In an event that comes as a surprise to many, Opera Software's submission of Opera Mini to the App Store has been given the green light by Apple, and is now available to download via iTunes. For those of you who may not know, Opera Mini is a third party web browser that claims to be exponentially faster than Apple's native browser, Safari. "Opera Software claims Opera Mini for iPhone is up to 6 times faster than the native browser thanks to its compression and server-side rendering technology," according to TechCrunch.
The app was submitted to the App Store back in late March after being showcased at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Many questioned whether it would ever receive approval due to the increasingly stringent policies created by Apple, and the fact that many apps have been rejected for reasons which are seemingly unpredictable. Apparently, Opera Software took this under consideration when determining whether to submit the browser to the App store. They told TechCrunch "they had analyzed the App Store policies in great detail, and that they were completely certain of being 100% compliant," and there's no arguing that they were right.
I've not tried Opera Mini myself, but many reports claim that it's blazingly fast. So, who's gonna download Opera Mini on their iPhone today? Let us know how it goes in the comments.
Via TechCrunch
Press Release:
Approved
Opera Mini App approved for the App Store
Oslo, Norway – April 13, 2010
Opera today announced its popular mobile browser, Opera Mini has been approved for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store. Opera Mini will be available as a free download within 24 hours, depending on market.
Opera Mini, with more than 50 million users worldwide, enables fast mobile Web browsing by compressing data by up to 90 percent before sending content to the device, resulting in significantly improved page loading. Users of the app will notice an uptake in speed, especially on slower networks such as the 2G Edge network. Surfing the Web with the Opera Mini App on iPhone and iPod touch will also help users save money because of its data compression capabilities. This will hold especially true while the user is incurring roaming charges.
"We are delighted to offer iPhone and iPod touch users a great browsing experience with the Opera Mini App," said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “This app is another step toward Opera's goal of bringing the Web to more people in more places."
The Opera Mini App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
