Mini proves smart: Opera Mini™ Web browser for your BlackBerry™ or Treo™

Oslo, Norway - October 24, 2006

Opera Software today announced that Opera Mini™, the free Web browser for mobile phones, is available for the popular BlackBerry™ and Palm® handsets. Opera Mini™ offers BlackBerry™ and Palm® Treo™ users a faster delivery of Web pages and overall better user experience.

According to Gartner reports*, 42.1 million PDA and smartphone units shipped globally in the first half of 2006. Millions of Blackberry™ and Palm® Treo™ business users have the opportunity to potentially increase productivity and decrease data traffic cost by downloading and using Opera Mini™ on their handsets. Opera Mini™ offers faster and better page rendering while saving on memory and data usage, which reflects as a healthier handset and smaller bill for those with limited data plans. Opera Mini™ achieves this via a server-based component that compresses Web pages, ultimately reducing the size of data transferred and associated costs.

"Opera Mini™ is a no-frills, instant gateway to the World Wide Web on today's basic line of mobile phones," says Rolf Assev, Chief Commercial Officer, Opera Software. "But we see folks in the industry who are thrilled to use it on higher-end devices. People who are accustomed to mobile browsing in addition to e-mailing or texting, enjoy the speed and reliability Opera Mini™ offers on today's professional handsets. The fact is, it's a choice available to everyone, novice or pro."

Opera Mini™ launched in February this year and has since exceeded 1 billion pages viewed. There are currently more than 7 million users worldwide and industry leading operators, such as Europe's T-Mobile, are already recognizing Opera Mini™ as a valuable service enabler by installing the browser on select handsets. Usage statistics reported by Opera in August revealed that Google search is the most popular .com site visited using Opera Mini™, followed by Gmail.com, Friendster.com, MySpace.com, Yahoo Messenger and hi5.com.

"We see that users are browsing with Opera Mini™ in the same way as they are accustomed to on their desktop. They use Mini to find information or network, even bid on eBay while on-the-go," says Rolf Assev, Chief Commercial Officer, Opera Software.

With this announcement, Opera is kicking off a Your Web, Your Choice campaign. Applicants can visit http://www.opera.com/contest/operamini/ to elect their choice of currently available BlackBerry™ or Treo™ models and voice why they need Opera Mini™ to improve their on-the-go lifestyle. The best entry will be chosen by Opera to win their Opera Mini™-powered BlackBerry™ or Treo™ of choice. The closing date for this campaign is November 30th.

The browser is available for free. To download, visit http://mini.opera.com from your handset.

* Gartner press release, October 9, 2006, "Gartner Says Worldwide Combined PDA and Smartphone Shipments Market Grew 57 Percent in the First Half of 2006": http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=496997

Availability

Opera Mini™ is available free of charge via download at mini.opera.com. An Internet Data Plan is required to access the Internet. Verizon Wireless customers are currently not supported. Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) support is required for the Treo™. J2ME installation is available at http://java.sun.com/products/sjwtoolkit/download.html.

About Opera Mini™

Opera Mini™ is a free mobile Web browser designed to bring the real Web to the world's mobile phones. The free Opera Mini™ mobile Web browser was launched worldwide in January, and is available both as a free download from http://mini.opera.com as well as through pre-installments on selected handsets from leading operators and handset manufacturers such as T-Mobile, debitel and Motorola. Read more at http://www.opera.com/mini Get yours from http://mini.opera.com! Illustrations and graphics: http://www.opera.com/press/images/mini/

About Opera Software ASA

Opera Software ASA has redefined Web browsing for PCs, mobile phones and other networked devices. Opera's cross-platform Web browser technology is renowned for its performance, standards compliance and small size, while giving users a faster, safer and more dynamic online experience. Opera Software is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with offices around the world. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera at http://www.opera.com/.

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