Opera Mini browser coming to the iPhone

Opera claims its new Mini browser is six times faster than Safari

Opera has confirmed that it will demonstrate a dedicated version of its Opera Mini browser for the iPhone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.

The browser developer said that its unique compression technology offers a faster and easier way to surf the web on the iPhone. It claimed that Mini is six times faster than Apple's Safari, which comes pre-installed on the handset and is currently the only browser Apple allows to be used on the device.

Opera co-founder Jon von Tetzchner explained that the new offering represents the company's push to offer the best possible browser for all mobile devices.

"This is a unique opportunity to introduce the fast, feature-rich Opera Mini experience for the iPhone. Opera's mission is to bring the web to the world and, by making Opera Mini available on yet another platform, we are one step closer, " he said.

Opera confirmed that features such as tabs, speed dial and password manager will all be included in the iPhone version to provide as much functionality as possible.

The company also plans to showcase Opera Mobile 10 beta 3 on Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile handsets, Opera Mobile 10 beta running on Android handsets, Opera Mini 5 beta running on a variety of handsets and platforms, and the cross-platform Widgets Manager beta running on Windows Mobile and S60 handsets.