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Opera makes Web content push

Tags:
3G,
Opera,
Mobile

Published: 14 Feb 2005 14:40 GMT

Opera Software has developed an application for its Web browser that helps mobile operators to push content to their subscribers.

The service, called the Opera Platform, can be used by phone operators to create a branded front page that includes Web information such as news headlines and email alerts, as well as information from the handset such as battery power and missed calls. Users only need to click once to follow links that go directly to the Web, rather than needing to separately access 3G services.

Jan Standal, a product manager at Opera Software, said the company has seen "a lot of interest" from mobile operators who are keen to use this technology to stimulate use of 3G services and to improve phone branding. One provider is already using the technology and is due to make an announcement this spring, he added.

The technology is also compatible with existing Web content, according to Opera.

But Claudia Höck, a marketing manager at Access Systems Europe, one of Opera's competitors in the mobile browser space, said it has already developed a similar technology.

"We have already been running content-pushing technology for a year at KDDI -- the second largest mobile operator in Japan," said Höck. "We have trials with operators over the world."

Last month, Opera released a beta of its next browser for Linux. The beta version of Opera 8.0, which was released for Windows in December last year, includes features such as improved Web page rendering and an updated RSS tool.