Browser Battle: Opera Submits Mini Browser For iPhone Approval

There’s an iPhone browser break out beginning, with Opera Software submitting its Opera Mini 5 browser/app for the iPhone to the App Store. All that’s left is to wait and see if Apple will approve the Safari-competing browser.

Apple’s official policy is to refuse to carry apps which duplicate what it calls “key functionality’ supplied by the company’s own iPhone solutions.

Opera hopes to force Apple’s hand in this, arguing that to refuse to support a competing browser Apple would be being anti-competitive.

Opera Mini 5 for the iPhone up to six times faster than Safari on the iPhone. This is because Opera Mini compresses data by up to 90 per cent before sending it to the phone, resulting in rapid page loading.

If Apple refuses approval Opera has already said it will simply distribute it via jailbroken App Store, Cydia.

The video below offers a preview of Opera Mini on the iPhone, including a feature overview and a real world speed test.