On the heals of being labeled the new IE6, Mobile Safari is going to be facing some stiff competition soon. That is, if Opera has their way, and Apple decides to let the application through the approval process, which is something that the Opera community Manager Espen André Øverdahl is a little skeptical about. He’s so skeptical that he’s decided to comment about the application possibly not even making it to the appstore because Apple won’t allow it.
Apparently I’m not the only one that finds it a little bit funny that a company as successful as Opera has decided to start circling the wagons before their application has even been submitted. I know there’s still a lot of kinks to be worked out of the approval process, but a lot has changed since the last mobile Opera fiasco two years ago. At one end of the spectrum the Opera folks could be preparing their die-hard fans for a possible disappointment, but on the other, they could be trying to increase pressure on Apple for their closed practices, and their lack of allowing applications that compete with Apple Inc’s core programs. Whichever it is, there will surely be some fallout in the coming weeks as Opera submits their program for review.
I’m a big fan of competition in a market, so I’d personally welcome Opera to the iPhone. Hopefully it can push the medium much like Firefox pushed Internet Explorer.
