Opera Software is distributing a free beta version of a lightweight, Java-based mobile Web browser in Scandinavia, with worldwide distribution planned soon. The tiny Opera Mini browser offers a full Web experience on any low- or mid-range phone that can run Java apps, the company says.

(Click for larger view of Opera Mini screenshot)

Opera Mini has a footprint of 50-100KB, the company says, and supports J2ME (Java 2 micro edition) MIDP (mobile information device profile) 1.0 and 2.0. The normal Opera Mobile browser, in contrast, has a footprint of 1-2MB.

The Opera Mini browser works through proxy servers that are currently hosted by Opera. The proxies translate Web pages into OBML (Opera Binary Markup Language) before sending them to the phone. OBML includes compressed images, and eliminates the need for the Opera Mini client to do error handling — since HTML is not a parsed variant of SGML, much of a normal browser's workload involves handling non-well-formed HTML.

Several other mobile browser companies, including Good Technology, use a similar client-server approach, with CPU-intensive error handling done on the server side. Good was included in a 2004 list of top privately held US companies.

The mini browser uses Opera's small screen rendering technology to improve Web-page usability on low-end displays, the company says.

Example of Opera browser's Small Screen Rendering. The left image indicates how a normal web page tends to display on a phone's tiny LCD; the right image shows how SSR renders the page.
(click each image for a larger view)

Opera says the Mini supports OTA installation, making it as easy to install as a ringtone. Users can use WAP browsers or SMS clients to download the software.

Opera says its Mini browser will help carriers increase ARPU (average revenue per customer) by allowing low- and mid-range phone users to access the full Web. The company estimates that 700 million existing phones are capable of using the software.

The company says it will customize Opera Mobile for mobile operators, broadcasters, content providers, and Internet companies who wish to offer branded versions of the mini browser to their customers.

“Mobile Web surfing has until now been limited to more advanced phones that are capable of running a browser,” said Opera CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner. “With Opera Mini you don't have to have an advanced phone to surf the Web, which means that most people can use it with their existing phones.”

Availability

Opera Mini is currently beta testing, and can be downloaded here. Opera Mini technology was first announced in August, when it debuted in Norway as part of television station TV2's launch of mobile services.

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