Opera brings WAP, i-Mode, full Internet to Smartphones
Oslo, Norway – June 10, 2002
Opera Software today announced that it supports the new mobile browsing standards in a record small 1.3 MB package, allowing smartphone manufacturers to deploy a full-featured browser that is both scaleable and modular, allowing customization to fit in resource-constrained environments. The support for the new standards XHTML (WAP2/Mobile Profile) and cHTML (i-Mode) means that smartphones only need one browser.
In May 2001, Opera was selected as the default browser in the reference design for smartphones made by Symbian, the leading provider of the open, advanced operating system for data enabled mobile phones. As a first result of this cooperation, Opera was included as default Web browser in the new Nokia 9210i launched at CeBIT in March, and in the Nokia 9290 launched last week in the US.
“Opera is a great tool for smartphone manufacturers and end-users.” says Lars Boilesen, VP embedded products, Opera Software ASA. “Opera can support all their Web browsing needs, be it HTML, c-HTML, or XHTML surfing, while keeping the browser itself down to less than 1.3 MB. As a result, smartphones can now offer up to a full Internet experience rendered beautifully on even small screens.”
Not only does Opera support standards like HTML, but years of user feedback on Opera’s desktop versions has made Opera’s core able to handle the real HTML that is used on the millions of sites on the Internet.
“Unfortunately, most Web sites do not follow the HTML standards, but instead write what we call ‘Street HTML'” says Hakon Lie, CTO, Opera Software. “Thanks to the feedback over the years from the millions of desktop users, Opera can display Street HTML, as well as standards-compliant pages especially made for embedded devices.”
Apart from Opera’s support for open standards, Opera’s modular architecture allows for custom configurations, letting the modules act as ‘components’ within other applications. An example of this use of a customized modular Opera component is within the mail application on the new Nokia 9210i Communicator, where HTML e-mail and attachments are displayed using Opera’s browser technologies.
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About Opera Software
Opera Software ASA is an industry leader in the development of Web browsers for the desktop and embedded markets, partnering with companies such as IBM, AMD, Symbian, Canal+ Technologies, Ericsson, Sharp and Lineo. The Opera browser has received international recognition from end users and the industry press for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers. Opera is available on Windows, Mac, Linux/Solaris, Symbian OS and QNX. Opera Software ASA is a privately held company headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com.