Opera has recently introduced a new browser -
Coast, which is currently exclusively available for the iPad. The Norwegian company known for its synonymous browser had started off with desktop browsers, going on to make the famed Opera Mini browser that actually made feature phones smarter, and now is foraying into the TV segment. I recently had an opportunity to have a tête-à-tête with Mrunmaiy Abroal, Communications Manager - India for Opera Software. Read on for the interaction as we find out the big plans of this company.
Q. What was the need to make Coast? Was Opera Mobile not good enough for tablets?
People have been accessing the web from their computers since 1990. But with the evolution of devices and web technology, we wanted to bring about an evolution in the browser as well. Today’s websites and apps invite you to interact in new ways, but browsers have been stuck in a keyboard-and-mouse world. The web experience on tablets has been limited to browsers that are either scaled-up versions of mobile browsers or scaled-down desktop browsers.
At Opera, we are passionate about making the internet better. These outdated browsers bothered us. So we made Coast from the scratch and specifically designed for iPad. It has a minimalist and uncluttered user interface with a full canvas, large icons and attractive animations. It’s comfortable to use, looks great and is based on intuitive swipe gestures.
Q. What was the reason to make Coast only for the iPad?
When we started the Coast project iPad was the most popular tablet and Android had not yet made a big splash in the market. So it made sense to start with iPad.
Q. Will Coast also make an appearance on other platforms such as Android and Windows Phone?
As a rule, we don't comment on future road-maps. If we happen to do it, we'll let you know.
Q. Under the bonnet, does Coast use the same technologies as Opera Mini for iOS devices?
Coast is a native browser based on Web Kit.
Whereas Opera Mini uses Opera’s advanced compression technology to render webpages and reduces the amount of data downloaded on your device to a little as 10% of its original size.
Q. Tell me a bit more about Opera's foray into the TV segment.
At Opera our aim to build a seamless browsing experience for all types of connected devices.
Opera´s TV solutions allow TV OEMs to provide a superior, connected and interactive TV experience to their customers, combining full internet browsing with a cloud-based TV app store full of exciting web apps optimized for TV. For users, their TV viewing experience becomes more entertaining and connected.
Our product lineup for the TV segment is as follows:
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Opera Devices SDK, an extensible TV platform for developing connected, interactive TV solutions. We have more than 50 customers for the Opera Devices SDK, ranging from TV OEMs, middleware providers, silicon vendors and operators. Some of our major customers are Sony, Toshiba, Philips, Vestel, TCL, Loewe, Technisat, Hisense, Sharp, Panasonic and Pioneer.
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Opera TV Store, Opera's HTML 5 app platform for Smart TV devices
. It has already been shipped with Sony Bravia TVs and Blu-ray Disc players and later in 2013 will see the Opera TV Store in TVs by TCL, Humax and MediaTek.
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Opera TV Snap, a next-generation TV app technology with the ability to transform online video into apps for connected TV
. Since the launch of Opera TV Snap in July, over 100 content providers from
Dailymotion, the world´s second-largest video site, have created and submitted Smart TV apps for the *Opera TV Store using the Opera TV Snap tool and their own video content. Among the brands to jump on board and bring their online video to the TV screen quickly, easily and at no extra cost is
The North Face®.
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Opera TV Emulator, a solution which allows web developers to test HTML5 and CE-HTML content for TVs and other appliances running the Opera Devices SDK
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Opera TV browser, the full web-browsing experience for connected TVs
Q. Like Firefox, does Opera plan to introduce a mobile OS in the near future?
As a rule, we don't comment on future road-maps. If we happen to do it, we'll let you know.
Q. What is Opera's game plan to catch up with competing desktop browsers?
The increased competition in the browser market is positive for the consumers, as the browser makers are now fighting to provide the best and most innovative products.
Along those lines, Opera keeps reinventing itself and chose to adopt the WebKit engine, as well as Chromium, to focus on developing the new features and user-friendly solutions that are expected from a company that invented so many of the features used today by the browser industry at large.
Opera stays true to its goal of providing browsers that operate across devices, platforms and operating systems, while delivering a faster, more stable and flexible Internet experience than its competitors.
Q. When will Opera bring its popular mobile browser to the Windows Phone platform?
As a rule, we don't comment on future road-maps. If we happen to do it, we'll let you know.
