The Bits blog is running a small profile of Opera right now. For the most part it’s fairly boring: Opera is a bit player (we know) that is making inroads in the mobile space with Opera Mini (again, we know).
Here’s something you may not know: Apple is blocking Opera from releasing the iPhone version of Opera Mini. So claims Opera’s CEO, Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner.
While that in and of itself may be news to some of you—it’s news to me, that’s for sure—we already know where Apple’s coming from. Apple has a policy that says, briefly, it won’t allow any application on the App Store that competes with one of its products. Since there’s already Safari on the iPhone we won’t be seeing any other Web browser there, Opera or otherwise.
Should we be mad at Apple? How much harm would it do to Apple’s bottom line to give people the choice of staying with Safari or giving Opera a shot?