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Opera Goes Free

Opera has long been winning plaudits for its fast, secure web browser, but the problem was, only the most dedicated web-head had ever tried it. Standing in the way of world domination was a) convincing people that IE wasn’t the only browser on the planet (difficult) b) the fact that you had to pay for it, or put up with a version strwen with advertising.

That’s all changed with an ad-free, fully-featured Opera browser is now available for download – completely free of charge – at http://www.opera.com.

“Today we invite the entire Internet community to use Opera and experience Web browsing as it should be,” said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “Removing the ad banner and licensing fee will encourage many new users to discover the speed, security and unmatched usability of the Opera browser.”

“Opera fans around the globe made this day possible,” said von Tetzchner. “As we grow our userbase, our mission and our promise remain steadfast: we will always offer the best Internet experience to our users - on any device. Today this mission gains new ground.”

Cynics have suggested that the move to make Opera free was because it could not compete with other browsers on the market which have always been free. Opera deny this, claiming instead that the browser have acheived such a high level of market penetration that they can now afford to fund the software through affiliates alone.

Who knows where the truth lies. All we care about is that another great alternative to IE is now freely available.

About the Opera Browser

Already regarded as the world’s fastest, most secure browser, Opera speeds up your Web browsing with these innovative features:

- Navigate quickly using intuitive mouse gestures and browser tabs
- Start from where your last browsing session ended or save your entire session
- Access downloaded files quickly with the transfer manager
- Protect against identity theft and phishing with integrated security features
- Speak up: surf the Web hands-free using voice commands
- Shop Amazon, browse Ebay, and search the Web with Google right from the address bar
- Set reminders for Web pages you visit with the notes feature

Add comment September 21st, 2005

Daftly-named Dell iPod Rival

We love the look of the new Dell iPod Shuffle rival, but we hate the name - Dell DJ Ditty. What are they thinking of? The iPod is all style and no substance, but by branding their mp3 player like a kid’s ‘my first music box’ Dell have missed a trick.

The DJ Ditty itself looks like a solid offering. 512MB capacity allows the storage of up to 220 mp3 or WMA files, and it has a nice 26×11mm blue-glow screen to allow you to actually see what is playing (one up on the Shuffle there). It’s based on the Creative FX120, so features a 2.5 hour recharge time over USB 2.0.

The equivalently priced Shuffle only holds 120 songs, so the DJ Ditty stacks up well against its rival. The Dell also has a built-in FM tuner, so it wins all round. The only downside is its incompatibility with iTunes which rules it out of a large part of the market.

The Dell DJ Ditty will probably fail to dent the iPod’s market share despite its feature set. If only Dell had come up with a better name.

Add comment September 21st, 2005