Opera Mini Approved for Inclusion in App Store [Update: Now Available]

Opera today announced that its Opera Mini browser has been approved for inclusion in Apple's App Store. Opera Mini should appear in the App Store within the next 24 hours.

Opera Mini, with more than 50 million users worldwide, enables fast mobile Web browsing by compressing data by up to 90 percent before sending content to the device, resulting in significantly improved page loading. Users of the app will notice an uptake in speed, especially on slower networks such as the 2G Edge network. Surfing the Web with the Opera Mini App on iPhone and iPod touch will also help users save money because of its data compression capabilities. This will hold especially true while the user is incurring roaming charges.

Opera submitted its browser to Apple late last month and started a count-up timer to keep track of how long it had been in Apple's hands for review. Some observers had wondered whether the browser would be accepted by Apple, as it directly competes with the mobile Safari browser application included with the iPhone and iPod touch.

Update: Opera Mini is now available [iTunes link] in the App Store.