Opera press releases

Widgets on your mobile phone: Opera Software and Freedom Media announce world's first mobile AJAX application using Opera Platform™

Oslo, Norway and Barcelona, Spain – 14 February 2006

Opera Software, a global leader in Web browser technologies, and Freedom Media, an independent, consumer-oriented information- and service provider, today announced the world's first mobile widget application based on Opera Software's mobile AJAX authoring environment, Opera Platform™. Named “Freedom”, the application offers a collection of mobile pay-per-view services designed to increase the usability of mobile Web based services by offering a suite of widgets such as news, real-time stock prices and maps, all through a rich user interface.

Opera Software is demonstrating the Freedom application at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona this week, at Opera's stand in Hall 2, E36/37.

“Freedom is a great demonstration of how the Opera Platform™ mobile AJAX authoring environment can help operators, handset manufacturers or content providers create compelling user-oriented premium services that are not hindered by the limitations of WAP and GSM/GPRS data transfer speeds,” says Timo Bruns, EVP Mobile, Opera Software. “AJAX has become very popular on the Mac/PC platform, and it makes even more sense in the mobile space as it enables the creation of Web based services that are so fast they seem like local applications.”

The Opera Platform™ Software Development Kit (SDK) sparked the interest of mobile content providers, mobile analysts and Web developers worldwide when the beta version was released on November 15, 2005. Opera Platform™ allows developers to create platform independent applications based on well known Web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Together with XMLHttpRequest, the combination of these technologies is popularly referred to as AJAX. AJAX is a Web development technique that is increasingly used to develop new Internet services such as Google Maps and Amazon A9 Search. Opera Platform™ enables these types of rich Web applications to be developed and used on mobile phones. In addition, Developers can easily adapt existing content and Web applications to run on mobile phones using Opera Platform™.

“Using Opera Platform™ was the natural choice for us when developing the Freedom application” says Frank Rigal, CEO, Freedom Media. “With the Opera Platform™ Software Development Kit (SDK) we could quickly create a platform-independent mobile widget solution using open-standard Web technologies instead of native code for the different mobile platforms.„

Availability

At this stage, Freedom will be pre-installed on selected Nokia phones in the Norwegian market, and it will also be available as a free download for Norwegian Nokia S60 mobile owners.

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.

About Freedom Media AS

Freedom Media AS is a major player in the field of advanced content for 2,5G and 3G mobile phones. Its unique technological platform and one-click payment system allow content providers to bill their users either through a mobile operator or through 3rd party payment-solutions such as Payex/PayPal/major creditcards etc. with just a single click. Freedom offers market access to major content players, including leading scandinavian newspapers, stock exchange information, TV-channels, white/ yellow pages in addition to weather, GSM-positioning, maps and more.

Dangaard Telecom, Europe's largest distributor of Smart Phones, Mobile phones and original accessories, is a preferred partner of Freedom Media and has the exclusive rights to use and distribute the Freedom application.

Contact:
Freedom Media
Frank Rigal
CEO, Freedom Media AS
Email: frank@freedommedia.no
Dir: +47-23210461
Mobile: +47-90515273

Contact:
Opera Software
Eskil G. Sivertsen
Public Relations Manager, Mobile
E-mail: eskils@opera.com
Dir: +47 2416 4213
Mob: +47 9268 9277

PR Contacts

Norway:
Tor Odland
Communications Director
Tel: +47 2416 4242
Email: toro[at]opera.com

United States:
Michelle Valdivia Lien
Communications Manager
Tel: +1 786 208 6072
Email: michelle[at]opera.com

Japan:
Kaori Kotobuki
Communications Manager
Tel: +81 3 57 68 82 24
Email: kaorik[at]opera.com

Contact us at press08@opera.com