Opera wants to bring faster web browsing to iPhone

Browsing the web on the iPhone may be getting a whole lot faster if Opera is able to get their mobile web browser past the beady eyes of Apple's App store approval team.

Web browser developer Opera Software has designed a free iPhone compatible version of their popular Opera Mini web browser which they believe is up to six times faster than Apple's default iPhone browser, Safari.

The browser will also provide savings for iPhone users who travel the globe. "For many users on pay per MB or while roaming, Opera Mini will reduce browsing cost up to 90%" said Julie Sajnani, senior communications manager, Opera Software.

"Opera Mini is designed with usability in mind," added Sajnani. Additional features include tabbed browsing, speed dial and password manager.

Opera Software will give press members a preview of its iPhone web browser at the 2010 Mobile World Congress (MWC) on February 15.

"This is a unique opportunity to introduce the fast, feature-rich Opera Mini experience for the iPhone, and to showcase our latest beta releases of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini on other platforms and devices," said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder, Opera Software in a February 10 statement to the press.

More than 31.9 million users use Opera Mini to surf the web on their mobile devices. Opera is hoping to further increase their market share by bring their mobile browser to the more than 42 million people that use the iPhone across the globe.

A secondary web browser will come as a welcome breath of fresh air for iPhone users who are currently locked in to using Apple's default mobile web browser, Safari. But first, Opera will have to submit the application to Apple's App store and pass through their strict approval processes.

"We hope that Apple will not deny their users a choice in Web browsing experience," said Julie Sajnani in a February 10 email to Relaxnews.

The company was unable to provide any further details on the availability of the application but said they did not foresee any problems passing through Apple's approval process.

Mozilla is also working on a mobile version of its popular desktop-based web browser Firefox. The company hopes to bring its browser to Android-powered mobiles in the future.

Source: The Independent