14 DAY TRIAL // Opera Software has confirmed plans to unveil the first iteration of a tablet-compatible version of its web browser at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas set to kick off on January 6.
Espen André Øverdahl, community manager for the Norwegian software company, is proud to make the official announcement on the Opera blog:
“At the annual upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas we will unveil the first public preview of Opera for tablets. DotEd, Community Manager for Opera will be at the tradeshow to make sure you get all the news about the latest technology from Opera and the tech industry.”
“Stay tuned for a lot of updates from CES, which starts January 6, right here on My Opera. In the meantime, enjoy this first preview of Opera for tablets.”
Although the Opera for Tablets video preview features an Android device, the web browser will undoubtedly launch as an iPad-native app as well.
The Norway-based software vendor already has an Opera Mini app for iOS devices like iPhone and iPod touch, and while the program runs on iPads as well, it does not take advantage of the tablet’s big screen.
Opera Mini for iPhone uses the company’s powerful servers to compress data by up to 90% before sending it to the user’s device.
While there’s no confirmation that this will also be the case with the iPad version, we can trust the Norwegian coders to make optimizations for the iPad’s 9.7-inch display as well.
Key features like Speed Dial, tabbed view, and Opera Link will make the web browser a must-have to iPad owners who, as of now, still rely on the built-in Safari app.
While Safari does its bit, Opera for iPad will bring much more functionality to the table.
Provided that Apple doesn’t take as long to approve the app as it did with the mini version, the final, downloadable Opera for iPad should appear in the App Store quite soon.