Certain to cause uproar, Opera shows off its browser for iPhone

Prominent developers sometimes tease us with products made on the iPhone platform that have not yet been approved by Apple. Frequently it's because their applications face certain rejection; sometimes on the famous grounds of "duplicate functionality", sometimes for other reasons.

Mobile World Congress next week will be hosting the mother of all iPhone app teases: Opera Mini for iPhone.

Opera Mini is already on more than 40 million devices, and is easily the most prominent browser for resource-constrained mobile devices. The company announced today that it will be showing off a version of Opera Mini for the iPhone that is up to six times faster than the iPhone's native Safari browser and can cut bandwidth consumption by up to 90%, thanks to the server-side rendering techniques that Opera uses.

Naturally, the browser is not available to the public, nor is it likely to ever be. Opera has built the "duplicate functionality" argument into its very presentation...claiming it can improve upon a primary piece of the iPhone's software.

It actually looks more like Opera has gotten wise to Apple's PR magic; and hopes to stimulate some attention for itself in showing off a product certain to create friction with the strict Cupertino company.