Opera banned from Apple App Store

It's not just porn and malicious code that gets booted from the Apple App Store. The long arm of Apple has also reached out to pull the mobile-browsing favourite, Opera, from its virtual shelves – lest it invades Apple’s own turf.

While Opera Mini (pictured) and Opera Mobile is available on just about every other phone, iPhone and iPod Touch users will have to make do with Apple's own Safari browser. Opera's CEO, Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner (great name), told the New York Times that it has a version ready to roll but has been told that it won't be allowed into the App Store as it's a competitor to Safari.

That means it's unlikely to ever surface on the iPhone - unless a version is released for owners of Jailbroken phones to take advantage of, something Stephenson didn’t give any indication of doing.

Like other free browsers, Opera makes its money fairly harmlessly by referral fees - fees that could otherwise be earned by Apple. This will undoubtedly be seen as another draconian move by the computing giant. More to the point it means we won't be able to use one of our favourite browsers on one of our favourite phones. Shame.

[ Information Week]