Opera Mini for iPhone to be revealed next week, available never
By Thomas Ricker 
posted February 10th 2010 4:00AM
posted February 10th 2010 4:00AM
Here's a guaranteed way to drum up support for an upcoming press event: claim the impossible. Opera just announced a press and partner preview of its Opera Mini browser for the iPhone at Mobile World Congress. You read that right -- for the iPhone. Of course, the real intent of this stunt is to draw our incredulous attention to Opera's Mobile and Mini browsers running on platforms where the software is actually released like Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Android. Besides, as good as the Mini browser is, it, like Mobile Safari, doesn't support Flash. And since Apple isn't likely to approve any browser that duplicates functionality it already provides, really, what's the point of all this? A Cydia store release?
@Robinator
Apple has a very small share of the phone market. If you want to have a smart phone (or any mobile phone for that matter) there are tons of options available, some far more popular than Apple (nokia n-series etc..)
Therefore Apple do not have a monopoly on phones.
Microsoft were on 96% of PC's WORLDWIDE! Their was no viable alternative for people to use another pc, since 96% of them only ran windows. Abusing that stat is called monopolistic behaviour which means MS needed government legislation to stop that abuse.
The rule is, if their are no viable alternatives, you have a monoply..
@Robinator
Dude, look at my earlier comment. Apple have already allowed 3rd party browsers on the App Store. In fact, i am using one-Perfect Browser 3.0.
@everybody
PB 3.0 is faster than MS. It has fullscreen function and TABS. However, i do believe interface wise, MS is still ahead in a way.
Still there is space for more browsers, especially those that bundle in-built downloading function which is still missing currently.
@albsure Well, this is a small point, but what is important to governments such as the EU is the percentage of web use from a browser (they won't just look at the marketshare).
@fighterfelix You've said this a few times, but these are available as a download from the app store, duly noted. What you fail to realize or point out is the you could do the same thing when Microsoft had their monopoly, you could go out and download a/a few browsers onto your desktop and use them for your viewing experience. Microsoft's settlement required competition to be more readily available on newly shipped versions of their OS, so a similar settlement (though we aren't probably going to see one) would have other browser options built into the OS, not into the app store.
@Robinator
Apple makes the hardware. Even their desktop computers are all "their" computer. They are allowed to say what can or cannot run on the hardware they build. You might as well ask why Sony doesn't allow you to run XBox games on the PS3 (technical limitations aside).
Microsoft just makes the operating system that runs on someone else's hardware. They have no reasonable right to tell me that I can't run a program on hardware that they didn't actually have any say in creating.
yes
"as good as the Mini browser is, it, like Mobile Safari, doesn't support Flash.”
Wow. Reading some of these recent posts, you’d forget that there is a web beyond Flash.
@TheSeanWilson Yeah, 15% of the top 100 websites and 25% of the video
Seems like a waste of time for the Opera developers. They know it'll never be released via the App Store. Why not put the resources into making Opera on other (more open) platforms better?
@(Unverified)
because its the new troll. a company forcing its product on another company using scare tactics. adobe is doing it, now opera. i am sure many others will join in. the more the better as it advertises to the world what is bad about iphone/touch.
there are allready some other browsers on appstore, but all are probably using safari core.
But i think Opera will try to realese it and if Apple will ban it, they will simply sue them and they will have VERY BIG chance to win.
Apple now owns dominant position on some relevant markets (like mobile internet device), even Steve Jobs said this on his iPad presentation. So thay can win simply as they win over Microsoft in EU and the situation could be similar to VoIP ban and accusing Apple and AT&T by FCC
The government sued Microsoft for browser/software monopoly... why is Apple allowed to block browser/software functionality or distribution?
@Drybonz
Because their smartphone and desktop operating systems don't have anywhere near the marketshare that Windows had early last decade so everyone turns a blind eye to it. I agree, it's complete and utter bullshit, but it's the way it works.
There's still a nice little alternate browser (with full-screen browsing and in-page text search) called the iCab available in the App Store. Maybe there's a slim chance that Opera might get approved too, though Apple isn't usually nice towards its competitors...
Here is what I don't get... MS got their butts sued off for pushing I.E. and a bunch of other pieces of software with their OS many years ago which culminated in a complete diversification of Microsoft and it's varying components. Why is Apple able to get away with similar tricks on their OS's? Is it because they are a completely closed system where as they dev the hardware and the software that they can get away with it? Or that compared to MS they are still a small operation in the sense of market share? Otherwise I see no reason why they are getting away with refusing competing software on their platforms.
Wait. There aren't web browsers on the App Store? Like you have to use Opera? Excuse my ignorance, I don't have an iPhone, I just assumed you'd be able to used an alternative web browser. Seems kinda stupid to me.
@kenny goo
There's at LEAST 3 (iCab, Journey, Perfect Browser) but probably a lot more.
A mobile version of Opera, and possibly able to include flash, distributed on cydia would be awesome. even a mobile version of Firefox would be nice :)
Why does everyone think they aren't going to approve it? There are hundreds of web browser apps on the app store. This will obviously get approved. Now all we need after this is chrome...