Opera Mini 4.2 in 12 Indian languages

OSLO, NORWAY: With the release of Opera Mini 4.2, Indians can now surf the Web in their own language. The latest prodigy in Opera’s mobile browser family promises to heighten the mobile Web experience due to improvements in speed, video support and Opera Link functionality, in addition to its availability on the Android platform.

Since the launch of the beta version of Opera Mini 4.2 earlier this month, speed trials have shown that this version gives more than 30 percent speed improvements for users in the US, due to the addition of a new Opera Mini server park in the United States. Indian users will also benefit from noticeable speed improvements when browsing sites of American or Indian origin.

Opera Mini 4.2 has special significance for the Indian market, as the browser is now available in 12 different languages native to India.

“With the Web in their hands, countries such as India that are considered “emerging markets” aren’t so emerging anymore,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “India has embraced Opera Mini as one of the easiest and most cost effective ways of accessing the Internet, in a place where the infrastructure makes it otherwise difficult. To make it even easier for residents of India to get the most out of the Web, we’ve ensured that they can surf in their own language.”

India currently ranks third in worldwide Opera Mini usage. According to Opera’s latest State of the Mobile Web report, people in India use their phones to search, primarily via Google or Yahoo!.

The October 2008 report showed that more Indians now use their phones to access India Rail’s train schedules. India remains consistently amongst the top three countries using Opera Mini, as the mobile phone is commonly the primary tool for accessing the Web throughout the region.

Highlights of Opera Mini 4.2:
• Already available in Hindi, Opera Mini 4.2 is also now available in Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Kashmiri.
• Funky new skins for personalizing the look of Opera Mini.
• Opera Link support for notes, allowing users to sync their notes between the PC and Opera Mini.
• Improved real time streaming protocol (RTSP) handoff.

The far-reaching popularity of Opera Mini continues to grow month after month. Opera reports that 21 million unique users browsed five billion pages in October 2008 alone, totaling a remarkable 490 percent increase since October 2007. Millions of people have already discovered the power of Opera Mini; it’s time for the rest of the world to enjoy the Web on the small screen.

Opera Mini 4.2 is ready and waiting for download at  http://www.opera.com/mini/