I have nothing to declare except my genius - Oscar Wilde
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Opera browser proves popular on the Iphone
NORWEGIAN WEB BROWSER FIRM Opera has produced a report on how Iphone users have adopted its Mini application. In short, they have.
Today the firm said that the Iphone is already the third-most popular handset for Opera users, just a few weeks after its release. The results came in Opera's latest State of the Mobile Web report, which it explained had seen a number of changes thanks to the varied geographical adoption of the Iphone version.
The report finds that soon, thanks to the Iphone release, the USA will have the fifth most Opera users, and will continue to climb in numbers, while in the last report it was eighth. In doing so, Opera added, it will displace other markets including Nigeria, South Africa and the Ukraine. The Iphone is currently the most used device by Opera Mini users in the United States, and according to Opera is 'well ahead of Blackberry', which led the table in the last report.
In Europe, the UK has the most users, and is followed by Poland and Germany. Overall, by March 2010, Opera Mini had over 55.2 million users, a 9.3 per cent increase from February 2010 and up more than 140 per cent compared to March 2009.
Other interesting statistics include the fact that Mini users generated over 396 million megabytes of data for operators. The firm added that without the browsers inbuilt compression tools, which compresses by up to 90 per cent, this would have amounted to 3.6 petabytes.
"These numbers are more than just bragging rights; they are proof that the joint efforts of our industry matter," said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera Software. "We can clearly see that making the Web available to everyone, no matter where they are or how they choose to access it, makes a difference." Overall though, users prefer Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets when accessing the net, the firm added.
Opera also announced a version of its main browser, 10.52 for Mac and Windows, explaining that it has had a number of bugs fixed and an overall 'polish'.
A list of fixes and new features is available through its desktop developer blog. µ
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Well, now it's version 10.53 I haven't gotten around to installing yet. The one that protects against whichever new hideous danger it is... so I suppose I should. Really.
I'm alarmed to see on the blog, "Security issue - Opera 10.53 RC1 ready for testing." I haven't installed 10.52 yet, which I hear should reinstate the single "close tab" button, which is useful when you have a ton o' tabs open, and accidentally(?) went away in 10.50 or 10.51. Keystroke Ctrl F4, and Ctrl W if you choose the older keyboard command set, still works, and I put an icon in Windows Quick Launch bar that throws Ctrl W at the application.
According to http://www.opera.com/browser/next/ , the final release for Linux around June has "No more Qt dependence" and "looks right at home on a KDE or Gnome desktop and fully supports skinning on either, with matching Open/Save dialogs."
As for Apple copying features of Opera Mini for Safari, that's the sincerest form of flattery - whereas arbitrarily terminating Opera Mini would be vicious. I think ordinary users don't yet think of Apple as an obsessively jealous and physically violent boyfriend, and that's how Apple prefers it. Of course, we know better.
And as for the statistics, they seem to mean that there are a lot of iPhones, most of them are owned in the U.S., and a lotdof their owners like Opera Mini. And, they are trying to convince you, phone service companies should like Opera Mini as well, because it supplies customers with Diet Internet, the lightweight alternative. Then again, phone companies sell mobile Internet access to customers, why would they want us to use less Of it...
A quandary for Apple.
Mini is really intended for those 2" screen non smart phones that had near nothing.
On the iPhone users will really prefer the Opera Mobile 'turbo' experience only available on competitors phones.
Remember that in many countries and areas compression is the only viable option for users. Expect a Safari copycat. Eventually!
I've used Opera Mini on my iPhone and it does have a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the biggest flaw with it is the lack of smooth zooming. You're either looking at an unreadable view of the whole page, or the size zoomed in 100%. There's nothing inbetween. For Opera Mini to beat Safari for usability, this issue does need addressing first.
I think Apple will just kill Opera Mini in one of the future OS/agreement updates, rather sooner than later. If it proves too successful it may threaten some of the Apple control on the iPhone "experience" (read: ways to monetize the iPhone).
That is, if Android doesn't kill iPhone OS until then :)
I'm one of the few who aren't impressed. I think it has potential. It has some good features. It just leaves me wondering how much of their design was restrained by Apple itself, per agreements to get it OK'd.
And, as far as Linux goes those cats can't seem to get their linux version working with anything other that qt3 which has been in disuse for a couple years now. QT4 is where their efforts should be. And, they should be smart enough to know the environment and take advantage of the native one. If the user is using gnome, then use gtk, if the user is using the old KDE then use qt3, if the user is using the new KDE that's been out for over 2 years, then they should be using QT4. It's that simple. First give a choice in the browser preference, then work it so the browser knows automatically. It isn't that hard to do.