Opera introduces browser for Android platform

Rating: Boost for Google initiative

Norway’s Opera Software has announced that its Opera Mini browser is now available for the Android platform. So there’s now an easy way of adding a browser to any Android based handset.
True to the spirit of the Open net community, Opera is inviting developers to test the first build and share feedback with Opera for a forthcoming beta version.
“Opera Mini will be able to empower users of Android-based handsets with access to all of their favourite web sites with popular features for smooth effects and scalable, tailored viewing, ” claimed Jon von Tetzchner, Opera Software’s CEO.
Opera aims to put desktop-like web surfing onto not just high powered phones but also entry level models too. It claims the browser boasts a number of advantages including integrated Google search.
The company claims that the Opera Mini browser has been downloaded to more than 40 million users worldwide.
This announcement will give a welcome boost to the Open Handset Alliance which was created to push the Google Android platform. The initiative has been flagging recently and Google’s Robert Hamilton hardly mentioned it at a recent press roundtable with 3 UK and Sony Ericsson.
The Opera Mini for Android technical preview software is available from http://labs.opera.com.