Opera Unite, Good! But Not Good Enough to “Reinvent the Web”!

Posted by Abbas ||

June 17, 2009 ||

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Opera released a new technology called “Opera Unite” which makes the existing web servers look less important. People who know how the web works will easily understand what Opera Unite is set out to do and what are its limitations in terms of adaptability, security, stability, etc..

Opera Unite is not a part of the latest release of Opera, it needs to be downloaded seperately from here.

Before we go any further watch this video to understand Opera Unite…

First things first, you should be a registered Opera User to use Opera Unite, if you are not registered already, click here to register and 2) Have a Opera Unite Build installed on your computer, click here to download.

This technology can be used for sharing any type of files right of, off your computer without having to upload it on the web, that’s not all it is capable of doing quite a few things like playing music, videos or simply opening a chat sessions between two computers! Cool right?

With Opera Unite, Opera has released API’s which can be used by developers to develop applications which will run on the browser and utilize the services of Opera Unite.

This service comes with a few default applications like File Sharing, Media Player, Photo Sharing, The Lounge (for chat), Fridge (for leaving quick messages), etc.. So next time you want to share something with a friend or simply want to chat just open your Opera browser instead of loggin on to GTalk for chatting or a P2P for sharing files.

Reinvent the Web I like the thought behind the whole technology but here is why I think this will not be as successful as Opera is hoping it to be.

The biggest problem with this technology is that it is browser based so all you external connections are active as long as your browser is open, the moment you close the browser your personal “web server” goes down terminating all the active connections. Now that’s not good right?
This might not sound too huge of a problem right now but it when applications are developed and launched for Opera Unite which does much more than just sharing files, etc. then stability will be a big factor.
This technology is way too dependent on the clients’ resources. For example if the computer that is hosting files is running a snail speed internet connection then the file sharing can get frustrating for someone who is on hi-speed connection.
You obviously cannot compare it with the regular downloads because the servers where users upload their files for sharing are based on hi-speed internet connection.
The service still does not truly do what it says it does. To use this service you need to be a registered user @ Opera community and the access URL is based on operaunite.com. This means if you like to access a particular computer you have to access it using a operaunite URL which also means Opera can shut down your services anytime they want to by blocking your access URL.
Imagine how the Iranian government has currently blocked certain online services from being accessed in the same way it can also block opera unite which shuts the entire system of sharing.

It would have been a true invention if they would have come up with something which makes accessing easier or may be a simple alternative where a static URL is not required.

These are few limitations this technology faces and these limitations will very well restrict Opera Unite from becoming a widely used utility for sharing stuff online.

I am not totally against this technology in fact I am glad Opera came out with the concept which will be improved on by Google (Chrome), Mozilla (FireFox) or Microsoft (Internet Explorer).

That’s that. Watch the following video to see how you can use Opera Unite..