Opera Steps Up Browser Battle On Android

Information Week

As promised, Opera Software has made a beta version of its Opera Mobile 10.1 web browser available for Google's Android platform.

Opera announced its intent to offer Opera Mobile 10.1 to Android in October. On Tuesday, it delivered, making the free application available for download from the Android Market. Opera's full-featured Opera Mobile browser is already available for the Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms.

Opera Mini is already available to Android, but Opera Mobile is an entirely new ballgame. The key difference between Opera Mini and Opera Mobile is that Opera Mini uses server-side proxies to compress and deliver web sites to mobile handsets. The data compression helps to reduce mobile data requirements and saves both customers and mobile network operators money.

Opera Mobile, on the other hand, is a full, device-side browser that does all the heavy lifting on the handset and not on remote servers.

Opera Mobile for Android brings two major features to the browser. First is hardware acceleration. With hardware acceleration baked into Opera Mobile, the browser should see a performance boost. Opera Mobile also includes pinch-to-zoom. Pinch-to-zoom has become a must-have feature for smartphones, as it makes interacting with web-based content easier and more manageable. Pinch-to-zoom is offered in the native Android browser, as well as the iOS and BB6 browsers.

Other features included in the new browser include support for tabbed browsing; Opera Turbo powered by the Opera Presto rendering engine; bookmark syncing with desktop browsers; geolocation support; and scalable vector graphics.

I downloaded and tested the new browser this morning. True to its claims, Opera Mobile performs well, and renders full HTML web sites nicely. It loaded the full NYTimes.com web site, though the text was so small as to be illegible. I was forced to zoom in to read anything beyond the main headlines. I was disappointed to see that Opera Mobile skipped to the mobile version of CNN.com, however. The pinch-to-zoom gesture worked flawlessly, and zooming around web sites was not a problem at all. Everything about the browser's performance was smooth and speedy.

One thing of note, Opera Mobile does not support Flash. Several times I was greeted by "Oops, we're sorry" messages on web sites pointing out the browser's inability to playback Flash content. Opera says that Flash will be included in a future version of Opera Mobile.

Opera has a tough road ahead if it is interested in converting Android users. The stock Android browser is already very good, and there are a number of alternatives available, such as Skyfire, Dolphin HD, and Firefox. What's to convince the common Android users to switch? Perhaps tie-ins with Opera's desktop browser, as well as its desktop-phone syncing services.

Microsoft Ends Fight With Europe Over Browsers

BBC News

Microsoft has reached agreement with European Union anti-trust regulators to allow European users a choice of web browsers
 

 

The accord ends 10 years of dispute between the two sides.

Over that time, the EU imposed fines totalling 1.68bn euros ($2.44bn, £1.5bn).

The European Commission said Microsoft's legally binding agreement ended the dispute and averted a possible fine for the company.

The Commission's concern was that the US computer giant may have broken competition rules by bundling its Internet Explorer web browser with its dominant Windows operating system.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: "Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use."

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said the company was "embarking on a path that will require significant change".

"Nevertheless, we believe that these are important steps that resolve these competition law concerns," he added.

Better browsers

Ms Kroes said Microsoft's pledge was an incentive for web browser companies to innovate and offer better browsers in the future.

Internet Explorer is used by more than half of global internet users, with Mozilla's Firefox at about 32% and Norway's Opera with 2%.

It was the minnow operator, Opera, that brought the latest complaint about browsers in 2007.

The company's chief executive, Jon von Tetzchner, agreed the move would boost innovation.

"This is a victory for the future of the web. This decision is also a celebration of open web standards, as these shared guidelines are the necessary ingredients for innovation."

Nevertheless, we believe that these are important steps that resolve these competition law concerns."

Microsoft's commitments on web browsers will be valid in the European Economic Area for five years.

Dominant bundle

In preliminary findings released in January, the European Commission said Microsoft "may have infringed" a European Treaty by "abusing its dominant market position" by bundling the company's web browser with its Windows PC operating system.

In July, Microsoft proposed a consumer choice screen that allowed users to pick from a number of different browsers.

The Commission then asked Microsoft to improve the choice screen, which it has now done.

In 2004, the EU fined Microsoft and forced it to offer a version of its Windows operating system without Microsoft's own media player.

The company was also told to give rivals more information about how Windows works, so they could make their own software integrate better with the operating system.

Microsoft appealed against the decision but lost its case in 2007.

Outstanding concerns

There remain, though, unresolved areas of dispute between the two parties. Although here, too, progress has been made.

Microsoft has submitted an improved version of undertakings it made in July on interoperability.

These are designed to address EU concerns about improving the compatibility of third-party products with several Microsoft ones, such as Windows and Microsoft Office.

The Commission welcomed this move too, but said it would monitor its impact on the market. Any findings would be taken into account in a pending anti-trust investigation on interoperability, it said.