Opera launches faster browser version, eyes more Indian users

Norwegian software company Opera Software ASA today said it has launched a faster version of its Opera Mini browser which also supports 13 Indian languages.
The new version comes with built-in ad-block setting which enables the browser to provide up to 72 per cent faster web surfing, the company's Director of International Product Marketing Kiran Dhillon told reporters here.
The ad-block feature blocks unwanted advertisements that pop up when a browser is opened, thereby consuming less Internet data and making browsing faster, she claimed.
"Ad-block can enhance mobile performance and make browsing faster. This new, faster version of 'Opera Mini' also comes with new updates such as support for 13 Indian languages, as we feel the next billion users will come from non-English background... It is specifically for Indian market where Internet speed is much slower than global average," Dhillon said.

Opera also uses "compression technology" to enhance browsing speed by compressing a web page to 10 per cent of its size, Dhillon said.
"We have a separate server called 'Thor' which is based in Iceland where the web page is compressed without any data loss," she said.

Dhillon said with only 10 per cent in India using English as a preferred language, Opera has been made available in 13 languages.
The web browser, with 350 million users world-wide, has nearly 50 million users in India, making it an important market for the company, she said.
The company is betting big on India where nearly 84 per cent use mobile phones to access Internet, Dhillon added.