Opera Mini continues to evolve and has reclaimed its identity in latest version, which is only available for Android right now.
The latest version of Opera Mini takes on the flat, modern design scheme of Android 5.0 Lollipop to give the browser a "native" feel. The arrival of the browser's refresh comes on its 10th birthday, as Opera Mobile was born back in 2005.
"Just like our phones, we're not done evolving. The past decade has taught us that we can continue to develop new and exciting ways to make browsing the Web simpler, safer and faster," states Opera's Christian Uribe. "Our vision is still the same: get the Web into the hands of everyone, regardless of their device."
Back in 2005, Opera "dared to dream" of a mobile browser that could bring desktop content to mobile devices in a meaningful way, according to Uribe. The ultimate goal was to make the Internet available on any mobile device, which was a lot more complex a decade ago, he stated.
"There were over 10 different operating systems on mobile phones, and each mobile phone manufacturer had its own view on how content should be displayed in the time of restricted WAP access," states Uribe.
In recent years, little seemed to distinguish Opera Mini and Opera Mobile. Since its release in 2005, Opera Mini sought to set itself apart from its stablemate by offering a more robust browsing experience.
The design of the latest version of Opera Mini focuses on scalability, allowing the mobile browser to scale past big-faced phablets up to full-sized tablets. That higher end of its range is now reserved for it and it alone, while Opera Mobile targets standard smartphones and surviving feature phones.
There are other differences between Opera Mobile and Opera Mini. Opera Mobile focuses on delivering mobile Web content as fast as it can, while Opera Mini compress Web pages to help consumers use their data plans more efficiently.
A roundup of Opera Mini for Android's features includes the following:
- Simplified menu
- Reworked speed dial of shortcuts
- An incognito browsing mode
- Optional thumb-friendly configurations
- Scalable interface
- Data counter to show data spent each day
- Improved Discover newsfeed
Along with redressing Opera Mini for its birthday, Opera announced that its expects to double its presence on Android devices by 2017.
"We aim to reach 275 million users on the Android platform by 2017, more than doubling today's user base of 130 million," says Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software. This growth will further cement Opera's position as a dominant browser in fast-growing, emerging economies."
