JaypeeOnline

The Opera Mini browser (version 5) made its debut in the Apple App Store on April 2010, recording more than a million downloads in the first 24 hours. Last Monday, Opera released a long awaited update for iOS devices – Opera Mini 6. This web browser was designed and created not to compete with the default iOS web browser – Safari but to complement it and provide a different kind of browsing experience.

Opera Mini 6 Features:

• Much faster and smoother panning and zooming that lets the user get all the way into the details of every page, in one smooth motion
• Share buttons to share the love for a site to your friends on My Opera, Facebook, Twitter or vKontakte right from the Opera Mini 6 browser
• New jazzed-up skin and redesigned Opera menus

Screenshots:
iPhone

iPad

Safari doesn’t work well on crowded WiFi networks and thats where Opera is trying to win new users. Opera Mini 6 features up to 90% of data compression which allows a much faster browsing experience and uses up much less data which very useful for iPhone or iPad users who are on slow connections and/or are roaming on limited data plans.

Another cool thing about Opera Mini 6 is that it will detect the type of device used (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad) and it will adapt to it and automatically switch screen resolutions and user interface.

I installed Opera Mini 6 on my iPhone and tried opening some of the popular websites like CNN, YouTube, NBA, etc. and compared the results with Safari and Skyfire. Based on my tests, Opera Mini 6 loaded websites considerably faster than Safari or Skyfire. Aside from it being faster than the other browsers, I love the user interface. For now, the Opera Mini 6 will be my new favorite browser on my iPhone.

Anybody else installed Opera Mini 6 on their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch? How do you like it? Based on your experience, is it much faster than Safari or other available web browsers for iOS devices? Please share your thoughts.