Mobile browser wars continue – new Opera mini launches

Activity in the mobile browser market continued today with Opera Software releasing the final version of its Opera Mini 4.2 browser, which also includes the first alternative browser for the Android operating system.

Software companies like Opera, Skyfire and others are developing mobile browsers that can display Web pages with desktop-like fidelity, competing in part with native browsers doing much the same thing on the Apple iPhone, RIM Blackberry and the Android operating system. Yesterday, Skyfire made its browser generally available, including outside North America for the first time.

Today Opera released the final version of Opera Mini 4.2, which it claims is 30% faster than previous versions of the browser. The speed increase is due to the addition of a new server farm in the US supporting the browser, the company said. Opera Mini is a client-server system, with the server side converting and compressing Web pages for more rapid delivery to the Opera Mini client.

In addition to the speed increase, the release marks the first time the Opera Mini will be available for the Android mobile platform, the first alternative browser available for Android. Opera reportedly has a version of its browser working on the iPhone but decided not to release it due to Apple’s licensing terms, which don’t seem to permit competitive browsers on the platform.

Other highlights for Opera Mini 4.2: support for more than 90 languages; new skins for personalizing the look of the browser; improved support for streaming video, including real-time streaming protocol (RTSP) handoffs.

Opera said use of the Opera Mini continues to grow, with 21 million unique users browsing 5 billion pages in October 2008, a 490% increase over the same month a year ago.