But Opera Mini is already in the iOS App Store, managing that feat because it really isn't a browser, at least as Apple defines one. Rather than render HTML locally on the device, Opera Mini is essentially a proxy that shuttles page requests to Opera's own servers, which render the page, then aggressively compress it before sending it back to the device.

Opera's not-quite-a-browser has been for more than two years, and is also available for Android, Symbian-powered phones and BlackBerry. Opera has not created a version of Mini for Microsoft's Windows Phone, or committed to developing a Metro app for the upcoming Windows 8 or Windows RT, however.

On Android, Opera Mini faces competition from, naturally, Google. While Google lets rivals Opera and Firefox distribute through the Google Play e-market, the search giant has made it clear that its plan is to as the default on Android smartphones.

Opera Mini would let Facebook present the social network in a more browser-like interface than the Facebook app on iOS. on its mobile apps, Facebook may see Opera Mini as a way to show the traditional display ads that have been its primary money maker.

Facebook's app has also been bashed for being slow, another reason Opera Mini could be a good fit for the firm. Opera boasts that its servers compress Web page data by as much as 90%, resulting in faster delivery to the device, especially on slower connections.