Opera for iPhone?

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

operaiphone In a cheeky move today Norwegian company Opera announced it would unveil its mobile browser for iPhone next week in Barcelona.

While most would welcome competition in the browser world, it remains to be seen whether Apple will approve the app at all.

Perhaps in a move to pressure Apple earlier today Opera released the following statement.

“We are thrilled to offer journalists and partners an exclusive preview of Opera Mini for iPhone during the year’s biggest mobile event. 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. Opera’s mission is to bring the Web to the world, and by making Opera Mini available on yet another platform, we are one step closer.”

I for one believe the app will be approved and one can only assume it will be sent to Apple for approval sometime within two weeks.

Apple is under terrific scrutiny for it´s App Store practices and it is this type of battle that famously brought antitrust legislation against Microsoft in its dealings with Netscape. While Android is picking up market share Apple must worry about potential backlash from its customers if this app is not approved. This is one instance where public outcry for an app might make Apple´s normally iron fisted control of the App Store reconsider its position.

And Opera seems quite confident as well.

“Opera Mini is compatible with every requirement for the App Store,” argued Christen Krogh, Opera’s chief development officer. “We don’t think it falls under any of the excluded technologies.”

The Opera browser would be a great addition to the iPhone with features including: