NII becomes first operator to release a customized browser based on Opera Mini 5
Mountain View, CA – May 26, 2010
Opera Software today announced that NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD), a leading provider of mobile communication services operating under the Nextel brand in Latin America, will use the Opera Mini 5 to power its next-generation browser. Opera Mini 5 will be preinstalled on Nextel devices, starting with the Android-powered, touch-screen Motorola i1, in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
The browser will include all of the features that Opera Mini is known for – Speed Dial, zoom and tabbed browsing. Speed Dial is an icon-driven interface that provides users quick access to key content; zoom allows users to hone in on the content they are browsing; and tabbed browsing allows users to have multiple web pages open within a single window with tabs available to navigate between the pages, eliminating the need to display tiled windows that demand frequent resizing and repositioning while consuming less memory and operating system resources. The browser initiates in Spanish or in Portuguese on Nextel’s main content portals, which are customized for each country.
With this launch, NII Holdings will be the first Latin American provider to use Opera Mini 5 to create a fully-customized web experience for their users.
NII Holdings selected Opera Mini as the engine behind its new browser for many of the same reasons over 55 million people worldwide use the product – for its small footprint, speed and ease of use. In addition, NII Holdings will experience the benefit of Opera Mini’s server-side rendering, which helps manage data consumption and usage over the network by compressing pages by up to 90% of their original size.
“We are committed to delivering the highest quality voice and data services to our valuable customers throughout Latin America, and, by partnering with Opera, we will be able to deliver on that promise by providing an enhanced user experience,” said Greg Santoro, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer from NII Holdings. “We are excited to work with Opera to bring our customers a customized user-friendly web-browsing experience on the Nextel network along with new and exciting content.”
“Latin America is an important market for Opera, and we look forward to bringing Nextel customers throughout the region the best and most complete web-browsing experience available on a mobile phone,” noted Lars Boilsen, CEO, Opera.