The company’s offerings include a white-label app store platform, content management, developer tools, content curation and financial settlement services.
Opera Software announced that is has acquired Handster Inc., a leading mobile application store platform company.

Handster, based in Northbrook, Illinois, with operations in Odessa, Ukraine, has assembled the world’s largest independent Android content library and offers services to mobile operators, device manufacturers and application stores globally. The company’s offerings include a white-label app store platform, content management, developer tools, content curation and financial settlement services.

The Handster platform supports Google Android, Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, netbook and tablet applications. Handster customers include some of the world’s largest mobile operators, mobile platform providers and device manufacturers such as MTS, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei and LG.

Launched in March this year, the Opera Mobile Store is now a top 10 mobile app store globally, serving consumers on virtually every mobile platform, including iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Java, and Symbian, as well as web content.

“Opera is evolving from being a browser company into a fully integrated mobile services company and this acquisition is an important step in that direction. We are delighted to welcome the Handster team into the Opera family. Handster will enable us to strengthen our mobile store offerings to consumers, mobile operators and handset manufacturers,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software.

“Handster could not have found a better suitor,” said Handster Founder and CEO Victor Shaburov. “The combination of our platform, along with Opera’s position in the market, will make a big impact on the mobile ecosystem, benefiting developers, publishers, operators and handset manufacturers around the world.”

Shaburov will join the Opera Mobile Consumer and Publisher management team based in San Mateo, California, USA.

Source:http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Opera-Software-acquires-Handster-Inc./5245368744

Apps are coming to TVs in a huge way, and Opera Software now gives TV original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and developers the tools they need to make the Next Big Thing on TV sets.

The company is introducing the Opera TV Store, a complete HTML5-based store solution for easy implementation into connected TVs by OEMs, and easily reached by developers and content providers.

With the Opera TV Store, developers can reach a large, installed base of compatible TVs and devices, using fast and easy tools to develop all kinds of apps. Movie trailer apps, Video on Demand apps, games, news apps, vodcast and podcast apps are now easy to develop and deliver to customers for developers using the Opera TV Store.

The Opera TV Store extends beyond connected TVs, making it an all-device experience. Running on the TV, set-top box or a Blu-ray player makes no difference for the Opera TV Store. Using the flexibility of the web platform, development and deployment of apps is done in a snap.

“Traditionally, the TV has been pretty static as a device. The era when you had to buy more expensive equipment to get new functions in the TV is over,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “New approaches to TV software, such as the Opera TV Store, makes it easier for OEMs to implement smarter functions on connected TVs and content providers to reach a wider audience with their HTML5 apps.”

For developers, the Opera TV Store means a quick and easy way to reach millions of users right in their living rooms. If a TV is based on the Opera SDK 3.1, Opera TV Store and its content is just a click away. An HTML5-based solution makes compatibility and app development quick and easy. Cloud-based storage of the users’ apps means no worries about storage, updates and upgrades, the Opera TV Store shines on all levels of connected TVs.

Running on top of the powerful Opera engine, the Opera TV Store supports HTML5, SVG, Canvas, CE-HTML and OIPF based applications that provide both the rich environment seen in desktop browsers, and the TV-specific environment developers are used to in the TV markets.

Opera TV Store is available as trial software for OEMs and Content Providers and will be shown at ShowStoppers in IFA in Berlin.

Source:http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=9374

Today, Opera released Opera.com in Traditional Chinese. All Opera.com visitors who have Traditional Chinese set as their browser language will be automatically redirected to the native language site. These users are able to enjoy receiving important product and support information from Opera.com, social networking in the My Opera online community, and reading news, sports and entertainment content from portal.opera.com in their preferred language.

Opera has strong growth in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where people use Traditional Chinese. The growth in the number of unique users of the Opera Mini mobile web browser has doubled since June 2010. Users have also shown enthusiasm in using Opera on desktop computers to enjoy a customized, fast, and safe web surfing experience. To help people learn more about Opera’s products easily, Opera.com now provides localized content to more than 30 million Traditional Chinese users around the world. The localization of Opera.com is a joint effort between Opera employees, Opera Campus Crew student volunteers, and Opera fans in Taiwan.

“Traditional Chinese users represent a fast growing community for Opera and they actively give us advice for product improvement,” says Vincent Li, Country Manager Taiwan, Opera Software. “With localized content offered by Opera.com, My Opera and Opera Portal, we hope to engage more users in their preferred language and make Opera better. Participationchanges everything.”

To connect with the Traditional Chinese Opera user community, please visit http://my.opera.com/tradchinese/forums/, and Opera’s news in traditional Chinese at http://my.opera.com/ting0619. Visitors will be able to post concerns and comments and get Opera browser tips and tricks in traditional Chinese.
About Opera Software ASA

The worldwide World Wide Web. Any device, any platform, any bandwidth, absolutely anywhere in the world — Opera Software was founded in 1994, based on the idea that access to the Web should be a universal right. Opera Software ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. 200 million people (and counting) are using the Opera, Opera Mobile and Opera Mini browsers. Participation changes everything.www.opera.com.

Source:http://www.4-traders.com/OPERA-SOFTWARE-1413232/news/OPERA-SOFTWARE-Brand-new-Opera-com-greets-users-in-Traditional-Chinese-13738145/

Opera Software is best known for its Opera Mini browser, the most widely used browser on feature phones running J2ME. However, the company also has a range of less known Opera browsers for smartphones and computers. We’ve used various Opera browsers regularly for as long as we can remember, but the fact is that most people don’t. The full Opera browser was at its height when it gave people a choice to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

If you ask us, Opera Software needs to get back on the path of giving people a choice to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. It’s time to forget about Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Do what you do best in a closer competition to Microsoft, and you can bet millions of people will appreciate it.

It’s also a well-known fact that whenever Opera Software comes up with clever interface features, Safari will eventually steal the credit anyway. If you ask us, Opera Software will soon be in serious trouble if they continue on the current path. In other words, it may be time to change the path anyway.

For our own browsing experience’s sake, as well as the Opera browser’s future, we hope Opera Software will drop WHATWG support and challenge Internet Explorer as the best W3C browser out there in the years ahead.

Source:-http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/opera-software-whatwg-support/11716.html