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).
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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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