Opera ships Mini for BREW-based phones

The company that boasts of having the first Web browser for mobile phones has finally ported its engine to Qualcomm's BREW mobile application platform.

The Opera browser, which shrinks Web pages to fit on the mobile screen, was the first to take the desktop Web to the mobile Web. Now, a BREW-based version could enable the company to expand its reach even further to cover a significant portion of mobile phones.

"By making Opera Mini available on Qualcomm's BREW platform, we are able to offer a fast and cost efficient Web experience to millions of mobile phone users," Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner said.

While the iPhone has similar functionality through Safari, due to its exclusivity agreement with AT&T only its network's customers can take advantage of it in the US.

Those wishing to download the application can visit operamini.com on their phone or visit Opera's Web site to have a link to the application texted to their mobile phone. Standard data charges would apply.

According to Opera, nearly 27 million have already downloaded the application, with its own site generating over one billion page views every month. However, it still has yet to make an significant dent in the overall Web: Mini only had a 0.03% usage share as of November.