Samsung Picks Opera as Mobile Browser

A new deal will put the Opera Web browser on Samsung's advanced mobile phones - and the per-phone license fee may be a huge windfall for the Oslo software developer.

Norway’s Opera Software has announced that Samsung has signed a deal to use Opera Mobile on Samsung’s mobile handsets. Although no financial terms of the deal have been released, reports carries by the Associated Press and other outlets indicate the deal includes a per-phone license fee—given that Samsung is one of the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturers, the deal could prove very lucrative for Opera.

“Our strategies in working closely across the board with major handset manufacturers, operators and directly with end users have made Opera Mobile an attractive product,” says Jon von Tetzchner, Opera Software’s CEO. “We’re proud that Opera Mobile is today’s choice for Web browsing on the latest Samsung mobile handset because of its winning user experience and form factor adaptation.”

Opera Mobile works by reformatting Web pages for viewing on the small displays common in cell phones and other mobile devices, and enabled vertical scrolling of pages to more easily access Internet content.

The Samsung deal isn’t the first handset partnership for Opera: Opera Mobile has also found its way into selected Nokia and Sony-Ericsson handsets.