Opera Helps You Conserve Data Usage With Latest Mobile Browser

Opera realizes that wireless carriers are placing limits on how much data is included with many smartphone plans. In an effort to give users the mobile web without going over their data limits, Opera has released the latest version of the Opera Mini browser. The latest version, 6.5, is available for iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Java-enabled phones. In addition, the Opera Mobile 11.5 browser is now available on Symbian S60.

If you're not familiar with Opera Mini and Opera Mobile, both offer cost saving features that help reduce your data consumption. With Opera Mini, remote servers compress webpages before sending them to your phone, thereby using less data. With Opera Mobile, you'll still have some cost-saving features but you'll get the added ability to turn them on and off.

Dodge your data cap

Save money with new versions of Opera for phones out now

Oslo, Norway — November 2, 2011

The heady days of free data usage at a fixed price are drawing to an end, but, fret not, as you can still enjoy the mobile web experience. Today, Opera Software released the Opera Mini browser in version 6.5 for iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Java-enabled phones. As an added bonus, the Opera Mobile 11.5 browser is now also available on Symbian S60. Fresh off the heels of releasing Android versions, the new browser now enables consumers to keep better track of data costs when surfing the Web. By saving up to 90% of data cost, Opera Mini lets you save money and more:

• Short on battery and no charger in sight? Turn off the 3G option for the rest of the day, and use Opera Mini to surf — saving battery and time.
• Want to keep more cash in your pocket each month? Cancel the all-you-can-eat data plan and conserve data by skipping videos and by using Opera Mini to surf instead of using apps.
• Did you read the story about the $200,000 phone bill from roaming? So did we. Our suggestion for roaming; turn off data usage until you really need it, and if you do, use Opera Mini to conserve as much data as possible. And, don’t watch videos on your phone.

Opera Mini 6.5 and Opera Mobile 11.5 both contain a nifty feature to keep track of your data usage. A data counter, located under the “Help” menu in both products let you keep a tally of your web surfing usage. Two different counters, one for total usage and one for temporary usage, let you stay in charge of your data usage if you need to watch the data cap or costs.

“There are a lot of ways to save money on your mobile phone bill and avoid getting hit with nasty coverage charges on your cell phone bill and the new data counter in Opera Mini and Opera Mobile is one of those tools,” says Phillip Grønvold, Product Manager for Mobile, Opera Software. “The data counter instantly shows people how much they have saved, and I guess a really good press release would make that more important, but the PR people told me to stick it all the way down here.”

You’re a star, baby!

Oh, look there! What’s that star in the address field in the Opera browsers? Well, the star lets you easily add bookmarks or new Speed Dial shortcuts for easy access to your most used websites. Speed Dial is the super-handy way of reaching your most-used websites, through nine thumbnail icons greeting you as soon as you start the browser. Time saved, hassle saved.

The little differences

So, what’s the difference between Opera Mini and Opera Mobile? Glad you asked! With Opera Mini, the cost-saving compression is always turned on. There are computers located in cool locations such as Iceland that squeeze the webpages down before sending them in smaller (and thereby cheaper) packages to your phone. This also enables less-capable feature phones to view full webpages, where the built-in browser can’t. Opera Mobile has cost-saving features too, but here you can turn them on and off, making the browser more like the Opera Turbo feature in your Opera desktop browser.

The Opera Mini 6.5 browser is now available in the Apple App Store, Android Market and for download at m.opera.com for Symbian S60, Java-enabled phones and BlackBerry phones.

The Opera Mobile browser is available at the Android Market and at m.opera.com for Symbian S60 phones.