Opera Mini 6 Hits iPad And iPhone

Opera has released Opera Mini 6 for iOS, including an iPad version as well as support for the iPhone 4 Retina Display. The new browser has an updated UI with tabbed, thumbnailed browsing and smoother pinch-zooming and panning. There's also the ability to open new pages in background tabs.

Opera has also added in new direct share functionality, making it easier to share webpages with Facebook, Twitter and its own My Opera service. The browser was first released back in March with a tablet version for Android-based slates; if you've always been confused between Mini and the Opera Mobile browser, this one uses the company's compression servers to slim down data usage.

Safari on the iPhone and iPad has always been a patchy user experience, rendering well but with a stripped down UI that could make for sluggish operation, so we're always glad to see alternatives. Opera Mini 6 for iOS is a free download [iTunes link] from the App Store.

Press Release:

Opera Mini makes its encore performance on iOS

Oslo, Norway – May 24, 2011 – Today, the Opera Mini 6 browser for iOS joined the Opera band and is available to download for free from the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad.

The Opera Mini mobile browser provides a different kind of browsing experience to complement the default iPad and iPhone browser. It features up to 90% compression of data traffic for speed and cost savings, making both your patience and wallet happy on slower connections or when roaming.

So Opera Mini is ready to chime in and sing harmony when you are on a slow connection, crowded network, paying per megabyte for browsing, or simply want to save time and money.

Have an iPhone 4? Our browser adapts to the high resolution and changes the user interface to accommodate the screen size. How about iPad? Yep, the Opera Mini 6 browser will switch to a more convenient view for tablet handling.

The chorus of Opera Mini users gave feedback and we listened. Like the rest of the Opera Mini 6 lineup, the iOS version features:

- Much faster and smoother panning and zooming that lets the user get all the way into the details of every page, in one smooth motion

- Share buttons to share the love for a site to your friends on My Opera, Facebook, Twitter or vKontakte right from the Opera Mini 6 browser

- New jazzed-up skin and redesigned Opera menus

Backstage, Opera's engineers have tuned the browser and created a faster and more fluid user experience. Scrolling and panning are ultra fast, even on the largest webpages, for instant access. On iOS, the Opera Mini 6 browser is submitted as a single download for all iOS devices.

What we are saying:

"I would compare it to walking onto the stage and hearing the roar of the crowd," said Opera's, CEO Lars Boilesen, when describing the feeling of letting the Opera Mini 6 browser out on stage in the App Store. "We have put in a lot of rehearsal and clever thought behind the new experience. The Opera Mini browser has always kicked up the tempo when downloading pages; now the browsing flows along to a smooth, easy beat."

Rockin' the app store

The Opera Mini 5 browser for iOS launched in April 2010, to the delight of screaming fans who threw their underwear at the stage, racking up more than a million downloads at the Apple app store in the first 24 hours. Super fast browsing, cost savings on data traffic and unmatched user experience leads to a Woodstock-like download rush.

During that time, the Opera Mini browser topped the charts in every Apple App Store globally.

Now, it is Opera Mini 6's turn to get its name up in lights.