Opera Plans Preview of Mini for iPhone at Mobile World Congress

Opera Software ASA, designers of the cross-platform Web browser Opera, announced plans for a sneak preview of Opera Mini for iPhone in a press and partner preview during the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company noted while Mini for iPhone is not publicly available, Opera will unveil a host of other Opera-powered devices at its exhibit, including Opera Mobile 10 beta 3 on Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile handsets and Opera Mobile 10 beta running on Google Android handsets.

Opera also announced a series of speaking engagements during the convention, including a panel discussion on “Mobile Web developments, W3C standards, using Web APIs and the live creation of widgets” and a presentation on “Creating a connected cloud for the perfect mobile storm.” The company will also be presenting Opera Mini 5 beta, running on a variety of handsets and platforms and Opera’s cross-platform Widgets Manager beta, running on Windows Mobile and S60 handsets.

“We are thrilled to offer journalists and partners an exclusive preview of Opera Mini for iPhone during the year’s biggest mobile event,” said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera Software. “This is a unique opportunity to introduce the fast, feature-rich Opera Mini experience for the iPhone, and to showcase our latest beta releases of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini on other platforms and devices. Opera’s mission is to bring the Web to the world, and by making Opera Mini available on yet another platform, we are one step closer.”

Earlier this week, the company announced a deal with Huawei, a China-based global telecommunications solutions provider, to install Opera Mobile 10 in a variety of handsets. As a mobile-terminal provider, Huawei shipped 30 million mobile phones in 2009. Opera released Opera Mobile 10 for operators and OEMs on Dec. 10, 2009. This direct-to-distributor version of the browser is outfitted with Opera's new, cross-platform UI framework.

Jiang Huabing, head of Huawei’s handset R&D department, said customer expectations for mobile-phone capabilities are constantly growing, and the company needed a browser that's always ahead of those expectations, anticipating the customers' mobile Web needs and making it a reality. “China represents unique growth opportunities in the mobile market, and we hope that with the addition of Opera Mobile to our handsets, more of China will soon be online," he said about the deal, which was announced Feb. 8.

On Jan. 5, Opera announced that longtime CEO Jon von Tetzchner was stepping down from his CEO position to be succeeded by Lars Boilesen. However, von Tetzchner, who co-founded the company in 1995 and had served as CEO since that time, said he would continue to serve Opera full-time in a strategic and independent capacity.