Do want.
Yesterday Opera released a video preview of the Opera Mini browser that they have submitted to the iPhone App Store. In the video we get a quick look at the very sexy interface—including gorgeous implementation of tabs, speed dial for launching favorite sites quickly and a focus on offering users a really good experience. But that’s only the intro—most of the preview focuses on performance. iPhone users will enjoy being able to load multiple tabs at the same time as well as seeing previous pages cached for quick loads when navigating back in an existing tab. Then there’s the side-by-side comparison of Opera Mini and Mobile Safari both loading The New York Times over 2G and in the time Safari takes to load one page, Opera has loaded and navigated through five pages on the site. Opera Mini certainly appears to be a compelling alternative to the only existing browser on the platform.
We can all agree this looks pretty awesome and it would be great to see alternative browsers on the iPhone but the real question is still whether Apple will approve the app. Frankly, this has been a big risk move for Opera from the start, since Apple has a strong precedent in shooting down applications that duplicate existing functionality. Opera pushes the issue further by focusing so much attention on how much better Opera Mini is at performance when compared to Mobile Safari in the preview. One feels compelled to ask: are they trying to antagonize and provoke Apple? Maybe, but they still seem pretty certain of their success; confidently proclaiming that Opera Mini is “Coming soon to the iPhone App Store” at the end of their preview or running a contest on When Apple will approve the App.
No one really knows what Apple will do yet. Despite Apple cracking down on sexy apps, they have eased up a little by finally allowing applications like iVideoCamera record video on the first two generations of the iPhone and to allow live video streaming in apps for Qik and Ustream. The other thing to consider is that Apple has put up with a lot of bad publicity for rejecting high-profile apps from Google, and with the iPad right around the corner they may recognize that approving Opera Mini will be a big step forward toward getting on the good side of consumers and developers.
Articles RSS