It is maybe not the revolution that a lot of Open source and Digital Freedom supporters are hoping for, but the Norwegian software corporation Opera is trying to shake things up at Apple.
Opera is known for its popular web browser which, although doesn’t have a big market share, has managed to build a good reputation in the software industry, especially on mobile devises where it is probably the most used mobile browser in the world with more 25% of the market as of this date.
Looking at the statistics presented by statcounter.com, the iPhone browser comes in a second place with almost 21.5% of the market. But Apple has a strong advantage over the other smartphones and it only allows the use of its own internal web browser to surf the web on iPhones.
So if Opera would be allowed to access the Apple App market, and with that all the iPhone, iPod Touch and future iPad consumers, they would hit a huge potential market when it comes to mobile OS. And this exactly what they intend to do. But it is unfortunately not so easy. As every other app, the have to go trough the Apple App Store approval process, something that isn’t that easy to get.
After completing their newest mobile browser versions, Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10, they are now trying to get Opera Mini 5 out on the Apple App market. They submitted the application 4 days ago hoping to finally get trough their approval process, and finally break the browser monopoly Apple holds on its iPhone OS?
Thanks to the EU, we have seen it done on Microsoft Windows, where before their operative system came exclusively installed with Internet Explorer, now are forced to inform the consumers about alternatives like, among other web browsers, Opera. Why should Apple avoid having to do the same thing as Microsoft?
Since we have entered day 4 of the waiting, we cannot yet see Opera as the Grand Revolution in the Apple Apps market we where hoping. But still, hope is still in the air, and if Opera does succeed, it will probably manage to change to Mobile OS market and bring it to a new direction. Maybe not a revolution, but definitely a good step towards an open digital society, away from closed architectures and Corporate control.
Posted on March 27, 2010
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