Opera scuppers WAP with mobile browser

Opera Software says it has finally solved the long-standing problem of reading big, bulky web pages on mobile phone screens.

The breakthrough could pose a serious threat to the market share of rival technologies such as WAP and rival companies such as Microsoft.

Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera, said: "We massage the content so that is fits onto the screen. Some companies filter part of the content to make it fit onto a limited browser. But we're putting a real browser on there, the same as you have on the desktop."

Opera's new method cuts the scrolling in half by stacking the content of a webpage vertically. That way, surfers only have to scroll up and down to read it.

The company's approach to web browsing by cell phone and other small devices is just the latest strategy to overcome a difficult technological conundrum - how to access web pages built for 17-inch desktop screens on cell phones that fit in shirt pockets.

One method was WAP which has failed to take off and is viewed as a failure by many consumers and content providers. One analyst said Opera's breakthrough could now further undermine WAP technology.

Michael Gartenberg, analyst with Jupiter Research, said: "I think it's absolutely phenomenal technology. It's certainly going to make it more difficult for WAP to gain much further traction, because it obviates a lot of the need for WAP going forward. But we don't think WAP will disappear as a result."

Gartenberg said Opera's progress was significant enough to alter the dynamics of the browser market, which has remained largely static following Microsoft's acknowledged victory in the desktop browser space with Internet Explorer.

"This will certainly expand the competition," Gartenberg said. "This is the kind of situation where Opera could potentially give Microsoft a run for its money in mobility."

Microsoft and the Open Mobile Alliance, which promotes WAP, did not return calls for comment.

Paul Festa writes for News.com