France Telecom and Orange are joining Opera Software in an effort to develop web browsing services on handsets. The two companies' Research and Development departments are busy defining the future of mobile browsing and the added advantages it can bring in terms of offering users mobile data services easily accessible on their handset's screen.
The R&D department of France Telecom and Orange has seized upon Opera's Platform offering. The Opera Platform concept replaces the current idle screen on handsets with an operator branded user interface based on Opera's standards-based Web technology. The most profitable operator services and local applications are integrated directly into the idle screen of the phone, placing value-added operator services closer to the end user. By using Web technology, users are provided with a mobile experience with limitless customization options for services easily developed by the existing Web developer community.
"Opera's idea of using Web technologies to develop a better, more uniform user interface and portfolio of services across our product line is very much complementary to our own approach," says Eric Dufresne, CEO, France Telecom / Orange R&D, Boston. "Opera's standards-based approach will make us able to offer users a far better end-user experience across multiple platforms, and at the same time,increasing data usage. This will be a real revenue booster that takes advantage of our investment in high-capacity networks."
The Opera Platform differs from existing and competing solutions in that it is completely based on open Web standards. As such, creating content and services is just as easy as making a normal Web page. Opera Mobile is the only true mobile browser to support both full Web browsing together with existing operator services based on the WAP2 protocol."
Posted to the site on 16th February 2005
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/12038.php