Opera Denies Microsoft Buyout Rumors

The reports of a possible purchase follow last week's chatter that Google was interested in the Oslo-based firm. That, too, has been denied by Opera.

"I don't know why these rumors are happening," said Opera spokesman Eskil Sivertsen Friday as he denied any acquisition was in the works. "My guess, frankly, is as good as yours."

The talk began early Friday when U.S.-based Web site CoolTechZone ran a story claiming that sources within Microsoft said the Redmond, Wash.-based developer had purchased Opera and would announce the acquisition shortly.

Microsoft was not available for comment Friday as its public relations firm was closed for the holidays.

One analyst noted that it would have been a smart move by Microsoft if the story had been true.

"For Microsoft, it's a very good move," wrote JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg on his blog earlier Friday. "It gives them some excellent technologies they can incorporate into Internet Explorer and that can help serve them well in their battles with Firefox.

"There's no doubt that Opera on Windows Mobile is a far better browser experience and it also allows Microsoft to push IE down to other phone platforms via the Java version of Opera Mini," Gartenberg continued.

Even Opera thinks that its mobile browser, dubbed "Opera Mini," is its crown jewel.

"The mobile space is where we make most of our revenue," said Opera's Sivertsen. "It's where we're the market leader."

On Tuesday, Opera released a broad public preview of Mini, which until then had been available for download only to Scandinavian and German users. Mini is scheduled to debut in January.

The petite browser works on virtually all mobile phones, and is designed to provide an Internet experience on handsets normally incapable of running a full browser, a category that includes most WAP-enabled devices. Mini uses Opera's Small Screen Rendering technology, which the company has been working on for more than two years.

"The mobile space is very interesting right now," Sivertsen said. "Both Microsoft and Google are looking into what they can do in that space. Google has indicated an interest in mobile, and Microsoft is trying, although they don't have a good browser for handsets."

Another JupiterResearch analyst put a possible buy of Opera by Google or Microsoft into context.

"There's money to be made off browsers, in part because of search," wrote Joe Wilcox on his blog Friday. "The browser may be a giveaway, but it's a freebee people use to access content they are willing to pay for or advertisers are willing to subsidize."

"We're noting all this with interest," said Opera's Sivertsen. "It's great we're getting so much attention."