Norwegian browser company introduces the feline-first web browser concept
Humans have long been in a privileged position on the internet. Keyboards are hard to use, curated content is homo sapiens-oriented and – quite frankly – boring for four-legged creatures. Yet, billions and billions of people coast the web in search of funny cats and cute kittens all day, when they should be working.
It’s time to turn the tables on internet cat content. Enter the Cats by Opera project. The first web browser tail-or made for cats.
“I noticed that my cat Admiral Fluffington III had a peculiar interest in the Coast by Opera web browser left open on my iPad,” says Huib Kleinhout, Senior Cat Coder at Opera Software. “When we go to work, my cat were just left at home with iPads sitting on the coffee table. It just made sense to give them something better to do other than snooze or cough-up hairballs. Now they can interact with the web, which is 92.3% cats anyways. That’s when I got the idea for Cats by Opera, based on our incredibly innovative Coast by Opera browser for iPad. My other cats, Pistols McMegatron and Dr. Snuggles, also love it.”
Cats by Opera is based on a concept of removing buttons and other obstacles to an efficient feline-first web. Just as in Coast by Opera, navigation is done almost completely on gestures and buttons are large and easy to interact with.
Cats by Opera project brings more innovation through the internet cat-flap door:
- TongueTouch®: Interface optimized to respond on the slightest of screen licks, for easy scrolling.
- PawPredict®: Intelligent interpretation of internet adresses and searches as entered by our feline friends, translating adresses such as “34lkr34tottttt4<<<….uuuu” into “www.catnip4u.com” when walking all over the iPad keyboard.
- Catimized Speed Dial: Cats by Opera features easy-to click Speed Dial buttons, an Opera Software invention, with quick access to selected cat content or for easy shortcuts to your cats’ own favorite sites.
“This is a totally unexplored technology area, where Opera Software can be a first mover,” says Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “A high-cAtRPU cat market such as UK has more than ten million cats, according to the 2006 UK Cat Census. In the end, does it really matter who or what the consumer is? For me, the most interesting content on the internet is made by animals, and especially cats. They create some fantastic videos on YouTube. This is a big opportunity for us to get a lot more users. A hairy project, but very doable.”
The prototype of Cats by Opera is almost finished. In the meantime, we recommend you to get your cat and watch this video, right meow!