On October 27^th, the BITS section of the New York Times published an interview with Opera’s co-founder and chief executive Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner, who discussed several matters, such as the future of web browsers, especially those which are meant for mobile devices. It is mentioned that they developed a version of Opera Mini for the iPhone, however, it was surprising to read that it was rejected due to the fact that it represents a direct competition for Safari web browser.

It has been known that Apple has rejected several apps claiming that those applications “reply core functionality” of apps that are already installed on the iPhone or iPod touch. Gmail App or Podcasting app come to my mind.

I think that is a not so smart move by Apple, because it represents a limitation for developers, making them lose interest on developing new applications for that particular platform. It’s also considered non-ethic, because it is limiting competition and gives the impression to be a bit like a monopoly, mostly because Opera Mini could bring something interesting to customers which could differentiate it from the native web browser Safari. The ones that get more affected are precisely us, the consumers, who should have the freedom of choosing between different options, the one that best suits our needs. For example, on my Nokia E71 I have installed three different browsers: the default browser from Nokia, Opera Mini, and Skyfire. I have been using my device for around a month, so I haven’t been able to decide which browser is the best one for me, only time will tell.

Apple launched the iPhone on June of 2007 with its revolutionary multi-touch UI, it became a milestone in the mobile phone industry, almost getting to the point of setting a new standard from which to manufacture mobile phones. They have been known for being the only strong competition against the software giant Microsoft, as well as for being a company that has come back from being almost dead, which could be the reason why they have become so selfish in terms of letting other developers work with Apple’s Operating Systems, they have achieved a lot by themselves and they are happy with it.

Opera has been in the browser business for 13 years, their PC browser isn’t the best in the market (especially competing against Firefox), but they have done a good job with mobile browsing with Opera Mobile and with Opera Mini, which allows users to save on data costs by sending a simplified version of the web page visited. Everyday, Opera Mobile and Opera Mini are being installed on mobile phones around the world, which has made this company the a user favorite in terms of mobile browsing.

You can read the whole article here; it’s an interesting read, especially where Jon Stephenson talks about the future of web browsing.