Palmtop computer maker
Psion Friday made an agreement with Norway’s
Opera Software
to put the lightweight Opera browser on its
range of mobile computers.
The addition of the Opera browser to Psion machines
means that Britain’s most successful manufacturer
of handheld computers can offer secure online
m-commerce transactions and full Web content.
With 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption
and Transport Layer Security, Opera opens the
door to online banking and other secure applications
for mobile users.
David Levin, Psion’s chief executive officer, said
the move took Psion one step closer to putting the
Internet in people’s pockets.
“This agreement will allow companies to extend the
reach of their traditional enterprise systems and
empower the ever increasing number of employees
who need to access securely their corporate network
while on the move,” said Levin.
Claes Bergstedt, Psion’s commercial director, said
the Opera browser is lean, fast, easy to use. Its
presence on Psion machines would lead to increased
uptake of the netBook and Series7 machines, he said.
Opera will become an integral part of the Series7 and
netBook range. It will also be offered as an optional
purchase to existing Series5mx users.
Against the odds, Opera Software has carved out a
significant niche in the browser market in the face
of intense competition from Microsoft and AOL. Its
browser has not only kept pace with development but
also offers features to users — such as
incremental magnification of Web pages — that are
not available elsewhere.
