Skyfire plans iPhone browser as Opera Mini is approved

Opera Software is bringing on the Opera Mini browser that would definitely head for the iPhone App Store.

And, look who is rejoicing! Rival Skyfire is elated, that it has spared time to laud Opera for the arrival of Opera Mini on the iPhone App Store.

Jeff Glueck, CEO of Skyfire, has congratulated the rival browser maker for this move.  In a post on the Skyfire blog, he has said that iPhone’s action of throwing open its platform to Opera to compete with Apple’s own browser Safari, will inspire other browser companies to be more innovative. Apple’s decision to open up its platform has indeed set a new precedent for additional innovation in mobile browsing from other companies. He also hinted at Skyfire attempting to make its own browser available on iDevices such as iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Skyfire is now available for Windows Mobile and Nokia S60.

Consumer demand in mobile browsers has recently grown to include better media and video browsing capabilities at high speeds. It has resulted in browsers becoming more and more powerful in order to cater to these growing demands.

Skyfire’s capability to bring in Flash video, audio and interactivity directly to the iPhone besides caching and compressing files on a mobile proxy server, gives it an advantage over the Opera Mini and the Apple Safari. Both browsers do not provide adequate Flash support. Skyfire believes that added speed and all rich media of the web coming together in one browser is not a bad idea. However, it remains to be seen if Skyfire can avoid the proxy-related shortages faced by Opera Mini users.