Opera News

There is no doubt that India is the fastest growing market for mobile telephony. And, with this achievement comes yet another reason to celebrate: India’s mobile generation (M-Gen) has helped India overtake Russia for the highest number of Opera Mini users, making India the #1 country for the Opera Mini browser, worldwide.

In use by over 172 million subscribers, Opera Mini is the most popular mobile web browser in the world.

Some members from the M-Gen have sent Opera their top reasons for loving Opera Mini, and we have shared some of them, below.

Opera Mini — The growth trajectory
After overtaking the #2 Opera Mini country Indonesia in June last year, Indian Opera Mini fans surpassed Russian users in March this year. Opera Mini has won the hearts of millions of people in India who are singing to its tune.

“I have been using Opera Mini since it was released, and I think it was the mobile world's first real killer app, much before the app revolution even got underway. I still remember the feeling of amazement I felt when I saw the web being displayed on the screen of my Sony Ericsson K700i — not in a stripped-down WAP avatar, but just as they appeared on my desktop. Since then, It has been the first app I downloaded onto my handsets ever since, not least because it also keeps data charges low. The latest version of Opera Mini carries forward the original's ability to render desktop-like webpages on smaller screens. It is particularly relevant in countries like India where bandwidth and handsets are both price-sensitive; by being available on almost all devices and delivering a decent web experience even on low end handsets with basic Internet connectivity (GPRS/EDGE), it is an app that bridges the digital divide in the nation.” — Nimish Dubey, Freelance technology columnist

Opera Mini — Faster, better, smarter
Opera Mini provides a desktop-like web experience on mobile devices. With 90% compression, Opera Mini makes web surfing super fast and also helps the M-Gen save money on data costs. It also makes browsing on handheld devices fun by offering features such as Speed Dial, tabbed browsing, password manager and social media integration.

“96% data saving on Opera Mini. Awesome. http://pic.twitter.com/vApGPss1” — Parminder Mangat, Student

“I have been a loyal Opera Mini user for almost four years now. I think it is the best web browsing experience, thanks to the cool icons, best transitions, smooth scrolling and fast rendering. I especially love the "Share" feature introduced in Opera Mini 6 that lets you post directly to Twitter and Facebook from the browser.” — Ashish Rajpurkar, Student

“Although my job demands me to be on the go constantly, I like to stay connected with the world. Opera Mini helps me do just that, seamlessly. It is available on most devices across platforms, which ensures easy accessibility and connectivity. Also, its data compression technology does not take a toll on your wallet, while delivering an incredible browsing experience.” — Ajit Nalawade, Marketing Executive

“The first time I used Opera Mini was on my Sony Ericsson k810i. The build that really stunned me was Opera Mini 5. I was overjoyed to see a fully powered tabbed browser running effortlessly on my phone, which had a few measly MBs of RAM and a primitive CPU. Even after all these years, every time I use Opera Mini, I am amazed by its speed and by its ability to run fluidly even on the cheapest phones and slowest networks.” — Pallab De, IT Professional

Opera Mini — Free download
If you are not yet an Opera Mini user, chances are that you are still caught up in the hassles of using a sluggish native browser on your phone, while smart M-Gen browsers enjoy Opera Mini and its faster browsing ability. So, visit m.opera.com to download your free ticket to the best browsing experience.

Read the global State of Mobile Web report here: http://www.opera.com/smw/2012/04/

In case you are wondering how the Opera Mini Globe looks, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWd-DCCJlGI. It is a real-time visualization of Opera Mini users across the world.

Android is becoming more and more popular with our mobile users. Last month, we conducted a Facebook poll in which more than 7,000 people told us that it was their operating system of choice.
If you are one of those folks with Android on your smartphone or tablet, you'll be glad to know we have fresh new builds of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile available in the Google Play store. The new versions are meant to correct minor stability and connection problems.

At least for my phone - I've got a Sony Xperia, like the one in the photo above - this was a manual update, meaning that it doesn't happen automatically. You have to check "My Apps" in the Play Store app on your phone and then select "Update" for Opera Mini or Opera Mobile.

By the way, if you're interested in learning more about all things Android, check out the Overjoid blog on My Opera. They'll keep you up to date on everything from games and apps to the latest phones and tablets.

Opera Mini has now added another stamp to its passport and cleared BlackBerry customs by arriving in the BlackBerry App World. BlackBerry users can go to App World and download Opera Mini.

Although just landing this week in the easily accessible BlackBerry App World, Opera Mini, is big on the Berry. By downloading it manually from m.opera.com, BlackBerry users have been saving data and money on their BlackBerries for years. Now, it's even easier to download via App World.

Opera Mini's zoom functionality is great for easy reading and interaction with content on websites. You might also find great use of hot keys that makes page-up and page-down viewing much faster.

BlackBerry App World is available in more than 100 countries.

...Coming soon your very own Opera Mini

Come March 2012 and all Idea customers will be able to download a co-branded version of Opera Mini on their devices.

Idea says:
“In emerging markets such as India, the mobile phone will soon become the primary way of accessing the Internet. We are arming ourselves with the best-in-class solutions for catering to this data-hungry population," says Shashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular. He adds, “By providing a enhanced superior Opera Mini browser, we are confident that our customers will enjoy an even more fulfilling, faster and feature-rich mobile Internet experience on their handsets.”

Read the complete press release here: http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2012/02/01/

If you are an Idea user we would like to know your speed-dial wishlist.

Looking forward to your comments.

The beeps, blips and clicks from a gazillion new gadgets at last week's Consumer Electronics Show were still resounding in the early part of this week (speaking of which, if you haven't yet checked out our team's photos from the show, you can find them here).

Given all that noise, it's understandable if a quiet little update from our side on the App Store might have been overlooked. So here's the official notice for all you iPhone users: Opera Mini 6.5.2 for iOS is ready for your browsing pleasure. Upgrade today!

Meanwhile, the other big story on the Internet this week was the lack thereof. In other words, the January 18th blackout of popular sites like reddit, WordPress, Wikipedia and many others. In the case of Wikipedia going dark for the day, this probably resulted in many dinnertime debates going unresolved and more than a few students' homework being left unfinished. However, one definite consequence was the sudden proliferation of invented knowledge under the #FactsWithoutWikipedia hashtag on Twitter. My own favorite new "fact:" hamsters are actually very tiny lions.

Now, the reason that all those websites closed down for a day was to protest laws now being proposed in the US to protect intellectual property online called SOPA and PIPA, aimed at content pirating in general and file-sharing in particular (but probably also including file-revealing, in the case of sites like Wikileaks). But although SOPA and PIPA are not laws yet, the file-sharing site megaupload was shut down on Friday using existing laws in the US, leaving lots of people and their content in the cloud hanging, as it were...

But enough of these big-picture issues. The real news these days is that we're all going nano. From IBM's creation of a magnetic storage unit consisting of just 12 atoms to the announcement of a microscopic "ear" able to hear germs, it's clear that, like hamsters, we are all going to have to start sweating the small stuff after all...

Have a great week ahead