Opera Software today announced that it has purchased rival browser-maker Skyfire in a cash and stock transaction totaling about $155 million.
Skyfire markets its own mobile browser to smartphone platforms in addition to services for network operators. Its key product is video compression technology that reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by video as it passes through wireless networks. Skyfire’s Rocket Optimizer (which is what it calls its compression product) offers wireless network operators a 60% boost in capacity when delivering video. Rocket Optimizer can detect when end users are experiencing poor video quality and intervene almost instantaneously to make improvements. Skyfire also offers a mobile browser extension and toolbar platform it calls Skyfire Horizon that lets end users customize their browsers.
Opera Software recently announced that it would transition its Opera web browser away from its own Presto rendering engine to that of WebKit, which is more widely used. Opera expects to close the Skyfire acquisition by March 15.
