Has Opera Unite really reinvented the web?

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 16 Jun 2009 at 08:55

Opera has unveiled a new technology which turns any net-connected PC into a web server.

Dubbed Opera Unite, the company rather grandly claims that the service "reinvents the web".

It might not be quite that revolutionary, but Unite certainly introduces a selection of interesting new services.

Users will, for example, be able to share files from their PC without having to first upload them to a third-party server.

Unite also provides remote access to music and photos stored on your home PC from any web browser.

The company even claims that Unite will turn your home PC into a server for your website, although whether it's practical, or even desirable, to leave your home PC running round-the-clock as a web server is debatable.

Opera claims the beauty of Unite is its simplicity. The service will be available through a specially adapted version of the newly-launched Opera 10 browser.

Users merely have to log-in with an Opera account and select the services they wish to use from a panel within the browser.

Each service will create a unique URL that can be accessed from any web browser. For example, http://notebook.jondoe.operaunite.com/photo_sharing/, where "notebook" is the name of the local PC serving content, "jondoe" is your Opera username, and "photo_sharing" is the service being accessed.

Other people can access your content from their web browser, which raises the prickly issue of sharing copyrighted content over the web with all and sundry.

You can download the Opera Unite builds here .