Opera Ice: New browser for Android and iPhone coming February uses WebKit (video)
EXCLUSIVE: Mobile and tablet versions set for MWC — Opera Software, the company behind the popular browser of the same name, will launch a new smartphone and tablet browser called Opera Ice in February, Pocket-lint can exclusively reveal.
Context & Ripple Effects
Opera has been iterating on mobile browsing for years, from Opera Mobile 9.5 in 2008 to an Android release with touch and location features in 2010. An iPhone version was also being discussed in 2010, making the planned February debut a convergence of those platform efforts rather than a first mobile move.
The significance is architectural as well as product-level: Opera is attaching its next Android and iPhone browser to WebKit. The report’s pickup across major technology outlets signals that the engine choice is the central competitive detail, not merely the product name.
First-order effects
- Opera Software’s mobile-browser roadmap becomes a single Android-and-iPhone product effort built on WebKit, ahead of its planned MWC launch.
- Opera users on the two platforms are positioned to receive a new browser line rather than only the earlier Android and iPhone efforts.
Second-order effects
- Using WebKit puts Opera’s differentiation burden on the browser experience and services it builds around the engine, rather than on a distinct rendering foundation.
- WebKit gains another prominent mobile-browser implementation, increasing the value of compatibility with pages and tools tuned for that engine.
Third-order effects
- If independent browser vendors continue adopting shared engines across mobile platforms, competition will shift from rendering technology toward interface design, distribution and user-facing features.
- The move is part of a mobile-web market in which platform reach can require more architectural alignment with the dominant engine ecosystem.
The trend: Mobile browsers are moving toward cross-platform products built on shared rendering engines, leaving vendors to compete at the experience layer.