Opera are apparently to launch a new browser, codenamed Ice, which runs WebKit instead of their own Presto, to work on iOS and Android. Although they haven't officially announced it, I'd guess the reasoning is this: Opera need a presence on iOS beyond Opera Mini (which is a proxy browser rather than a full browser), and Apple won't allow non-WebKit browsers on iOS. So this is an inevitable result of proprietary OS platforms excluding competitors. On Android they have Opera Mobile, but it's not pre-installed and provides no clear benefits to the end user over the stock browser or Chrome. They have to differentiate themselves on both platforms, so the browser has a completely new UI; it's more like an OS in miniature, or an app launcher. It perhaps makes more sense on devices like Smart TV, where Opera already has a strong presence. If my assumptions are correct, I understand why this is happening; but it scares me that the mobile browser landscape is skewed so heavily towards one browser. I really hope that Firefox OS is a success. I wonder if Ice does enough to justify its existence. The new UI is quite nice, but is it sufficient to tempt people away from Safari/Chrome? Users have tended to be quite resistant and/or uninterested in 'non-standard' browser UI in the past. The big question is: does this show the first signs of a move towards WebKit in other areas such as Smart TV? And if so, will they eventually abandon Presto altogether?

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• Andy Davies ✖

Opera Ice: New browser for Android and iPhone coming Februa…

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. It is an attempt to stay relevant and take the fight to Google and Apple in the mobile browser stakes. pocket-lint.com Visit link →

• Opera are apparently to launch a new browser, codenamed Ice, which runs WebKit instead of their own Presto, to work on iOS and Android.
• Although they haven't officially announced it, I'd guess the reasoning is this: Opera need a presence on iOS beyond Opera Mini (which is a proxy browser rather than a full browser), and Apple won't allow non-WebKit browsers on iOS. So this is an inevitable result of proprietary OS platforms excluding competitors.
• On Android they have Opera Mobile, but it's not pre-installed and provides no clear benefits to the end user over the stock browser or Chrome.
• They have to differentiate themselves on both platforms, so the browser has a completely new UI; it's more like an OS in miniature, or an app launcher. It perhaps makes more sense on devices like Smart TV, where Opera already has a strong presence.
• If my assumptions are correct, I understand why this is happening; but it scares me that the mobile browser landscape is skewed so heavily towards one browser. I really hope that Firefox OS is a success.
• I wonder if Ice does enough to justify its existence. The new UI is quite nice, but is it sufficient to tempt people away from Safari/Chrome? Users have tended to be quite resistant and/or uninterested in 'non-standard' browser UI in the past.
• The big question is: does this show the first signs of a move towards WebKit in other areas such as Smart TV? And if so, will they eventually abandon Presto altogether?

Andy Davies

With more people focusing on webkit as a rendering engine won't it's quality and richness improve, and developer workload decrease?

Opera can still keep their own network stack with links to their proxy if they want - Google as it's own network stack on iOS

On the presto question I guess it depends on how profitable the business of porting it to other platforms e.g. less rich phones, games consoles etc. is.

But I've never cared that much about Opera so that undoubtably influences my opinion.

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