Opera Mini Embraces Android OS

Opera made public the fact that its highly popular Opera Mini mobile browser has undergone several changes in its API (application programming interface) to be compatible with Android, Google's mobile platform that should soon run on a wide range of new mobile devices.

Recognized as the only company to bring the Web on any platform, Opera now proves that it stays true to this image, with the release of its Mini browser for Android.

The Android-ready Opera Mini is available for download from Opera's website (click here) and can be tried by everyone. Of course, since there is currently no commercially available device to run Android, those who want to see the "new" Opera Mini in action will have to download the Android SDK emulator, also found on Opera's website.

Jon von Tetzchner, Opera's Chief Executive Officer, declared: "Today we're glad to deliver our mass-market mobile browser to the Android development groups. Opera Mini will be able to empower users of Android-based handsets with access to all of their favorite Web sites with popular features for smooth effects and scalable, tailored viewing."

Since the Android platform cannot be tried on a real device, the hard-working folks over at Opera Software encountered various problems when porting the Mini browser to Google's OS. However, they managed to do everything right in the end, but for the moment they (we) can't know whether Opera Mini is faster than the native browser of Android, namely WebKit, when running on a real Android phone.

Therefore, what's left now is to wait for the release of the first Android-based mobile phone / smartphone / Pocket PC. This should happen in the second half of the year, or even before the summer (according to some rumors), so there's not too much to wait. Relatively.


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