Opera added Ask.com, a leading search engine, to the latest version of the Opera desktop browser, Opera 9.51.Opera today added Ask.com, a leading search engine, to the latest version of the Opera desktop browser, Opera 9.51.

Opera Software announces record download figures. In the five days following its launch on June 12, 2008, Opera 9.5 achieved 4.7 million downloads. Opera also reports that the number of people using its browser has more than doubled since Opera 9.0 debuted in 2006.

With the launch of Opera 9.5, Opera Software announces its partnership with Allegro, the leading online trading and auction platform in Poland.

Opera Software today released to the world the final public release of its flagship Web browser, Opera 9.5. Opera’s cross-device expertise, support for open Web standards and commitment to speed and performance culminate to create the most powerful Opera browser yet.

Since its arrival in Beijing, China, Opera Software, the world's leading developer of Web browsing solutions, has maintained strong growth momentum in the vibrant market. Opera today announced that Haier, a leading handset manufacturer and popular consumer brand in China, has chosen to pre-install Opera Mini on three new handsets.

Opera Software announced a new partnership with Haute Secure, the leader in Web-based threat protection. This partnership broadens Opera’s industry leading Fraud Protection by incorporating Haute Secure’s advanced prevention technology to shield consumers from malware, malicious software hidden throughout the Web.

Opera Software announced today it will support Gears in its desktop and mobile browsers. The inclusion of Gears in Opera’s main browsing products supports Opera’s vision of transforming the browser into a full platform for applications, regardless of device.

Opera Software, the leading provider of Web browsing solutions, today announced that Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, the national mobile services provider, has chosen to distribute Opera Mini to its client base of over one million subscribers. Now, Mobitel customers can access all their favorite Web sites without the need to change their handsets.

Opera Software and Telenor Serbia have partnered to offer Telenor Serbia customers the full Web experience on their mobile phones. Effective immediately, the service is available to nearly 3 million Telenor Serbia customers. With Opera Mini, customers can access all their favorite Web sites with a PC-like browsing experience on their existing handsets.

Opera Software today released the Opera Widgets SDK beta, enabling Web developers to deploy Web applications on any device. The Opera Widgets SDK is based on open, W3C-set standards to employ common web technologies such as HTML, CSS and media queries, JavaScript and Ajax, in creating advanced Web applications.

Traffic to social networks comprise almost 40% of the mobile Web according to Opera Software's "State of the Mobile Web" report, published today. The results both show healthy growth in the numbers of consumers accessing the Web from their mobile devices and provide insight into aggregate consumer preferences when browsing from their phones.

Opera today made Yandex the default search engine on Opera's mobile Web browsers for customers in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Effective immediately, anyone using Opera Mini in Russia and the CIS can access Russia's most popular Internet search service directly from the start page of the browser.