Opera Reinvents the Web Just as Promised, Launches Opera Unite

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 16 Jun 2009

Late last week the Opera team was announcing to the world that on June 16th (today), it will and I quote “reinvent the Web.” At the time I assumed that on the 16th, Opera will launch a cloud-based browser, and it seems that I wasn’t that far from the truth. Today, Opera launched a new and unique technology called Opera Unite.

According to Opera, with the Opera Unite technology in Opera 10, the company plans to radically extend what you can do online by harnessing the power of a properly good internet connection and the power of today’s hardware. Opera Unite, the web server on the web browser, allows the Opera team to “help define the future landscape of the Web, one computer at a time.”

If that explanation made absolutely no sense to you, Product Analyst with Opera Software, Lawrence Eng, provides a to the point explanation: “Opera Unite is a unique technology that turns any computer or device running Opera into a Web server. With Opera Unite, we are giving developers a chance to develop applications (known as Opera Unite services) that directly link people’s personal computers together, so that you can connect with one or more of your friends at the same time. It all happens through the browser, so no additional software has to be downloaded, and it will work wherever Opera works (Windows, Mac, Linux, and later mobile phones and other devices). Opera provides the platform and you provide the applications—what you create is limited only by your imagination.”

Opera Unite provides the following services for the time being:
File Sharing: you can share files over the internet in a secure manner that requires no upload.
Photo Sharing: you can share photos directly from your PC, and just as with “File sharing”, you need not upload them online.
Media Player: you can access your MP3s and playlist from any machine, no matter where you are.
The Lounge: this is a self-contained chat service that runs on your machine and can be accessed by your friends via a direct link.
Fridge: this is a virtual refrigerator where you can post notes. Share the direct link to your fridge so that others can post notes, or post notes yourself on your friends’ fridge – all notes are exchanged in real-time, securely and privately.

Opera CEO, Jon von Tetzchner, comments: “We are opening the full potential of the Web for everyone. Technology moves in distinct cycles. PCs decentralized computing away from large mainframes. Opera Unite now decentralizes and democratizes the cloud. With server capability in the browser, Web developers can create Web applications with profound ease. Consumers have the flexibility to choose private and efficient ways of sharing information. We believe Opera Unite is one of our most significant innovations yet, because it changes forever the fundamental fabric of the Web.”

You can visit the Opera Unite official web page here.
If you would like to get Opera Unite for Windows, Mac OS X or Linux, a download location is available here and here.


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