At this year’s Mobile World Congress there have been a number of really fun announcements. The latest in the string, is that Opera decided to put up instead of shut up. In a recent post I talked about the brouhaha over the lack of Flash on the iPad, and the continued whines coming from the Adobe campus about how unfair Apple is being. It’s clear that when a company is playing the victim card, there’s something they obviously don’t want you to see. In Adobe’s case, increasingly this comes down to relevance in the consumer space. Don’t bother thinking or mentioning Hulu, no release date yet, but there’s going to be an app for that. And if you still think the iPad is irrelevant, stupid and a complete misfire, read this brilliant piece about the changing computer landscape.

This CNet article has a very nice overview of what Opera mini has to offer, and how it plays on a “loophole” in Apple’s SDK rules. Essentially instead of attempting in vain to launch the full Opera Mobile experience and have Apple shoot them down yet again, they’ve decided to get some free press, make a big stink, and see if the court of public opinion helps the stranglehold on “competing” apps for the system installed (Phone, Safari, Mail, etc).

“Where we stand, Opera Mini on iPhone is a show piece designed to shine a spotlight on Apple’s fierce stance toward competition, and to push the envelope.

As far as I can recall, Adobe is a pretty big outfit with a lot of really bright programmers. Opera just did what Adobe needs to do if it wants Flash to stay relevant in the future.

Hey Adobe… you hear that? HTML5 is at the door, do you mind letting her in?