Opera 10.10 Released, Includes New "Unite" Tech 262
Opera 10.10 has been released, and with it their new "Unite" technology, which allows users to share content directly between all of their own devices. Unite wraps both web browser and web server into a single package in an attempt to change the way users think about their browser. "'We promised Opera Unite would reinvent the Web,' said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. 'What we are really doing is reinventing how we as consumers interact with the Web. By giving our devices the ability to serve content, we become equal citizens on the Web. In an age where we have ceded control of our personal data to third-parties, Opera Unite gives us the freedom to choose how we will share the data that belongs to us.'"
Re:just friends, no facebook, no cloud (Score:4, Interesting)
So what I'm basically saying is that *I* should be the one controlling my content, not some other site or cloud service. Unite makes that easy for people.
On the other hand, it means that content on Unite is ephemeral and subject to the vagaries of hosting everything on one's computer(such as the information only being available while the PC is powered on and Opera is running, not 24x7). Also, does the app data stored on a computer running Unite survive a reinstall, which tends to happen often on Windows machines?
Re:just friends, no facebook, no cloud (Score:4, Interesting)
Or does Unite provide a way to find the content that other people have put up? I don't understand what market Opera is trying to target here. Anyone with the where-with-all to setup their own web server and the associated DNS host records and the like has probably already done so. The OP bashes on Facebook, but Facebook (and Myspace and whatever the other sites are) offers the person an ability to tell someone else, "Look me up on Facebook. My name is..." Does Unite offer the equivalent capability?
It seems to me that the large majority of what people want to share online isn't their own content, but content that they come across. Facebook is the perfect example. It seems to be filled with links to YouTube, links to other webpages, and blogs and whatever else any particular person finds interesting and wants to share with their friends. Very rarely do the large majority of people want to share content that is uniquely theirs. The one big exception that I can think of is music. Myspace seems to have the lion's share of that market. And on the subject of music, who wants to eat the bandwidth costs of serving up music from their own computer when a site like Myspace, or YouTube or listentomymusicyo.com will do it for you, for free?
Re:Wow, Opera has what I call ambition... (Score:3, Interesting)
I have. It's on my system right now along with Firefox, Konqueror and Chrome. Addons are the critical component in which these other browsers than Firefox are very much behind. I would ditch Firefox in an instant if Chrome or Opera or Konqueror managed to be as flexible as Firefox but they're not... yet.
Breaks broadband service contract? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Wow, Opera has what I call ambition... (Score:5, Interesting)
Someone asked: "How does not having any kind of access to Opera Mobile/Google/etc helps the people in China, compared to having a censored version?"
I haven't seen a response to that yet.
What were Opera's alternatives?
Refuse? They would be thrown in jail, and the Chinese office would be history.
Pull out? How would that help anyone? It would just deprive the Chinese people of another way to access the web. The more ways to access the web, the more work for the government when they are trying to censor it. There needs to be as many ways to access the web as possible, because the more there are, the more difficult it is to police, and the easier it is to poke holes in the firewall. You are clearly blinded by your own ignorance.
Re:Except in China? (Score:4, Interesting)
What were Opera's alternatives?
They could have refused to do business in China, as long as the Chinese policy doesn't change.
Just like IKEA have stopped doing business in Russia [nytimes.com], for slightly different reasons.
Re:ISPs won't like this (Score:1, Interesting)
Ditto in Canada. Check Shaw's page on P2P - http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/CustomerCare/InternetSupport/Residential/Sharing/PeerToPeer.htm [www.shaw.ca]
Shaw is a big corporate ISP, with a 'no server' TOS clause, and they're fine with P2P. What's more they're refreshingly sensible, because they tell their clients what P2P is and how to do it securely.
Re:just friends, no facebook, no cloud (Score:1, Interesting)
Yeah but what about security?
I'm playing around with it right now and there appears to be no real security whatsoever. No SSL connections and the authentication page is wide open for anyone on the line to snag your password.
Also, it appears to transfer all your content through an intermediate Opera server. So I'm not sure how that's you controlling your data. You're handing it all off to Opera and they give it to the final destination. So basically Opera gets to snoop on everything you're doing (plus your ISP and anyone else in-between since none of the connections are encrypted).
Now I could be wrong since I have only started to look at it, but it seems that security or privacy weren't big concerns even though they're touting "personal control." Ha
Holy retro Batman! (Win 98) (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:just friends, no facebook, no cloud (Score:5, Interesting)
It even seems to be a pretty good performing web server, opera are also know for their good attitude towards security. I think it's killer.
Re:just friends, no facebook, no cloud (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes, you can mark your stuff as "private" in a lot of places - but they are still hosted in the cloud. I haven't poked far enough into Opera Unite, but I don't think they cache your pics. Meaning, once Grandma gets those pics, you can remove them from your shared photo, and no one else is going to get them, either from Google cache, a guessed password, or whatever. Besides - will Flickr share your warez files, or your ripped MP3's? It seems that Unite will share ANYTHING you want to share.