Opera brings Google search to mobile browsers

From this weekend, on 1 March 2008, Google will become the default search engine in Opera’s mobile Web browsers. Now anyone using Opera Mobile or Opera Mini will be able to access Google’s mobile search directly from the browser start page…

Getting information when you need it, whenever and wherever you need it, quickly and easily, is the strategy behind the trimmed-down Opera mobile web browser, Opera Mini. Opera announced yesterday that, on 1 March 2008, Google will become the default search engine in Opera’s mobile Web browsers.

Opera Mini’s ongoing success is proof of the mobile Web’s adoption by mainstream consumers. Because it targets feature phones that have traditionally possessed limited browsing capabilities, millions of people have made the personal choice to download and install Opera Mini to their phones. These consumers tend to use the mobile Web more frequently and actively than consumers with more static, less dynamic mobile Web browsers.

Every month, Opera Mini users browse more than 1.7 billion pages, with much of that traffic generated through the search function in the browser.

Google has been the default search option on Opera’s desktop browser for seven years. This new mobile collaboration covers all global territories except Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, and includes all of Opera’s standard mobile Web browsers.

“Google and Opera have established a valuable relationship over the years and we look forward to continued collaboration on mobile products,”” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera.

“”With 2008 poised to be the year the mobile Web goes mainstream, Google and Opera are extending this collaboration to give our users immediate access to the quality and convenience of Google’s search results. We’re excited to extend this productive relationship and we hope that the nearly 100 million people using our mobile products will agree.””

The Opera Mini Difference

Opera’s Mobile Web Portfolio

Opera’s two mobile products, Opera Mini and Opera Mobile, have set a standard for mobile Web browsing on both feature phones and smartphones.

More than 35 million cumulative users have downloaded Opera Mini, which delivers the Web faster to a phone, and also displays the page just as it looks in a desktop browser. Opera Zoom dives into the content for easy reading and interaction. Opera Mini now also includes Opera Link, a free service that synchronises bookmarks, Speed Dial and a personal bar between all your Web browsers.

Mobile has shipped on more than 100 million mobile phones so far. In 2007, more than 55 new phone models were launched with Opera Mobile pre-installed as the default Web browser.

Availability

Opera Mini is available completely free from the Opera Mini web site. Opera Mobile is also available from Opera in a free trial on select platforms. Google will appear as the default search engine for new and current users of Opera Mini as of 1 March 2008.

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