's customers own a smartphone that is powerful enough to run a full Web browser. With Opera Mini, almost the entire customer base can surf the Web on the handsets they have today. Do the math.
And to throw in one more thing: Branding. Any operator, content provider or company can have their own branded versions of Opera Mini to offer to their customers, clients, employers, fans or interest groups. The startpage is fully customizable, can be updated over the air. If you're interested in this, please contact us.
Here at Opera we are making the last preparations for the full global launch of Opera Mini, and we can't wait. Are you ready to drive mobile Web surfing into the mainstream this winter?
What's really nice about this award is that it is based on popular vote by the readers of Sweden's leading mobile magazine, Mobil.se. It's when we get this kind of user feedback that we know we are doing something right.
Opera Mini is so far only available in the Nordics and in Germany and we are building up for the global launch that will happen very soon. Despite the limited availibility, Mini is building up an impressive track record. The real test of any mobile applicatition is not whether a lot of people download it, but if they actually use it too, right? And not only do people download Opera Mini, but they do use it; On average, users surf between 10 and 30 Web pages every time they fire up the browser!
What does this mean? Well, firstly, people like it. Oh, this is important, so let me do this in bullets to make it clear. So:
1. People like it
Opera Mini is free of charge and it gives people full and fast Web access on their existing mobile phones. That's a pretty good package.
2. Content providers can suddenly reach the mass market with existing Web based services and content. And anyone who can create a Web page can now create mobile services aimed at the mobile user. With Opera Mini, the market has suddenly expanded dramatically.
3. Operators can drive data traffic across their entire customer base. According to Nokia's 2005 Smartphone360 Study, almost 60% of data traffic on mobile networks is generated by Web browsing. Yet only a tiny percentage of any operator's customers own a smartphone that is powerful enough to run a full Web browser. With Opera Mini, almost the entire customer base can surf the Web on the handsets they have today. Do the math.
And to throw in one more thing: Branding. Any operator, content provider or company can have their own branded versions of Opera Mini to offer to their customers, clients, employers, fans or interest groups. The startpage is fully customizable, can be updated over the air. If you're interested in this, please contact us.
Here at Opera we are making the last preparations for the full global launch of Opera Mini, and we can't wait. Are you ready to drive mobile Web surfing into the mainstream this winter?
WIDGETIZE
Ramunas # 7. December 2005, 18:02
If i have nothing to do i just fire up opera mini and browse.
bhtooefr # 8. December 2005, 23:56
Anyway, there's three barriers that I've got.
1. My screen's all scratched. New faceplate, and it'll be as good as new.
2. Every now and then, it tries to close out on me. I suspect that it's something that Sprint did... :@
3. My screen's too small. Nothing I can do about that one, without getting a new phone, and that's not in the budget (besides, I quite like my phone's signal and the camera