United with Opera

Opera, the Norwegian browser company, are perhaps the Apple of the browser market, always “thinking different”. Their new technology released on 16 June, called Opera Unite, has audaciously been dubbed as Web 5.0 by the CEO.

But on taking it out for a spin, the smirks and raised eyebrows dry up.

Opera Unite is a technology built into the Web browser that makes it possible to share data — including files, photos, music — on your computer directly from your browser. So basically, share photos with friends without having to sign up for a Flickr-type service, access your music remotely, share files with friends, have them leave messages for you directly on your computer, host a chat directly on your computer without needing a third-party service…. Heck, you can even turn your computer into a Web server and host your own Website on it!

Developers are encouraged to build applications (services) that use the Unite platform using Web standards like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX and SVG. At present a limited number of services are offered by Opera, and the advantage of the platform is that any application served on the Opera Unite platform will be accessible from any modern browser. The implications of the technology are quite significant: it will eliminate the need for the middlemen who provide the infrastructure and technology to host Web services.

Opera Unite is sandboxed and secure. This means people you share with cannot mess around with your computer. All it needs is a computer running Windows, Mac or Linux, and the latest Opera 10 beta.

The technology is an alpha now, and if you want to try it out, download the special build of the Opera 10 beta.

~PD