Oslo, Norway-based Web browser company Opera Software will switch from using Internet media company  Yahoo's search engine, which it has used since January 2007, to that of search leader Google as the default choice for its mobile device customers using the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile browsers, the firm announced Wednesday. Beginning March 1, 2008 new and existing users of both Opera's free Mini browser, which operates on less powerful Web capable cell phones, and the firm's flagship Mobile browser, will find Mountain View, California-based Google set as their default means of searching the Web, accessible directly from the browser start page. Google Search Part of Opera's Big Mobile Web Year Jon S. von Tetzchner is the award-winning co-founder and CEO of Opera Software, the Norwegian company that builds the Web browser Opera, and on Wednesday he noted the advantages Google search will bring to his firm's mobile customers. "Google and Opera have established a valuable relationship over the years and we look forward to continued collaboration on mobile products," noted von Tetzchner, who predicts that 2008 could be a big year for mobile Web growth, in a statement. "With 2008 poised to be the year the mobile Web goes mainstream, Google and Opera are extending this collaboration to give our users immediate access to the quality and convenience of Google's search results. We're excited to extend this productive relationship and we hope that the nearly 100 million people using our mobile products will agree," von Tetzchner added. Von Tetzchner believes that 2008 could be the biggest year yet for the mobile Web, and his firm hopes to play off the success of its Opera Mini browser, who's 35 million users display more than 1.7 billion Web pages every month, with much of that volume coming directly from the search function in the browser, according to Opera. Opera Has Partnership History With Google Opera Software was founded in 1995 by von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsøy. Ivarsøy and von Tetzchner had both  worked at Norwegian Telecom Research (Telenor), where von Tetzchner was a research scientist beginning in 1991, and a year before founding the Opera company the two developed the Web browser that would become the Opera browser released to the public in 1996. In 2001 Opera chose Google to be the default search engine on its desktop-based Web browser. The mobile deal with Google announced Wednesday, good for two years, will affect all of Opera's mobile browsers except for service in Russia and member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States such as Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, Opera said. Getting The Big Picture On A Small Screen Opera's mobile browsers display precise miniature versions of Web sites, and use a feature the company calls Opera Zoom to magnify portions of Web pages. Opera Mini includes a free service for keeping personal browser settings synchronized across both desktop and mobile setups. Opera Mobile, which launched its new 9.5 version this month, is intended primarily for smartphones using the Windows Mobile or Symbian platforms. More than 100 million mobile devices from makers such as Motorola, Sony, and HTC have shipped with the Opera Mobile browser installed, and 2007 saw more than 55 new cell phone models launch with the company's software pre-installed. Von Tetzchner Insightful Speaker Von Tetzchner speaks regularly at technology conferences and trade shows on the many areas in which he has expertise, including: - The Opera browser
- The Web industry and its technologies
- The browser marketplace
Notable past speaking engagements included a keynote address at WebmasterWorld's 2006 PubCon search marketing event in Las Vegas. Opera Fairing Well After the Opera 8 browser was launched it took less than six days for one million people to download the software, making it the most successful launch in the company's history at the time. Part of the highly successful launch may have been due to a challenge von Tetzchner's issued beforehand promising to swim from Norway across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States if the new version of the Opera browser was downloaded over a million times within six days. When the lofty target download goal was met, von Tetzchner took action on his promise, first saying, "Although I blatantly admit that my promise was based more on joy and enthusiasm than my swimming abilities and physical health, I will do my very best to keep it," and soon after making the plunge into the "freezing Oslofjørd" where he swam towards the United States in a gesture of good will towards all those who had helped with the successful Opera launch. This was done as "as an act of guilt after making the CEO's statement public," according to the Opera Web site. Google Replaces Yahoo For Opera Mobile Search The switch to Google search on Opera mobile browsers could mean up to 135 million fewer Yahoo search users, who will have to manually navigate to Yahoo in order to continue using it. Opera drew criticism from some of its mobile browser customers a year ago when it switched to Yahoo for search after having used Google previously. Some analysts speculated Wednesday that by making the move to Google for its mobile search default, Opera may be considering the possibility that Microsoft's hostile takeover bid for Yahoo will succeed, leaving the Norwegian firm with a connection to the world's largest software maker known for making one of Opera's biggest competing browsers, Internet Explorer. Rival Mozilla also uses Google as the default search provider in its Firefox desktop browser, as does Apple with its Safari browser. Nokia said recently that it will use Google search on a number of its cell phones. Yahoo has signed agreements to provide search for AT&T and for T-Mobile in Europe. The global mobile device and smartphone market is expected to surpass laptop computer popularity, and grow by over 30 percent each of the next five years, according to a study by market research company In-Stat. Related Links:
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