INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
Mini has transformed from being
solely a browser to being a portal for
localised news headlines. In 2015
Opera launched a partnership with
Worldreader to provide a distribution
channel for Worldreader’s library of
free ebooks.
Worldreader is a non-profit
organisation that provides children
and families across Africa with access
to digital books, many of which are
free of charge. The books in the digital
library range from classic novels
to traditional African stories and
are available in a variety of African
languages. In just three months
five million new readers joined the
platform and now around two million
African Opera Mini users read e-books
via Worldreader every month.
Data remains prohibitively expensive for
many mobile users in Africa. This means
that even if smartphone penetration
is increasing, many people do not use
their devices to full benefit. Earlier this
year research from Opera found that
30% of all mobile data is wasted in the
background. Background data is the
Internet traffic that goes on when you
are not actually using an application.
Most applications are made to give
a great user experience, not to save
data. Unfortunately, this means
that many data users are essentially
throwing away the equivalent of $1
out of every $3 spent on data. Opera
Max’s Smart Alerts automatically
identify applications that use a lot of
data in the background. Opera Max
then guides you on how to manage
these data-hungry applications.
Since 2012, the average size of web
pages served to the mobile web has
more than doubled and is set to
double again by 2018. This is due to
larger images, trackers, bloatware,
which translates to users paying more
for essentially, the same information.
In response to this, Opera this year
launched its advertisement blocker for
Opera Mini Android.
The advertisement blocker in Opera
www.intelligentcio.com
Opera Mini mobile user trends in Africa.
Mini helps webpages load 40% faster
than without the advertisement
blocker technology. The compression
technology used in Opera Mini and
Opera Max can also help with issues
relating to congestion and page
sizes. A lighter mobile web can help
get you online, even in poor network
conditions.
Excerpted from State of the Mobile
Web Africa 2016 by Opera.
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