Opera Max compression app now open to users from Western Europe

Opera Software introduced Opera Turbo as a new feature in Opera 10 back in 2009. The feature enabled you to compress web traffic to speed up web browsing.

You can check out the Opera Turbo review here on the site to find out more about it.

In recent versions of Opera, Turbo has been renamed to Off-Road mode which provides users of Chromium-based Opera versions with the same functionality.

Opera Software published the standalone application Opera Max back in December 2013 and limited access to it to users from the United States. Not only was access limited to users from the US, it was also limited to select devices only.

The company announced today that it is extending Opera Max Beta access to Europe.

What this means is that users from Western Europe -- Eastern Europeans are excluded from the beta according to the post on the Opera News blog -- can download and install the Opera Max Beta application as well, provided their devices are listed as compatible.

The feature is free for the time being, but limited in terms of availability. If you happen to install it right now, you will likely be added to a queue. A total of 781 people are currently in front of me, and 230 behind according to the queue information that are displayed when you open the app on your device.

You can hit the refresh button to update the information, but that is about it.

What sets Opera Max apart from many other apps of its kind is the fact that it does not only compress textual data, but also video and audio data. This is only true for non-encrypted contents though.

The thing that matters is the compression. How good is it and how big of an impact will it have on the quality of the output?

Opera Max should work with most apps and programs that you run on your Android device. You can turn it on or off in its interface

Opera is considering several options to pay for the service once it is out of beta. Options may include watching ads to gain credits, or to pay $1 per month to use it. The values and options are subject to change.

Anyway, if you like to join me waiting in queue, now is your chance to do so provided that you are living in the US or Western Europe. This way then please to the download.

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