The release of Opera Mini 6 for iOS has seen the app transformed into a universal app that has been optimized to take advantage of the iPad's larger screen. iPhone 4 users can also benefit from the fact that the app has been redesigned to add support for retina display. The overall look and feel of the app has also been updated and performance has been improved.

Opera Mini is well known for its web page compression that helps to reduce the size of the sites you visit and enable them to load faster. When navigating a website, you will find that the pinch-to-zoom gesture works very smoothly and when opening new pages you now have the option to use background tabs.

No web-oriented app would be complete without its quota of sharing options, and Opera Mini allows for links to be shared via Facebook, Twitter and My Opera. All of the familiar desktop features such as bookmark synchronization and Speed Dial are present, and this is now a serious contender to becoming the iOS browser of choice.

The updates in the app are not major improvements for anyone who has been using Opera Mini for a while, but the fact that an iPad version is now available is going to prove to be a massive boost to popularity. Working on the larger screen, this is one of the best browsing experiences available on the iPad.

You can find out more and download a copy of the free browser by paying a visit to the Opera Mini 6 review page.

Editor's Note: Watch for Joe Wilcox's review of Opera Mini 6 on iPad 2.

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