Opera Software today introduced Opera Mini, a J2ME (Java 2 Mobile Edition) Web browser for virtually all mobile phones. Opera Mini enables Web access on more than 700 million low- and mid-tier Java-capable phones around the world, finally bringing mobile Internet into the mainstream.
Opera Mini is a fast and easy alternative to Opera's mobile browser, allowing users to access the Web on mobile phones that would normally be incapable of running a Web browser. This includes the vast majority of today's WAP-enabled phones. Instead of requiring the phone to process Web pages, it uses a remote server to pre-process the page before sending it to the phone.
"Mobile Web surfing has until now been limited to more advanced phones that are capable of running a browser," says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "With Opera Mini, the phone only has to run a small Java-client and the rest is taken care of by the remotely located Opera Mini server. With Opera Mini you don't have to have an advanced phone to surf the Web, which means that most people can use it with their existing phones."
Installing Opera Mini is as easy as installing a ringtone. Users simply send an SMS or visit a link through their WAP browser to receive it, and they are online in an instant.
Because Opera Mini enables Web access on low- and mid-tier phones, operators can now dramatically increase the average revenue per user (ARPU) across their entire customer base by stimulating the usage of compelling mobile Web services. Opera offers full customization of Opera Mini to companies, for example operators, broadcasters, mobile content providers and the Internet industry, that would like to include their own version of Opera Mini as part of their mobile content offerings.
The first company to take advantage of Opera Mini is Norway's leading commercial television station, TV2. It has bundled Opera Mini with its mobile services in Norway to offer its viewers a complete mobile content package that includes a branded and advanced Web browser.
"Finally we see how we can generate revenue from real mobile browsing," says Morten Holst, VP Strategy, TV2 Interactive. "By introducing TV2's portal through Opera Mini we have combined the best of mobile services with mobile Web access."
Opera Mini is available to end-users through operators and companies that choose to include it in their offerings to their customers. It is currently available as a pilot project through TV2 in Norway, with wider availability to be announced.
