Surf the Web on virtually any mobile phone: Opera Software announces
worldwide release of Opera Mini
Oslo, Norway – January 24, 2006 – Opera Software today announced the
worldwide release of Opera Mini, the full Web browser that runs on almost
every mobile phone, including low- and mid-end handsets. Today’s global
launch follows the trials of Opera Mini in the Nordics and in Germany
during the fall of 2005, which resulted in a user base of over one million
people. Opera Mini is available free of charge via WAP download, or for a
small fee via SMS.
Go to http://mini.opera.com for more information and download instructions.
“With Opera Mini most people can start surfing the Web with the mobile
phone they have today,” says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “We
are proud to be the first to offer full, mobile Web browsing to the
majority of the world’s mobile phone users.”
Installing Opera Mini is as simple as downloading a ringtone or a game. You
simply send an SMS or direct your phone’s WAP browser to
http://mini.opera.com. Opera Mini compresses Web pages by up to 80% and
reformats them using Small-Screen Rendering for easy and fast browsing on
small, mobile screens. For the end-user, this means faster browsing and
dramatically reduced phone bills for those who pay per KB in data traffic.
Opera Mini’s start page features a Google search box for quick access to
Web search. And the customizable bookmark list makes it easy to save and
surf your favorite sites.
The first trial of Opera Mini was launched in Norway in August 2005, and
Michael Gartenberg, VP & Research Director of Jupiter Research, called the
little, but powerful, browser “a really big breakthrough for the mobile
space.” Opera now also offers customized versions of Opera Mini to mobile
phone operators, handset manufacturers and other companies interested in
offering a branded, full mobile Web browser to their customers.
Availability
Opera Mini is available as a free download by directing the phone’s WAP
browser to http://mini.opera.com. It can also be downloaded for a small fee
via SMS download. Opera Mini requires that the phone supports Java.
Opera Mini is available in the following languages: English, German,
Spanish, French, Russian, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish. More
languages will be available shortly.
– Official Opera Mini Web site: http://mini.opera.com
– List of SMS download numbers and fees:
http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/operamini/sms/
– Opera Mini images for editorial use: http://www.opera.com/press/images/mini/
About Opera Software ASA
Opera Software ASA is an industry leader in the development of Web browser
technology, targeting the desktop, mobile, PDA, home media and vertical
markets. Partners include companies such as IBM, Nokia, Sony, Motorola,
Adobe, Macromedia, Symbian, Sony Ericsson, Kyocera, Sharp, Motorola
Metroworks, MontaVista Software, BenQ, Sendo and AMD. The Opera browser has
received international recognition from users, industry experts and media
for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers.
Opera’s browser technology is cross-platform and modular, and currently
available on the following operating systems: Windows, Windows Mobile,
Linux, Mac OS, Symbian OS, BREW, QNX, TRON, FreeBSD, Solaris and
Mediahighway. The Opera browser is also available as a Java-based (J2ME)
browser solution called Opera Mini for the world’s 700 million Java-enabled
mobile phones.
Opera Software ASA is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with development
centers in Linkoping and Gothenburg, Sweden. The company is listed on the
Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera
at www.opera.com