Opera rebrands Unite Services

OPERA HAS REBRANDED its Unite Services developer programme, renaming it Unite Apps.

Opera Unite is the browser firm's new sharing tool that lets users create private networks through which to share content such as photos and videos, without having to post them onto sites like Youtube or Flickr.

This means that Auntie Mable can see the photos from the wedding she wasn't invited to in the first place by simply clicking a link in an email, as opposed to clicking a link in an email and visiting one of the aforementioned web destinations. Keeping such content off these sites also means that the happy couple can avoid receiving comments such as "Kill it, kill it with fire" underneath their photographs.

Unite Apps extends this by adding complimentary services to the browser tool, such as the ability to create chat boxes within a shared experience. In order to encourage external development the firm has released a snapshot of the application.

It comes with rather a heavy caveat though, that says, "WARNING: This is a development snapshot: It contains the latest changes, but may also have severe known issues, including crashes and data loss situations. In fact, it may not work at all." Which is hardly reassuring.

In order to make use of it, developers will have to have Sonar running, which is included in the download, and should be prepared for a couple of known issues.

However it is not all bad news. Problem reporting has been improved, an experimental 'crash feedback' tool has been added, and along with its new name the system has also had an overall polish.

Mixed comments on the page suggest that although in some instances Unite and Sonar are impressing, overall it is as buggy as a hedgehog's backscratcher. µ