The Web on Virtually any Phone: Opera Software Announces Worldwide Release of Opera Mini

Oslo, Norway - January 24, 2006 - Opera Software today announced the worldwide release of Opera Mini, the full Web browser that runs on almost every mobile phone, including low- and mid-end handsets. Today's global launch follows the trials of Opera Mini in the Nordics and in Germany during the fall of 2005, which resulted in a user base of over one million people. Opera Mini is available free of charge via WAP download, or for a small fee via SMS.Go to http://mini.opera.com for more information and download instructions."With Opera Mini most people can start surfing the Web with the mobile phone they have today," says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "We are proud to be the first to offer full, mobile Web browsing to the majority of the world's mobile phone users."Installing Opera Mini is as simple as downloading a ringtone or a game. You simply send an SMS or direct your phone's WAP browser to http://mini.opera.com. Opera Mini compresses Web pages by up to 80% and reformats them using Small-Screen Rendering(TM) for easy and fast browsing on small, mobile screens. For the end-user, this means faster browsing and dramatically reduced phone bills for those who pay per KB in data traffic.Opera Mini's start page features a Google search box for quick access to Web search. And the customizable bookmark list makes it easy to save and surf your favorite sites.The first trial of Opera Mini was launched in Norway in August 2005, and Michael Gartenberg, VP & Research Director of Jupiter Research, called the little, but powerful, browser "a really big breakthrough for the mobile space." Opera now also offers customized versions of Opera Mini to mobile phone operators, handset manufacturers and other companies interested in offering a branded, full mobile Web browser to their customers.AvailabilityOpera Mini is available as a free download by directing the phone's WAP browser to http://mini.opera.com. It can also be downloaded for a small fee via SMS download. Opera Mini requires that the phone supports Java.Opera Mini is available in the following languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish. More languages will be available shortly.
Official Opera Mini Web site: http://mini.opera.com
List of SMS download numbers and fees: http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/operamini/sms/
Opera Mini images for editorial use: http://www.opera.com/press/images/mini/About Opera Software ASAOpera Software ASA is an industry leader in the development of Web browser technology, targeting the desktop, mobile, PDA, home media and vertical markets. Partners include companies such as IBM, Nokia, Sony, Motorola, Adobe, Macromedia, Symbian, Sony Ericsson, Kyocera, Sharp, Motorola Metroworks, MontaVista Software, BenQ, Sendo and AMD. The Opera browser has received international recognition from users, industry experts and media for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers.Opera's browser technology is cross-platform and modular, and currently available on the following operating systems: Windows, Windows Mobile, Linux, Mac OS, Symbian OS, BREW, QNX, TRON, FreeBSD, Solaris and Mediahighway. The Opera browser is also available as a Java-based (J2ME) browser solution called Opera Mini™ for the world's 700 million Java-enabled mobile phones.Opera Software ASA is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with development centers in Linkoping and Gothenburg, Sweden. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com