Fewer than three weeks ago, we wondered aloud if Opera Software's bid to get its Opera Mini web browser into Apple's iPhone App Store was pure folly, or if it was a gamble that Opera could actually win. Late Monday, Opera, and Apple, proved doubters and naysayers — like me — wrong when it approved Opera Mini for iPhone.

Apple's acceptance of a web browser app may not seem like a big to-do, until one looks at Apple's notoriously stringent interpretation of the rules it created to keep competing software off the iPhone. Mobile web browsers that compete with the iPhone's Safari browser do exist, but they're all based on the same WebKit browser engine used to power Safari. In contrast, Opera has coded Opera Mini using a combination of programming languages, without adopting WebKit. Apple has certainly denied apps for less.

For a more detailed analysis of the Apple decision follow this link to CNET.com.

Via download.cnet.com