Fat lady not singing on the iPhone

Davey Winder
Friday, 31 October 2008 16:52

IT Industry - Market

Despite Opera engineering a version of Opera Mini that works just fine on the iPhone, Apple has apparently decided not to allow iPhone users to browse with anything other than Safari.

Now that has a distinct smell of Microsoft about it, does it not?

Of course, it is not the first time that Apple has blocked an application because it competes with  proprietary software. An app called Podcaster was blocked, according to Apple, because it "duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes."

So much for the App Store inclusion rules that state porn and malicious applications are not allowed, while thousand dollar rip-offs are (albeit only until a media outcry changed its mind) - but there is no mention of 'dupes' as this kind of software is now being called.

As the Podcaster app developer says "I find this a bit strange considering there are numerous apps that duplicate the functionality of other apps. For example, any calculator app is duplicating the functionality of Apples calculator app... Any app that let's you listen to music is duplicating the iPod portion of the iPhone."

So where does this leave Opera? Well, as much as it would have liked to have found a way onto the iPhone I cannot see this making too much of a dent in the business plan. It is already moving into the world of web browsers on TV, for example.

And von Tetzchner reckons the next big thing for Opera will be browsers in your car, linked to WiFi enabled GPS navigation systems. The fat lady has not started singing for Opera, that much is certain.