Opera Software, the little Norwegian browser software company that could, this morning launched Opera Mini 7 for Android, which it previewed at the Mobile World Congress back in February.
The release comes just a few weeks after we reported that Android’s ‘robot’ browser had overtaken Opera to take the top mobile Web browser spot for the first time. It also comes a little over a month since Opera Mini 7 hit the iOS platform.
The company also recently released Opera Mobile 12 for Android (the difference between Opera Mobile and Mini is explained below).
People who often browse the Web on the go sans access to Wi-Fi, and particularly those in places where accessing the Web over a data connection costs them an arm and a leg, should definitely give the updated Android browser a whirl.
Opera Software says the app comes with improved hardware acceleration, and lets users add as many ‘Speed Dial’ buttons as they want.
Opera Mini isn’t a ‘full-fledged’ mobile web browser like Opera Mobile; it uses the software company’s proprietary server compression technology to compress content before it gets to your phone, rendering pages on Opera’s servers.
See the graph below for a more visual explanation of how it can save costs.
In a press release, Opera Software says there are now 160 million monthly Opera Mini users, up from 140 million in November 2011.
➤ Opera Mini 7 for Android (Google Play) or visit m.opera.com from your device.
Also read:
Android overtakes Opera to become the most popular mobile Web browser
Opera brings a more social Web experience to feature phones
Opera to add more ‘feature’ to Samsung feature phones with new browser deal
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