Opera brings WhatsApp, Messenger to its browser - Mobile World Live

Opera brings WhatsApp, Messenger to its browser

10 MAY 2017

Opera launched a new browser codenamed ‘Reborn’, which lets users chat via social messenger services Messenger, WhatsApp and Telegram as they browse.

The company said it is the first major browser maker to offer this functionality and explained the popular services now reside within the browser without the need to install any extensions or apps.

While web versions of social messengers have been around for some time, switching between tabs when responding to a message was “cumbersome and inefficient,” Opera explained.

“Social messengers completely changed our lives… but desktops and laptops, while theoretically more powerful multitasking tools, have been left behind. We believe this needs to change,” said Krystian Kolondra, head of Opera browser.

Users can now access Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Telegram from the browser’s sidebar, and share photos by dragging any online picture to the messenger’s icon.

The company said Reborn was inspired by Opera Neon, an “experimental browser that envisions the future of web browsers” similar to the way concept cars point to the future of automobiles, which was released in January.

One of Neon’s features is the ability to hop between discovering new content and chatting with friends, or even share online discoveries while browsing.

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Saleha Riaz

Saleha joined Mobile World Live in October 2014 as a reporter and works across all e-newsletters - creating content, writing blogs and reports as well as conducting feature interviews...More

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