Opera Software has announced the availability of its browser in both Hindi and Punjabi, as well as a beta version of Opera Mini. Worldwide, more than 700 million people speak Hindi and more than 100 million speak Punjabi. The browser in Hindi and Punjabi is available for Windows and Linux, and can be downloaded from Opera's download page.

Jon S von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera, said, "The Web must become more accessible to people wherever they live and whatever language they speak. Browser companies bear responsibility for allowing all people to access this amazing resource."

"Barriers such as language make the Internet less of a global resource, than it could be. Opera is taking this step towards removing those barriers", Tetzcher said.

Opera Mini is a Java-based (J2ME) Web browser that enables full Web access on the majority of low and mid-range phones that are incapable of running a full Web browser.

Opera Mini allows users to access the full Web on the 700+ million Java-enabled mobile phones around the world. That includes the vast majority of today's WAP- enabled phones. Opera Mini is free of charge, in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

The Opera Mini browser was introduced as a pilot project in Norway on August 10, 2005, to spearhead Norwegian TV station - TV2's mobile services. "Opera Mini is simple to use, free, and easily installed on nearly all mobile phones. With Opera Mini we are really bringing mobile Internet browsing into the mainstream by opening up for mobile Internet access for everyone," Tetzcher added.